Day 4
Objectives
• SWBATD analysis by analyzing
imagery as a means to appeal
to the reader's senses and to
set the tone, providing
evidence from the text to
support the analysis.
• SWBATD evaluation by
identifying an author's implicit
and stated assumptions about
a subject, based upon
evidence in the selection
through class discussion.
Activities
• The Process of Research
• Analysis: Writing about
Popular Culture
Homework:
• Read the two articles and
be prepared to discuss
tomorrow
Process of Research
• What does it mean to do research at the
university level?
– Universities generally have more than one library
– Not limited to just that library’s holdings: interlibrary
loans from libraries around the world
– Scholars research to understand the ‘conversation’
before they join in
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Issues are complex and do not have easy answers
Respect opposing views
Keep careful track of sources and evidence
Aware research takes time
Choosing a topic
• Topic must have relevance to the academic
community
• Expect to have assumptions challenged
• Topics arise from:
– Class discussions
– Readings
– Hot issues in the discipline
Libraries Online
• Get connected anywhere – username and
password
• Catalog searches:
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Keyword *
Subject *
Author *
Title
Journal/Newspaper Title
Call Number (Library of Congress, not Dewey Decimal)
Finding Sources
• Search with the attitude of playing, exploring
• With some call numbers, track down the sources
• Check TOC, Index, Bibliography – decide what
type of source it is & if it is useful for you
• What books are in the same area? Could they be
useful?
• If a book you need is checked out, you can have
the library recall it for you
• Remember to ask for help when you need it.
Evaluating Sources
• Hierarchy of credibility:
– Scholarly journal better than People
– Journal articles online better than personal web
pages (anyone can have a web page)
– Scholarly works go through literature reviews,
bibliographies, & indexes to continue the
‘conversation’
– Non-academic usually have only the author’s
voice, nor do they include references
Keep Track
• To avoid frustration later:
– Copy materials you cannot check out and write on
it the author, title, chapter title, editor, date, city,
publisher, & page numbers
– With a computerized index, print out a copy of the
sources you use
– Write down URLs of Internet sources and the date
you visited that site
– While drafting, write author & page number in
margins next to quotes and paraphrases
Finish yesterday’s lecture
Analysis – Visual Texts:
Writing about Popular Culture
• Developing Ideas about Popular Culture
– Active Reading
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Author’s primary argument; Thesis statement
Key terms
Evidence
Underlying assumptions
Style and Tone
Genre
Intended readership
– Take notes, highlight, write summaries
Reading Notes Example
• Our Bodies, Ourselves, very
funny
•Who is Zsa Zsa?
•Eclectic = widely varied
•A guy designed B.
•I never wonder who designed B.
•Yeah!
Emily Prager
“Our Barbies , Ourselves”
I read an astounding obituary in the
New York Times not too long ago. It
concerned the death of one Jack Ryan. A
former husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, it said,
Mr. Ryan had been an inventor and designer
during his lifetime. A man of eclectic
creativity, he designed Sparrow and Hawk
missiles when he worked for the Raytheon
Company, and, the notice said, when he
consulted for Mattel he designed Barbie.
If Barbie was designed by a man,
suddenly a lot of things made sense to me,
things I’d wondered about for years. I used
to look at Barbie and wonder, What’s wrong
with this picture? What kind of woman
designed this doll? Let’s be hones: Barbie
looks like someone who got her start at the
Playboy Mansion. She could be a regular
guest on The Howard Stern Show. It is a fact
of Barbie’s design that her breasts are so
out of proportion to the rest of her body
that if she were a human woman, she’d fall
flat on her face.
Visual Analysis
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Format of the image
Kind of image
Intended audience
Emotions conveyed
Most prominent element
Layout
Text
Calls for a response?
Visual Text Example
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Format: Though b&w here, original in color. Muted colors though – suggests oldfashioned look.
Kind of image: Fairly realistic, rural. Solitary woman, probably in 20s or 30s against
an empty natural expanse. Traditional hairstyle like the 50s or 60s. Old-fashioned
bicycle with wicker basket attached.
Audience: Advertisement for Lee jeans. Audience likely women in 20s or older.
Viewer can project herself into the scene and perhaps even see herself at a
younger time in her life. Says “stretch” jeans so not meant for sexual appeal; rather
to be practical and fit a body that is not a teen’s. Sensible hair and shoes. Might be
interesting to compare to a Guess? ad.
Emotion: Body language suggests individuality and determination; “going it alone”.
Neither posing for or aware of viewer – “what you see is what you get”? Perhaps,
she doesn’t particularly care what others think.
Composition and Layout: Layout designed to lead the eye – hill slopes down
toward left and bike draws eye from bottom right to mid-left – where the jeans
are. For easy readability, text is included at top against blank sky.
Text: message – “The things that give a woman substance will never appear on any
‘what’s in/what’s out’ list” – suggests Lee jeans are for women who aren’t
interested in following trends but want good, old-fashioned value.
Response: Lee Jeans would prefer viewer buy the product. She would identify with
the woman in the ad and be convinced that these practical jeans would make a
good purchase.
Analysis
Writing about Pop Culture, cont.
• Developing ideas about pop culture
– Brainstorm on a topic given by teacher –
freewrite, web, &c.
– Create your own topic:
• Internet search
• Talk to other students to get ideas
• Take ideas from discussions in class
Analysis
Writing about Pop Culture, cont.
• Developing Strong Arguments about Pop
Culture
– Set aside your own personal tastes when writing
an analysis
– Explain hwo it works, what cultural beliefs and
viewpoints underlie it, what its significance is, &c.
– Evidence:
• Carefully analyze the subject itself
• Locate your subject within a larger system (society)
• Use the history of your subject
Closing Thoughts?
• Questions?
• Tonight, actively read the two articles about
Internet research.