ENGLISH 1107.11: Reading and Writing about Media and Culture
CC 261, Tues. Thurs., 10:05—11:20 am
Professor: Dr. Mark Silverberg
Office: CC 234
Office Hours: Tues. Thurs. 2 - 4 pm
Office Phone: 563-1150
E-mail:
Course Description:
The main goals of this course are to help students develop reading, writing and critical thinking skills in the context of discussing a wide range of modern mass media. Through readings, films, and discussion in the area of cultural studies, students will learn the vocabulary, concepts, and tools to become more engaged, articulate, and analytical consumers of the media and culture that surrounds us. While we are all immersed in a contemporary landscape of films, television, advertising, social media, and representations of all kinds, we may not take the time to consider the cultural, socioeconomic, and psychological impacts of these media. Students will be encouraged to write more frequently, more freely, and more persuasively and to use writing to discover their own ideas and share them with their communities.
Required Texts:
Popular Culture: A User’s Guide, 3e (Nelson Publishers)
Procedure, Assignments and Workload
I want this class to be a meaningful learning process for all of us. Your participation is valued and is essential for the kind of classroom I intend this to be. In order to be fully involved you should:
· attend class regularly and participate in discussions and homework assignments;
· actively read and think about texts for the day they’re due to be discussed;
· take notes on your own reading, on my lecturing, and on class discussion in general. Come to class with specific questions on the day’s reading (with reference to specific pages)
The more you take an active role in this class the more you stand to gain. I am always happy to offer individual help and consultation. Feel free to drop by during my office hours or make an appointment for another time if these ones don’t suit you.
A few notes for maintaining a respectful classroom environment:
1. Please make every effort to arrive on time and stay for the entire class. If you must leave early, please inform the instructor before class begins.
2. Please turn off and put away phones before class. Phones should not be out during class time.
Evaluation
15% Essay 1 (on advertisements, due Feb. 7)
10% Mid-Term Test (Feb. 16)
25% Research Proposal (5%, March 7) & Research Essay (20%, March 23)
10% Participation: Presentation (5%), Homework (5%)
40% Final Exam
Presentations: What’s happening now in media and culture?
Choose something happening/trending currently in popular culture: a new video, song, film, game, book, website, product, app, technology, news story, etc. In a 5 minute presentation, tell us about it and, most importantly tell us why it matters.
Along with your in class, oral presentation, you will also post an online introduction to the class Moodle site at least 24 hours before your presentation. This could simply be a link to your item (a you tube video, for example), or could be a Word document or Powerpoint that provides more information. During your presentation, feel free to use online technology, powerpoint, etc. and, if appropriate, to play a 1 minute clip (no longer) to highlight some aspect of your subject. The most important part of the presentation, however, is the second question: Why does it matter? Why is it trending at the moment? What does it tell us about our society? about the state of popular culture? about new developments in a medium or in technology (i.e. new developments in video games or music, etc.). Why are you interested this thing and why should we be? This key part of the presentation requires you to be analytical—to think about what it means, or how it works and why it matters.
Presentations will be graded using the following rubric:
/10 Clarity Organization: material presented in a clear, concise way. Introduction provided on Moodle
/10 Oral Presentation Skill: clear, articulate, confident, practiced
/10 Analysis & Insight: Presenter doesn’t just summarize but analyzes, making an interesting suggestion about why their topic matters
Essays
All students can receive FREE personalized, individual help with essays (at any stage of development) from CBU Writing Center (http://www.cbu.ca/writing-centre)
· All essays must be typed or word-processed, double spaced, with a one-inch margins on all sides of the page.
· All pages should be numbered and stapled together.
· Put your name, date, course, professor’s name, and essay title (give essays original titles, not just “essay #1”) at the top of the first page of your essay.
· Use as standard size font—Times Roman 12 point is a good choice (you do not want a font much bigger or much smaller). Avoid fancy graphics or distracting fonts.
· Essays must meet university-level standards for basic grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, and formatting. Essays with more than 5 errors per page will receive a failing grade. Students who do not pass have the option to re-write papers. Those wishing to re-write must make an arrangement with me within one week of the paper’s return. Original, graded papers with my comments must be submitted along with the revision. Improvements must be made in both grammar and content. Students will receive the average of the first grade and new grade.
· Please keep a copy of every assignment you hand in, even after you have submitted a hard copy. This is a good policy for all classes in the rare event that a paper gets lost or misplaced.
Late Policy
Essays are due in class on the assigned date. I DO NOT ACCEPT E-MAILED ESSAYS (except under exceptional circumstances). If you are unable to be in class that day, make an arrangement with me at least 24 hours in advance. Late assignments will receive a penalty of –2%/day for each business day late. Late penalty starts one hour after class concludes on the day due and continues for up to one week late (-10%). After a week I will not accept assignments, unless special arrangements have been made in advance. Please come talk to me if there are exceptional circumstances that prevent you from finishing assignments on time.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism means taking another person’s words or ideas as your own without properly acknowledging their source. This can include anything from buying an essay, hiring someone to write it for you, downloading one off the internet, copying sentences or phrases from an unacknowledged source, or using someone else’s ideas (whether in direct quotation or paraphrase) without giving them credit. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. A full definition of plagiarism and the university’s official procedure for dealing with instances of plagiarism can be found in the current Academic Calendar. Avoid unintentional plagiarism by making sure you keep careful record of any ideas or text you’ve borrowed from other sources. When working with text on the internet, always cut and paste the URL at the top of your page so you’ll be able to easily refer back and cite your source.
Also note: The only acceptable source for essay tutoring assistance is the CBU Writing Center. Private tutors cannot be used to help with essays for this class.