Pick some aspect of popular culture you’ve found yourself captivated or otherwise intrigued through—a music form, gossip magazines, a toy, blogging, celebrity past or present, fashion, film, TV sit-com or drama, a video game, reality tv, home shopping, a sports team, mall or outlet shopping, etc. Your interest might be current or past. Now demonstrate what you’ve learned from studying popular culture, by not simply "consuming" it (although discuss how you do that too!), but by the interpreting your fascination with it.
Write down a formal piece of writing, 5-7 pages in length by using APA paper format (no abstract required) and citation guidelines.
In your paper, you should:
1. Give a rationale explaining why your pop culture interest is suitable for the popular culture course.
2. Discuss how the topic is significant, SOCIOLOGICALLY.
3. Use any three theories we’ve covered in class (e.g., controlling images, McDonaldization, simulacrum, consumer society, cultivation, leisure) and discussed in lectures and/or readings, to give a more scholarly explanation for your interest.
4. Describe what American values assist explain the existence of this pop culture artifact or phenomenon. (e.g., think regarding the film Flashdance. What larger cultural messages about competition, hard work, individualism, and success helped make that film such a hit?)
5. Has the pop cultural phenomenon or artifact generated social policy debate controversy (that is, song lyrics of the Marilyn Manson, Rev. Jerry Falwell’s comments regarding the Teletubbies, video games, Bum Fights, junk food)? Why or why not?
6. Scholarly Outside resources. Employ a minimum of three scholarly resources (book or peer-reviewed journal article), in addition to our book and assigned course readings and course lectures.
7. Provide a copy of your paper to Turnitin. See Turnitin section under the Course Home for instructions.
Topic Submission: Topics should be submitted and approved in Week 2 Discussion thread titled paper topics.