XIDS 2100-T04: American Media and the Arts
University of West Georgia, Summer 2012
CRN: 50781
Class Meetings: M-F, 10am-11:45
Room: Humanities 209
Instructor: Dr. Melanie Jordan
Office: TLC 2221
Phone: 678-839-4156
Email: melaniej@westga.edu
Office Hours: M, W: 12:30-1:50
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will explore how media forms and mediations of perspective shape audiences’
understandings of events in modern American culture. Students will examine the defining
characteristics of different media forms ( television, photojournalism, short and long fiction and
nonfiction works, popular music, etc.) and will examine how the construction and projection of
textual, aural, and visual images shape meaning and influence broader discussions of events.
The course will proceed through a series of units: the examination of particular media
phenomena, exploration of texts that examine the mechanisms of media, and a discussion of a
particular historical phenomenon from several mediated perspectives (e.g., a work of
nonfiction, a graphic novel, a film). This trajectory will enable students to become more
intellectually engaged participants in contemporary cultural debates.
REQUIRED TEXTS
 The Hunger Games
 Almost Famous
 a series of critical essays, commercials, images, and other relevant documents will be
made available via CourseDen, course packet, and/or in class.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Students will demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics that define
and differentiate literary, filmic and visual texts.
 Students will be able to apply this understanding to analyze the relationship
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between form and meaning.
Students will be able to explain how diverse modes of humanistic and artistic
endeavor contribute to an understanding of the media in America.
Students will be able to produce written work that synthesizes evidence
effectively in organized, specific, and focused paragraphs to support analytical
claims.
Students will demonstrate the ability in informal and formal writing contexts to
express ideas using concise and rhetorically appropriate academic English.
Students will demonstrate the ability to produce a thesis-driven essay that
analyzes text in relation to “real world” questions of social, cultural, or thematic
significance.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
As a writing-intensive XIDS class, the writing exercises will foster both individual exploration of
ideas, analytical critical questions, cultural or historical contexts, and, ultimately, thesis-driven
argument. Writing assignments will build on each other and will engage students in discussion
of the characteristics of both visual media and written texts.
Required Assignments
 Reading Journal
 Visual Image Analysis
 Writing #1: Paragraph
 Writing #2: Short Critical Essay (2 pages)
 Writing #3: Longer Critical Essay (4 pages)
 Visual Image Analysis
 Final Creative Project (plus Weekly Milestone assignments related to this project)
Evaluation
15% Course Participation (attendance, small group workshops, quizzes, daily work, Weekly
Milestones, etc.) (150 pts.)
20% Reading Journal (200)
10% Writing #1 (100)
20% Writing #2 (200)
20% Writing #3 (200)
15% Final Creative Project (150)
Total Possible Points: 1000
SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS
UNIT 1: Media Influence and Fandom
Monday, 2 July: Intro to the course – CourseDen, syllabus, etc. Discussion of previous writing
experience and history; brainstorming about the course topic; discussion of journal
expectations; Writing Exercise: an in-class paragraph which responds to a visual distributed in
class.
Tuesday, 3 July: Discussion of Media and Its Influence: Watkins’ “Fast Multitasking and
Entertainment in an Always-On World” due; journal exercise based on Watkins; Writing:
discussion of The Writing Process; discussion of Myths and Urban Legends surrounding that
mysterious task of Writing; grammar diagnostic
Wednesday, 4 July: NO CLASS
Thursday, 5 July: Fandom: Discussion of different types of fandom and stereotypes
surrounding those fandoms; Matheson’s “The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life”
due(excerpts); Show KAWS artwork –discussion of his use of the Simpsons; Simpsons clips;
Writing: discussion of paragraph structure and development
Friday, 6 July: Fandom: The Cult of the Dead Celebrity --Cat Power’s “I Don’t Blame You” and
REM’s “Let Me In”; clips from Last Days and discussion of social media as it responds to
celebrity; small group discussion/brainstorming; journal assignment; Writing #1: Paragraph
assigned –draft due Monday.
Monday, 9 July: Paragraph analysis workshop; Introduction to Almost Famous + analysis of
movie poster and trailer; “The Hollywood Sign” due; how to take notes on a film
Tuesday, 10 July: WRITING #1 DUE; Analysis of Almost Famous; A.O. Scott’s and Roger Ebert’s
reviews; Writing #2: Short Essay assigned –draft due Friday
UNIT 2: Representing Mechanisms of Media: Advertising and Reality TV
Wednesday, 11 July: Advertising and Consumer Culture: Coke, McDonald’s commercials in
class; Gladwell’s “True Colors” due; Writing: troubleshooting big problems with the essay and
choosing strong verbs
Thursday, 12 July: Advertising and Consumer Culture: Toys – Prager’s “Our Barbies, Ourselves”
bell hooks’ “Baby” and Natasha Trethewey’s poem, “Blonde”; Janice D’Arcy’s article on Lego
and Orenstein’s “Should the World of Toys Be Gender-Free?” + Barbie images
Friday, 13 July: Draft Workshop; Conceptual and Stylistic Revisions; Feedback from Writing #1
Monday, 16 July: WRITING #2 DUE; Initial Discussion of The Hunger Games (bring the text to
class)
Tuesday, 17 July: The Hunger Games (first 1/3 due); Writing #3 assigned(draft due Friday);
addressing the basics of the book –plot, character, pacing, etc.; syntactic emulations of Collins’
prose; examining her book as a piece of writing
Wednesday, 18 July: The Hunger Games (second third due); brainstorming the bigger ideas of
the book – what does it say about American media? What does it say about gender? What does
it say about fandom? What are the bigger topics for discussion? What connections do you see?
Thursday, 19 July: finish book and Fish’s “Staging the Self: The Hunger Games”; journal
assignment about The Hunger Games and Fish
Friday, 20 July: Draft and Editing Workshop; Addressing content and polishing sentences
Monday, 23 July: WRITING #3 DUE; Creative Project Work
Tuesday, 24 July: Creative Project Work
Wednesday, 25 July: FINAL DAY OF CLASS: Visual Image Response Redux; we’ll return to that
image we examined at the beginning…what’s changed?