What Is Pop Culture? Why Study
It?
They Say, I Say Ch. 1 and 12
Quickwrite #1:
• Choose a favorite or familiar piece of
pop culture (a band, a musician, a film,
a sports team) and write about it in the
context of the essay we read for today.
In what ways does your chosen piece of
pop culture fit in with at least one of
Delaney’s ideas about what pop culture
is and how it functions in our society?
How to Read our Textbook
• When the schedule tells you to read a certain amount of pages
(9-17 for example) you might not technically need to read the
whole page. Rather, you should look for section headings and
start with the first section on that page.
– For example, on page 9, the section heading “A Critical Perspective:
Strategies for Thinking, Reading, and Responding” starts about
halfway down the page, but it is the first section that STARTS on
page 9. Therefore you should start there.
– Likewise, the only thing on page 17 is an exercise. Since you have
not been instructed to do the exercise, but rather only to read and
think about the information, you can ignore this part.
• When I ask you to read an Essay or Article in your Textbook, I
will usually list the page numbers the essay covers (p.139-143,
for example). Be sure preview the essay, see how long it is,
and give yourself enough time to read the whole thing.
Engage With What You Read
• Reading Actively
– What does it mean to read actively?
• Pay attention
• Take notes (Annotate)
– See p. 12 of Pop Perspectives for a checklist.
• Look up unfamiliar words
• Reading Critically
– What does it mean to read critically?
• Think carefully about the ideas presented in what you are
reading
– Ask questions
– Relate the ideas to your own experience or knowledge
– Come to class with questions to ask and opinions to share
Encouraging Effective Class Discussion
• Have respect for your classmates, even when you disagree
with their ideas.
• Take time to gather your thoughts. There is no prize for
having your hand in the air first.
• Build our class’s understanding of the topic at hand by…
– Adding an additional point or example to what someone else has
said.
– Connecting two ideas that have been discussed separately.
– Challenging what someone else has said by countering his or her
points.
– See p. 164-166 in Ch. 12 of They Say, I Say for more pointers.
• Ground your discussion of a text by quoting specific, relevant
passages of the articles we read.
Discussion: Small Groups to Whole Class
• Often, when we do class discussion, I will have you
brainstorm and talk about the topics in small groups
before moving the discussion back to the whole class.
– You can elect –or volunteer– a representative of your group to
share the ideas, issues, and answers to questions that your
group discussed with the wider class and myself.
– Although not everyone will be comfortable talking in front of
large groups, I do want everyone to try to contribute
something. All opinions and perspectives have value!
– Also, if you aren’t sure what to say ask questions! Sometime the
best thing a group member can do is ask a classmate to clarify
or further explain their perspective or point!
Why study “Pop Culture”?
• Historically, academia (schools, universities, professors) put
a lot of emphasis on “high culture” and disregarded “pop
culture,” thinking it wasn’t worth studying or analyzing.
• Recently, many scholars and universities have recognized
the value of pop culture as an area of study.
• Some general assumptions that the study of pop culture
makes:
– The art (this includes movies, music, tv, etc.) that a culture
produces reveals what that culture values.
– The art a culture produces reveals widely held attitudes about
important/controversial issues.
– While Pop Culture can reveal attitudes, it can also change them.
– In other words, the pop culture that we are exposed to can
affect how and what we think, while at the same time forcing us
to examine commonly held assumptions.
Class Discussion of “Pop Culture: An
Overview”
• What, according to the author (Delaney), is
the purpose of popular culture? What does it
do for us as a society? Do you agree with his
observations?
• How does popular culture help people to
create identity?
• What is the connection between popular
culture, social media, and mass media?
Analysis of Pop Culture
• Consider the list of examples of pop culture we have
come up with as a class, then answer the following
question:
• “We’ve made lists, individually and as a class, of
examples of pop culture that we enjoy. What are some
important issues that your examples of pop culture
brings up?”
• In other words, what important issues/ideas might
these examples of pop culture lead us to discuss?
