For this final production of the semester you will take on the role of a cultural critic and reflect on some work of popular culture (television shows, movies, in particular come to mind, but almost any mass media, including advertising, social media, etc. will do), and using the skills you’ve developed this semester of looking beneath the surface of texts, reveal what goes unsaid, deconstruct its assumptions, and illuminate its secrets.

Three options for how you might proceed:

• Write a paper, three pages in length (about the length of a standard movie review in a newspaper);
• Create a podcast in which you deliver your thoughts perhaps in the manner of a radio movie reviewer (though creative approaches are encouraged); this option will also require a brief written statement of purpose;
• Create a video in which you make your points about the work (format and approach open to your interpretation); as in bullet two above, this would require a brief written statement of purpose.
This paper is a chance for you to be creative and perhaps have fun. Go beyond in your use of language. Be that “cerebral berserk deacon of words” (Eminem) you always knew yourself to be.

Due date: Monday, December 14 (last day of class)

Grade: The grade will be based on the work you turn in on the last day of class (in whatever format you choose) AND a brief presentation you’ll deliver to class during our final meeting of the semester, which will take place during the time assigned for our final: Monday, December 21, in A-713.