WHO NEEDS A SUPERHERO: ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND FOR INSTRUCTORS
Developed by Erin Herberg
This assignment is an example of an essay that is driven by purpose and audience and not by a
traditional thesis. The purpose of the assignment is advocacy and the intent is to draw awareness and
concern to social/political/economic/cultural issue and the people affected by it. To do this students are
asked to create a superhero grounded and created for a group of victimized/oppressed people or
entities.
Students are always surprised about how much more difficult this assignment is as opposed to how it
simple looks. However, it asks students to engage in some complex cognitive and writing tasks.
Readings: Students are required to read a variety of texts, including pop-culture theory that explores the
cultural phenomena of superheroes that include, among other things, their mythic appeal as well as
their often problematic representations of gender and race. There are a variety of texts (formal
academic, book chapters, blogs, and NPR podcasts, a TEDTalk) and several are rather short. Readings
could be divided into required and supplemental, with students required to pick at least one reading
from the supplemental list. This choice allows students to pursue a specific aspect of superheroes.
Foundational readings include the Lawrence chapter and the Al-Mutawa Naif TEDTalk. The Lawrence
chapter provides students the building blocks for the superhero (and ground his/her creation in a
theoretical construct). The Naif TEDTalk provides an example of what the assignment is asking students
to do. Other readings will help students understand superheroes as a cultural and social construct and
to evaluate the creation of their own superhero.
Research: This assignment requires students to look at the world and engage in rather straightforward
research. Success for this project requires a clearly defined problem and its real effect on people (or
other entities). Thus this research focuses primarily on factual accounts and statistics such as those
found in news reports, allowing the instructor to discuss this type of research and genre. This portion of
the project undergoes peer review with students sharing their sharing the problem, their oppressed
group, and their sources.
Multi-staged writing: Very often students get carried away with the story of their superhero and forget
the purpose of the essay. However, a well-developed super-hero story is very important for this project
(still, students need to be directed to develop their superhero in response to a problem and not
superimpose a problem on the superhero). In addition to the responses and summaries to the selected
readings (which become part of the critical engagement assignment), students are required to actually
write a (rough) narrative, from which then they excerpt for the essay. The narrative goes through peer
review to evaluate the logical and ethical construction of the superhero as well as his/her connection to
the people the superhero is advocating for and his/her appeal to an outside audience.
Structure: This essay is highly structured with three distinct essay sections that have specific purposes
within the overall essay.
Introduction (2 to 3 paragraphs): Identifies the problem with documented research sources. An
added benefit of this section is that introduces to students to problem identification which
foreshadows the Definition Argument they may write in CCII. It also provides the opportunity for
instructors to discuss the use of parenthetical citation for facts as compared to signal phrases,
and introduction approaches which incorporate anecdotes about real people’s
Superheroes, Essay 2
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lives/experiences. Students are encouraged to combine the story of real people as well as facts
in this section to address both pathos and logos.
Creation of the Superhero: This is the longest section of the essay and students are required to
build their superhero with four elements of a superhero outlined by the Lawrence chapter. This
is challenging for students because they must control a narrative and make it fit within a nonnarrative structure.
The So What: In this final section, students draw on the conceptual /theoretical readings to
address the fact that they have created a fictional solution to a real problem. Students are
required to cite/refer to at least one of the conceptual/theoretical readings in the conclusion,
but they must also keep the advocacy purpose of the essay.
In organizing the essay, students are allowed/encouraged to separate the major sections of the essay
(and especially the superhero elements in part 2) with headings/subheadings, since transitions can be
tricky and headings can help the students control the essay.
Also, some students have opted to open the essay with the concept of superheroes, and this can work
for the more adept writer—if it doesn’t dilute the advocacy purpose of the essay.
Visual Opportunities: Students can be encouraged to incorporate visuals into their essay. Visuals might
include the image of their superhero and one or more images of their advocacy group, or charts/graphs
illustrating the problem.
Project stages:
1. Conceptual theoretical readings, responses, summaries and critical engagement assignment
2. Identification of the Who, What, Where and Why—identifying the problem and supporting
research. This can be done as an informal proposal reviewed in peer groups. Students have
to sometimes be pushed to localize a problem, to do adequate research, or to find an
appropriate problem.
3. Superhero narrative: Students peer edit this in class.
4. Putting the parts together.
All in all, students generally like this project. They usually say it is unlike anything they have ever written.
