W101: Millennial Masculinities



ENGL 101: Millennial Masculinities

Dr. V. Elmwood

Tulane University English Department

214 Norman Mayer

Office Hours: R 2-5 PM and by appointment

email:velmwood@tulane.edu

As this an introduction to academic writing, this course will require you to develop skills necessary to persuasively demonstrating a complex set of argumentative claims. Furthermore, W101 requires all students to master the task of engaging with and responding to the ideas of others on a particular subject while also correctly referencing those ideas according to widely accepted guidelines. We will spend class time learning about all stages of the writing process and improving persuasive techniques that are necessary for engaging in carefully supported and clearly reasoned argumentation. Students will receive training in efficient brainstorming, drafting, interpreting evidence and using it to advance a claim, developing strong thesis statements, citing secondary sources, and managing the revision process. At the level of language, we will also discuss issues of style and correctness with an eye to communicating nuanced ideas in as clear a manner as possible.

In this class, you will write four major papers that require you to master different analytic tasks, all of which you will utilize not only in your other college courses but in your professional life after the university. These interpretive maneuvers include: producing a close reading of a visual or verbal text; breaking a text down into its constitutive parts, defining a problem, question or concept; identifying and interpreting a pattern and deviations from that pattern; and comparing and contrasting a number of related objects. Smaller written assignments will give you an opportunity to try out and practice these different operations before performing them in papers that constitute a larger percentage of your final grade.

This section of ENGL 101 will focus on the question of gender in American popular culture from roughly 1995-2005. We will address masculinity (and, since the two are inseparable, femininity, as well) from three thematic perspectives: violence, sexuality, and political leadership. We will ask how larger socio-political tensions in the past decade have been expressed in the domain of mass media and mass culture. More specifically, we’ll consider the extent to which the gender roles, values, and ideals offered by mass culture seek to relieve or at least respond to social stress in the non-mediated world. How do we identify as a national group, unified or not, and how do popularly imagined gender ideals and imperatives – expressed in part through behaviors, postures, paraphernalia, and division of labor – work to structure the reality we perceive and the expectations we have of ourselves and others. Over the course of the semester, we will analyze personae and narratives both fictional and actual, from New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin to Hedwig Robinson to George W. Bush to Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden. The major questions about gender that motivate this course include the following:

• What models of masculinity characterize the American cultural landscape during the five years leading up to and away from the millennium?

• Do we see a large degree of agreement on prescribed gender roles and associated values or are there different camps, each urging their own specific variety of different gender positions? If there are distinct camps, what might they be and which are the most commonly accepted?

• What are the key issues over which the debates about masculinity seem to crystallize?

• How does femininity appear (or disappear) as the implicit negation of or counterpoint to masculinity?

• How do identity categories like race, ethnicity, class, spirituality, or sexuality function to specify different social questions that solicit a distinctly gendered response?

• Which institutions seem to bear the greatest burdens in terms of presenting spaces or instances for the creation of gender distinction (for example, the family, the workplace, the criminal justice system, the church, or social services)?

Required Texts:

Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003. (Please note: it is NOT acceptable to view the film in lieu of reading the book.)

Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham-Carter. 1999.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Dir. John Cameron Mitchell. Perf. John Cameron Mitchell, Stephen Trask, and Miriam Shor. 2001.

All critical essays will be available through e-reserves and will be listed by author’s last name and by title both on the syllabus and on e-reserves.

The course password for e-reserves is: oleander

Email and Blackboard: I expect all students to have active email accounts that they check regularly during the school week. Updates will sometimes be sent out over email and handouts will be posted to Blackboard, but I will always ensure that any important assignments reach you in a timely fashion. I may also post brief supplementary readings or multi-media materials such as music videos or commercials on Blackboard. Again, you will be notified of this in advance. Please email me ONLY if you will be unable to discuss a question with me in person. My email address is: velmwood@tulane.edu

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will I accept ANY assignments over email. Hard copies must be submitted on time during the class period for which they are due.

Class Participation: I expect you to come to class having thoroughly read, annotated, and then reviewed each reading assignment. In addition, you are expected to contribute actively and thoughtfully to all classroom discussions. I will interpret a student’s lack of participation as a sign that she has not done the day’s reading.

Grade Breakdown:

Eight 1-page responses 150 pts. (15 %)

Paper 1 150 pts. (15%)

Paper 2 200 pts. (20%)

Paper 3 250 pts. (25%)

Paper 4 250 pts. (25%)

1000 pts. (100%)

*Also, be sure to keep backup copies (electronic or hard copy) of any papers you turn in to me should unfortunate circumstances cause papers to be lost or stolen. Do not discard graded copies of assignments.

Grading Scale: Grades are assigned on a 10-point scale: 100-90=A-range, 89-80=B-range, etc.

Pluses and minuses are scored as follows: 80-83=B-, 84-86=B, and 87-89=B+

Note: I do not assign pluses or minuses for grades below the C-level.

