research-paper-assignment-for-geography-class-I-am-taking-in-Minnesota-I-will-include-details-
research-paper-assignment-for-geography-class-I-am-taking-in-Minnesota-I-will-include-details-
Here are some details the instructor sent to my email when I asked him about what the research paper should be about. I need someone who can handle it.
Popular Culture/Global Media
Either:
i) Choose a song, several songs (up to 3), a single album, or a particular artist from your impressive CD, MP3, cassette, vinyl or 8-track collection which you think has especial cultural geographical meaning and significance. Write a review of the song(s)/album or artist for Rolling Stone or Q (just pretending of course, I’m not that well connected), and, making connections between the theme or lyrics of the song(s) you’ve chosen and one or more concepts in cultural geography as discussed in class and/or in the readings, explain why geographers everywhere need to put down their maps and listen up. Be sure to quote appropriate lyrics–obscenities and all–and cite the record company with all the credits, like who wrote and produced the song(s) etc. Now don’t get carried away, be sure that there are some geographical themes contained in the song(s) you choose! No mention of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” will be made unless you wish to fail this assignment. Feel free to format your pages to look like a magazine and attach a file of the song or songs into the D2L dropbox as an additional file–I’ll listen to them as I read your paper!
Or:
ii) Write a review of a movie/TV show/commercial that expresses a theme or concept discussed in class and/or in the readings. Imagine you are a avvy media buff with expertise in geography and your review is addressed to that less-than-media-hip variety of geographer–me perhaps. What is the movie/TV show/commercial about, who directed it, who stars in it, and to whom (what audience demographic) is the movie/TV show/commercial directed toward? What’s the basic plot and what geographical ideas or themes does it evoke? Be sure to quote scenes from the movie/TV show/commercial (in the style of a script like a play) and include pictures. You may also upload a short trailer or particular scenes if technology permits.
Or:
iii) Compare a ‘representation’ about a specific global cultural topic, issue or event (one that is not exclusive to or centered on the United States) as it appears in the entertainment media (MTV, the network news stations, Fox News, The Daily Show, Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, or suchlike) with how the same topic, issue or event is handled in a respectable international or national news or documentary source (e.g. BBC News, PBS Frontline, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist Magazine, Time, Newsweek). Specifically what do the different sources convey about the subject, the place and the people and what are the possible consequences of any differences found, and in terms of the audiences reached?
Your optional second paper must be the equivalent of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 double-spaced pages in length, and include a title and a bibliography (see syllabus for further guidelines) and relevant illustrations (not counted in length of paper). You may format this paper as a magazine article so I’ll be less strict about the formatting requirements.
