First Day Essay Prompt:
Describe the earliest memories you have of speaking, reading, or writing, and discuss the significance of those early events. |
Essay One Prompt: |
•examining cultural narratives• Historically, cultures have been shaped and maintained by large, pervasive myths or narratives that represent the perceived dominant values and belief systems of its people. For instance, the contemporary concept of "family" in the United States—as a tightly defined unit of husband, wife, and children—carries with it broader-reaching assumptions about morality, educaion, citizenship, economic qualification, and so on. This particular myth finds its forms in such varied places as television programs (think of TLC’s A Wedding Story or 7th Heaven), visual arts (the nostalgic imagery of any Norman Rockwell painting) and governmental policies and legislation (the currently enrolled welfare bill under debate argues for the nuclear family as a fundamental unit of stability for welfare recipients). And this is just one of several grand myths that help shape the American cultural consciousness of today. A brief list of others might include such narratives as: public vs. private spheres, national identity, religion, heroism, globalization, and technological progress. This essay asks you to focus on one major cultural narrative. You will not only define the narrative and describe what basic shape it takes, but also point out its various specific instances and analyze how these individual texts function to support the narrative. Keep in mind also that this class examines visual texts and textuality—your examples should reflect this theme. Feel free to pull evidence from your textbook if necessary. 
Due Date:Wednesday, July 3, at the beginning of class; bring enough copies to distribute to me and the members of your reader response group (probably around 5 copies).Format:
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Essay Two Prompt:
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| •comparative ad analysis• In my humble opinion, the world of advertising is a fascinating site for rhetorical analysis—as crass as many commercials and advertisements are, they are also extremely versatile, occasionally sophisticated, and usually effective. That’s why for this essay, we’ll be conducting a comparative rhetorical analysis of two separate ads: either two advertising essentially the same product (for example, pairing a Target and K-Mart commercial in order to see how each attempts to convey a particular image of its company) or two ads by the same company from different media (for instance, analyzing the similarities and differences between a Budweiser commercial and a Budweiser print ad). In order to develop your skills as critical readers of advertisements, it’s important to think beyond the notion of bottom-line profit as their only goal. In developing your analysis, you may want to consider such questions as:
Due Date: Thursday, Octeober 31, at the beginning of class; bring enough copies to distribute to me and the members of your reader response group (probably around 5 copies). Format:
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