One thing they do seem to get from this project is the concept of audience awareness as well as the
ethical ramifications of the project. Not only do students have to ethically present the problem and the
people affected they have to think about the ethical actions of their superhero and the ultimate
message to those they are advocating to.
Also, this assignment really challenges students and while it is accessible to most all students, it does
allow strong students to really stand out.
Superheroes, Essay 2
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Readings (can be divided into required and supplemental)
Al-Mutawa, Naif. (July 2010). Superheroes inspired by Islam [Video]. Ted Talks. Retrieved
from
www.ted.com/talks/naif_al_mutawa_superheroes_inspired_by_islam.html.
Anderson, Kurt. (May 31, 2013). American icons: Superman. [Radio Broadcase]. Studio
360. Retrived from http://www.studio360.org/story/295935-american-iconssuperman/.
Brown, Jeffrey. (1999). Comic book masculinity and the new black superhero. African
American Review, 33.1, 25-41. Academic Search Premier.
Campbell, Bradley. (June 20, 2014). A dashing return of the first Asian American
superhero. [Radio Broadcast]. PRI. Retrieved from www.pri.org/stories/2014-0630/dashing-return-first-asian-american-superhero.
Demby, Gene. (June 2011). Masked Identity Politics. American Prospect. 1-10. Academic
Search Premier.
The History Chanel. (n.d.) Batman & the Joker as metaphors for psychological strength
(ideas by Carl Jung & Viktor Frankl). [Video]. YouTube retrieved from
www.youtube.com/watch?v=veU_sBuYmgU
It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A New Superman Bio! (June 18, 2012) [Radio Broadcast]. NPR
Org. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2012/06/18/155278330/its-a-bird-its-aplane-its-a-new-superman-bio.
Lawrence, John Shelton. (2002). The Lone Ranger: Adult legacies of a juvenile legacy. The
myth of the superhero by John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett. (pp. 81- 93).
Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans P.
O’Reilly, Julie D. (Sept. 2005) The Wonder Woman Precedent: Female (super) heroism on
Trial. The Journal of American Culture. 20.3, 273-283. Academic Search Premier.
Rosenberg, R. (2013). We need a hero. Smithsonian, 43(10), 22. Academic Search
Premier.
Superheroes, Essay 2
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Stanley, Kellie. (2005). Suffering Sappho!: Wonder Woman and the (re)invention of the
feminine ideal. Helios. 32.2, 143-171. Academic Search Premier.
Stuller, Jennifer K. (2010). Introduction. Ink-stained amazons and cinematic warriors:
Superwomen in modern mythology.New York: J.B. Tauris.
Superheroes, Essay 2
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WHO NEEDS A SUPERHERO/ CREATING A SUPERHERO STUDENT ASSIGNMENT SHEET
What You Are Doing in This Essay
For this essay you are essentially creating an indirect advocacy essay for a victimized/oppressed group.
You will research a group of people (or other entity) who face seemingly overwhelming problems and
then create superhero to represent and stand up for that group. The identity of this superhero should
correspond to the characteristics and cultural reality of the audience. As our readings repeatedly point
out, superheroes represent the cultural, social, and identity values of a specific audience/culture.
While identifying the audience and then creating a custom-made superhero are both very important in
this assignment, of equal importance is recognizing that superheroes are fictional and can't really help
save your audience. So why are we even bothering to do this? Well, that is perhaps why we have
superheroes--to give victims of injustice a voice, to identify what is wrong in the world, and to inspire us
mere humans to tackle problems that we are blind to or that we feel are insurmountable. Rely on the
supplemental readings to address this question.
Learning Goals
While all seven of the FYW Core Values apply to all CCI writing, each assigned essay is designed for you
to focus on some specific goals. These goals are provided to let you know specifically what I am looking
for in each essay and for you to focus your writing accordingly.
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To understand that writing is shaped by audience, purpose and context To articulate an
authentic, real purpose for this piece of writing
To recognize the multiple ways information can be conveyed—textually and visually
To be able to incorporate outside information
To explore the complexity of ideas
Assignment Readings/Resources (all readings are available on Blackboard)
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Lawrence, John Shelton. “The Lone Ranger: Adult legacies of a juvenile western” (from The
Myth of the American Superhero)
Al-Mutawa Naif, “Superheroes Inspired by Islam” (TEDTalk)
Rosenberg, Robin. “We Need A Hero” (The Smithsonian, Feb 2013)
Stuller, Jennifer K. “Introduction”( from Ink-stained amazons and cinematic warriors:
superwomen in modern mythology)
Demby, Gene. “Masked identity politics” (from American Prospect)
“It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It Is a New Superman bio” (NPR Author Interview)
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“A dashing return of the first Asian American superhero” (PRI Broadcast)
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Demby, Gene. “Masked Identity Politics” (from American Prospect)
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The Essay
This essay can be broken down into three sections (with multiple writing stages):
Part 1: Audience profile and identification of the problem
For the essay you need to identify the audience whom you are building a superhero for and why they
need one. This profile needs to be well developed, the problem needs to be well defined—who is your
audience, and how are they oppressed, treated unjustly, etc. You want to impress upon your audience
that there is a real problem and that it matters.
