Discourse 200
Fall 2014
Ferrel
Created by: Thomas Ferrel
Matter1 Paper: Analyzing Representations of Cultural Matters in Texts (Writing Project 2)
For Writing Project 2, you are to analyze the discourse within a text(s) that defines, circumscribes,
contests, and/or engages with an important cultural matter (i.e., a value, belief, norm, assumption, etc.)
related to one or more of the themes of your anchor and discourse classes (see the last sentence of this
paragraph). The cultural matter that you choose to write about might fall within a familiar category, such
as race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, national identity, or political identity, but could also be a matter
related to your field of study and future profession. Regardless of where the matter you choose to
research and write about might be positioned in terms of categorization or disciplinary field, the matter
must connect to one or more of the following themes from your anchor and discourse classes: culture,
diversity, education, immigration, and/or language.
In terms of what constitutes a text, you may work from a broad definition of the word. While you
may choose an article or book, you might also consider policy, laws, position statements, initiatives, built
spaces, movies, plays, television shows, poems, songs, advertisements, or works of art as possible central
texts for this project because each involves composing and seeks to convey a message through discourse
that contains its own politics and ideologies. Regardless of the text(s) you select, be sure that the text(s)
provides you with ample material to engage with during a 7-8 page scholarly research paper. Likewise,
don’t try to discuss too many texts in this relatively short project. Depth is preferred to breadth—quality
over quantity. If you do find yourself wanting to discuss more than one text, make sure that the texts you
discuss relate to each other in specific ways, not just in the general sense that they deal with similar
matters. For instance, your essay may seem disjointed if you discuss a song, a painting, and a film, with
the only connection between the three is that they engage with gender roles. On the other hand, if all
three texts are from the same film, time period, geographic region, subculture, etc., then engaging with all
three texts of different genres may very well be acceptable because it demonstrates the pervasiveness of
an idea(s).
Depending on your opinion of the text(s) you respond to, you will probably find yourself
emphasizing the positive aspects more than the negative ones, or vice versa. This is to be expected and
should lead you to constructing a central focus (i.e, thesis) that ties together the various discussion
threads within in your project, providing your readers a conversation to interact with. However, your
writing should consider several perspectives so that your analysis is complex and involves multiple
audiences.
The purpose of this project is threefold: 1) to practice analyzing texts, 2) to practice using research
to understand and discuss matters, and 3) to practice using research to guide action. The third goal is
intended to help you design your Matter Speech, which is a cultural action project engaging with the
matter of this project. Essentially, this project represents an opportunity to reflect on an important
text(s) within a culture and to explore what others have observed and written about a topic that concerns
you. In other words, you are practicing being an intellectual in the ways in which Michael Dyson (2004)
defines this identity:
The term “matter” in this assignment is used intentionally in place of the word “issue” to signify the hope that we will create our work and readers will approach our
work with the attitude that the content of our projects matter for everyone. This strategy is based on De Jean and Elsebree’s move to do the same.
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Discourse 200
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Fall 2014
Ferrel
[A] person with a great passion to think and study and to distribute the fruits of his [or her] labor
in useful forms (p. xix)
[A]n academic or scholar who swims beyond her specialty and embraces the surging waves of
knowledge as they wash against entrenched disciplines (p. xix)
“[A person who] believe[s] intellectuals must serve the communities [they] live and work in (p.
xxvii)
Below are some questions to help you think about ways you might respond to your text(s):
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Who was/is the audience of the text?
What purposes does the text serve?
What do you like/dislike about the text?
Did you feel included/alienated by the text?
After reading your text, what questions do you have? What prompted these questions?
What important information is included/missing?
What are some of the possible reasons that information is included or omitted?
What is the author’s bias?
What politics and/or ideologies are at work within the text?
If you were revising the text, what would you change? Why?
What are the positive and/or negative aspects of the text? Explain.
How does the text compare with other texts dealing with the same topic?
There are, of course, many more questions that you could ask and write about in response of your text,
and you certainly will not address all of them in your essay. The above questions are meant to help you
with brainstorming, but not to provide you an outline for your project. Explore multiple approaches to
responding to these questions before determining the focus and organization of your essay, which should
revolve around a thesis/argument.
As far as source requirements, you are required to use a minimum of eight scholarly and popular
sources, not counting the text(s) you discuss. At least 75% of your sources should be easily identifiable as
scholarly. You are encouraged to use readings from your anchor and discourse classes when appropriate,
but only two class readings will count towards the minimum source requirements. If done appropriately
and effectively, using nine or more sources, regardless of whether they are class readings or outside
sources, will be viewed as exceeding expectations in the Development and Support category of the essay
assessment rubric. Of course, if done well, exceeding expectations in one category quite possibly could
have a domino effect in other areas. Of course, the inverse is true as well.
An extremely important part of this project is that you do more than just scratch the surface of the
matter at play within your text(s) and that you integrate research into your discussion. In other words, in
addition to providing your own interpretations and opinions, you are expected use research to develop,
support, and illustrate your arguments. Research for this project may pertain directly to your text, or it
may relate indirectly by focusing on a matter within the text rather than the text itself.
References
Discourse 200
Fall 2014
Ferrel
De Jean, W. & Elsebree, A. R. (2008). Queer matters: Educating educators about homophobia. Rethinking
School, 22(3), Retrieved from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_03/quee223.shtml
Dyson, M. E. (2004). The Michael Eric Dyson reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books.