In this assignment, you will sharpen the following skills: (1) Analyzing varied pieces of media for effectiveness by assessing genre, audience, purpose, and craft; (2) Crafting proper paragraphs using concrete details (specific quotes and examples) to support a point (topic sentence); (3) Differentiating between summary, analysis, and opinion.
The Assignment:
• Review the blog entry and the video below. Both pieces make a statement about gender bias in toys.
o Blog Link:
https://www.dirtandnoise.com/2010/12/gender-bias-in-the-toy-aisles.html (Code: Personal Blog)
o YouTube Video Link: “Princess Machine” by Goldiblox
https://www.goldieblox.com/pages/beastie-boys-rube-goldberg-machine (Code: Video Parody)
• Select one of the two pieces (either the blog or the video) to work with on this assignment. Do not compare both for this task.
• After you review the pieces, you should compose three paragraphs using the MEAL plan structure
https://learners.ncu.edu/writingprogram/writing_center.aspx?menu_id=121 for paragraph writing (hand out in assigned reading); your first paragraph should be a summary of the piece; your second paragraph should be an analysis of the piece’s effectiveness; your third paragraph should be your personal response and opinion to the piece.
• Each paragraph should have a topic sentence (main idea), evidence (specific examples), analysis, and a link to a larger purpose.
• As always, proper spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, etc. should be used.
Your response will follow this format:
Paragraph One: Summary of one piece
Paragraph Two: Analysis of one piece arguing effectiveness level
Paragraph Three: Your opinion of the topic
The most important paragraph in this assignment is your analytical paragraph (Paragraph Two). For this paragraph, you should make a point about the effectiveness of the piece in your topic sentence, and the rest of your paragraph should support that point with evidence and analysis. You should use small quotes, and/or concrete examples from blog or video to illustrate your points.