You will need to use outside sources to identify this audience and to prove a problem actually
exists. Two sources documenting the issue and those affected by it are required.
Independent research: News articles, background information, statistics and real-life examples.
Part 2: Superhero Profile
Use the template for superheroes John Shelton Lawrence outlines in "The Lone Ranger: Adult legacies of
a juvenile western” (page 89). You must specifically introduce Lawrence in your essay as the basis and
grounding for formulating your superhero and use the following four attributes he identifies as the
prototype of the American superhero.
• Call to Destiny (and internal conflict)
• Disguised Identity and Outsider Roll
• Super Powers, Physical and Moral
• Calibration of Retaliatory Vengeance
Your superhero should as fully developed as possible and cover the various elements of a superhero
discussed in class. He/she needs a name, clothes, a voice, particular powers, a mode of operation, a
past, a reason to be a superhero, and internal conflict (to be modern and complex).
Staged writing: While the essay you are writing is not a story, you will need to flesh out your superhero,
so a stage of writing for this project will be to actually write a fully developed narrative for your
superhero. You will then use excerpts of that narrative in your essay.
Part 3: So What?
Okay, superheroes are fictional and can't really save anyone. So the "so what" question (conclusion)
needs to address is what is the value or benefit of your superhero and superheroes in general. Several of
our readings offer broad perspectives that could be used here. For your conclusion ignore everything
you may have heard about not using outside sources in a conclusion. This conclusion will probably be at
least two paragraphs and using sources about the social/cultural concepts about superheroes is
imperative in this section of the essay.
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Overview of Project Requirements:
Responses:
Summaries:
Critical Engagement:
Superhero Narrative:
Peer Review Draft :
Instructor Draft:
Revision Draft:
Essay Details
Due dates and readings posted on Blackboard
Due dates and readings posted on Blackboard
Assignment and due dates posted on Blackboard
Due Date posted on Blackboard
Due Date posted on Blackboard
Due Date posted on Blackboard
Due Date posted on Blackboard
Essay Title:
The title is important and provides an indication of the meaning of the essay.
Length:
900 words (longer will probably be necessary), Times Roman Font 12
Presentation:
A header and page numbers are required (no cover page).
Your name, course number, essay number and date should be in the top left
hand corner of the first page of the essay.
Sources:
Four sources (4) required: One to two sources will be your information about
your oppressed group (news reports, statistics, etc). One will be Lawrence (pg.
89 of that reading), and one or two will be from our more theoretical readings
about superheroes.
Visual Element:
While not required, visuals are welcome—it might be a representation of the
plight of your oppressed group or of your superhero.
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Essay Evaluation Form: Who Needs a Superhero
STUDENT:
The “Right Now” Grade:
Content Elements/Purpose of Essay
Presentation of the Audience/Problem
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Identification of the Superhero (Using Lawrence’s Categories)
Excellent___________________________________________________Weak
Distinction that the Superhero is a fictional response to a real problem (acknowledgement of the difference
between reality and mythical fiction)
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Justification for a providing a fictional answer to a real problem (in essence, this addresses why superheroes exist
in American culture)
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Sources are smoothly introduced (referenced/cited) into the essay
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Outside source is appropriately used to establish Superhero criteria
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Overall presentation and organization of the essay
Introduction – How well does it set up the essay?
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Conclusion –How well does it wrap up the essay and answer the so what question?
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak none
Overall Essay Structure – does the essay move smoothly from paragraph to paragraph and stay focused
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Paragraph structure—are the paragraphs well organized and focused?
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
Sentence Structure—are the sentences clear and understandable?
Excellent____________________________________________________Weak
To what degree do grammar/mechanical/spelling/typo problems interfere with communication?
None ____________________________________________________Very Significantly
Revision Needed
Minor____________________________________________________Significant