• By answering these questions, we are beginning to do
the work of analyzing pop culture.
Everyone’s a Critic
• Because you will be doing the work of analyzing pop
culture, you will be taking on the role of pop culture
critic.
• The word “critic” here doesn’t mean that you are only
going to be saying negative things about pop culture.
Instead, it means that you will…
– Examine the pieces of pop culture you are studying
carefully and thoughtfully.
– Examine the assumptions, trends, and social issues are
brought to light by your examination of pop culture.
– Make claims about what your examination of popular
culture tells you about the society that produced it.
What is “Academic Writing”?
• Academic writing follows a set of conventions
(remember, those are rules/expectations your
readers will have of your writing in an
academic setting), and it is appropriate for a
school or research setting.
• Academic writing is a WAY of writing, and is
not limited to certain subjects or topics.
What is Academic Writing?
• Academic Writing is NOT…
– Being perfect the first time
– Always having “original” ideas that are not influenced
by anyone else
– Being better than others around you
• Academic Writing IS…
– A process
– Developing ideas in connection with other ideas
– Being part of a community of writers and engaging in
the ongoing academic conversation.
Discussion of They Say, I Say Intro and
Chapter 1
• According to the authors of They Say, I Say,
why is it important to position yourself and
your ideas in relation to what other writers
have said about the topic? (Review the Intro
and Ch. 1 to prepare for class discussion.)
• What do you think of the idea of using
templates? Do you agree with the author’s
arguments in favor of templates?
Writing As A Process or a Journey
• Writing develops both recursively (as a process) and socially (interacting with
other texts).
• The process of rhetoric in both reading and writing means thinking about
how to use language for a particular audience, within a particular context,
and how to use appropriate conventions (grammar rules, spelling,
punctuation, etc).
• It is important to note that reading and writing are connected to each other.
• All writers enter conversations and communities through their words, so
writers must be readers of many texts, and should also be aware of context
and culture.
• This class aims to help you understand all these writing techniques and use
them successfully in your own writing.
Writing as Exploration and Connection
• We will read and analyze many kinds of writing that are a part of
the academic conversation.
• We will use outside sources to inspire and inform our own
writing
• We will workshop our own essays.
• These activities, along with student-instructor conferences, peer
work, and discussions, will demonstrate the social nature of
writing.
• What is truly essential in this class is the ability to communicate
a given message through writing, reading, and speaking in class.
• So, get to know your classmates, your professor, and most of
all, yourself. We will support each other to grow as students,
writers, readers, communicators, and individuals.
Understanding Essay Prompts
– Prompts are the key to successful assignments.
• It’s important to know how to read a prompt and
understand it.
– Read and re-read your prompt until you
understand fully what is being asked of you.
– If you don’t understand, ask your professor to clarify EARLY
ON.
– If you ask the day before the essay is due, IT IS ALREADY TOO
LATE.
• Let’s review our Prompt!
– Know the minimum requirements and take
them seriously.
• These include: page length or word count, format, works
cited/research required. ALL DUE DATES.
Practice Using Templates
• We are going respond to a piece of writing using ideas from They Say, I Say.
• You may choose to respond to the editorial “Back Off on the Broccoli” on p.
18 of Pop Perspectives, “Pop Culture: An Overview,” or another opinion
piece that has been approved by me.
• Identify an idea in the essay that you would like to respond to.
• You might start with the template:
• In the article “Your Article Title Goes Here,” Author Name makes the point that
________________, which is particularly important because
____________________.
• Try to use at least one other template from Chapter 1.
• If you are talking about ideas you have held for a long time, you might want to
consider the templates on p. 24 under “Making something “they say”
something you say”
• If you are talking about ideas that you feel lots of other people (the “general
public”) have, you might want to consider the templates on the top of p. 24.
• When you are finished, write a brief reflection about how using a template
worked for you. Did you find it easier than coming up with your own
structure? Harder? Why?