Attendance: I regard absenteeism as a serious problem. You are allowed three absences per semester. For every absence above three, your overall score for the class will be dropped by an entire letter grade (ten points). For example, a 77 (C+) will become a 67 (D). Only religious holidays and approved university activities (performances and athletic events in which one is a participant) constitute excused absences. Please note that this does NOT include illnesses or emergencies. Tardiness will be dealt with as necessary.

Late Papers and Makeup Work: I do not allow work to be turned in late under any circumstances. I will not grade late papers.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another’s words, images, or ideas in your own work. We will use official MLA citation format as it appears in the SIXTH Edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers which is available in the library and elsewhere. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism, please make an appointment or see me during office hours to discuss this.

Evidence of plagiarism by any student will result in a final grade of “F” for the class as well as immediate expulsion from my classroom for the remainder of the semester.

Writing Studio: As a Tulane student, free tutoring is available to you at any point in the writing process. Half-hour tutoring sessions are available M-R and on Sundays but due to Katrina, hours are limited. Please contact the Writing Studio to make an appointment at ext. 5103. They’re always happy to help you. FYI: appointments are generally in high demand, so be sure to call WELL IN ADVANCE to schedule help with a paper.

Reading Schedule

Week 1

R: Introduction

Begin Unit 1: Violence and Masculinity

Week 2

T: Fausto-Sterling, Anne. “How to Build a Man,” 244-48.

R: Hammond, Dorothy and Alta Jablow. “Gilgamesh and the Sundance Kid: the Myth of Male Friendship.” 241-58.

Week 3

T: Butler, Judith. “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire,” 278-85 AND “Excerpt from ‘Introduction’ to Bodies That Matter”’ 531-42. PAPER 1 ROUGH DRAFT DUE TODAY IN CLASS

R: Filene, Peter. “In Time of War.” 321-35.

Prompt for Filene’s “In Time of War”

Mimic the summary and response assignment in your 1-page response paper for "In Time of War." Write a very brief summary in which you rehearse Filene's account of the different ways that service in WWI was understood by Americans on the homefront and by American servicemen in their letters home. Then, in your response, relate Filene's picture of WWI as an antidote to a sagging national mettle to EITHER Hammond and Jablow's OR Butler's essays. Consider either of the two following questions:

1. How do the WWI ideals that interest Filene contrast with the values that Hammond and Jablow highlight in their treatment of the tradition of male friendship?

2. How might we see norms of gender identity or gendered behavior being established in Filene's account of national (and individual) responses to WWI? What kinds of values or ideals do these prescriptive norms favor or uphold? How does this essay ("In Time of War" tell us something about how norms might even be established in the first place?

Week 4

T: Traube, Elizabeth G. “Transforming Heroes: Hollywood and the Demonization of Women.” 97-122. PAPER 1 FINAL DRAFT DUE TODAY IN CLASS

R: Fight Club (1999)

Prompt for Dir. David Fincher's Fight Club

Apply to Fight Club the ideas or theories about masculinity or male identity from any of the authors we've read so far in the course. For example, you might address how the movie's protagonists provide an alternative masculinity as a protest against a norm that they find unsatisfying? What is this new norm? What values define it? Does it define itself in opposition to or in competition with another version of masculinity? How does it seek to spread or propagate itself? Is there a point in the film at which Durden and the narrator's performance of gender seems to fall in the realm of the abject? If so, when/where?

Or, how about Hammond and Jablow's theoretical framework of male friendship? How could the section of their thesis about masculinity during the inudstrial, bureaucratic period give us some beneficial insights on or new ways to understand male friendship and the solace that it promises its participants from the rest of the outside world? Or, how could Traube's ideas about female characters in the late 1980's be extended to interpret Helena Bonham-Carter's character, Marla? (Or the narrator?) Here, you might especially consider the end of the film in which the narrator chooses to kill off Tyler Durden and seems to choose a normative heterosexual relationship with her.

Above all, be sure to concentrate on producing a response that does more than merely repeating our theorists' ideas. Instead, the high-scoring response will text, expand, or elaborate on these ideas.

Week 5

T: Dale, Alan. “Comedy is a Man in Trouble”

Prompt for Alan Dale's "Comedy is a Man in Trouble"

This prompt has two parts, each of which should take up approximately 1/2 of a SINGLE-SPACED page. Together, they should (obviously) add up to a whole single-spaced one-page response.

Part 1.

In your own words, produce a detailed and descriptive definition of slapstick as Dale describes it in this essay, making sure to include not only the recurring signature moves of the genre but also the more general attitudes about life, the body, and the world (both the physical and the social world) that Dale attributes to slapstick.

Part 2.

Scan pages 1-7 of the essay for Dale's verbal descriptions of both visual and verbal slapstick, noting how his careful description of certain gags strives to retain the gags' humor even in the verbal paraphrasing of them. Think of TWO slapstick gags, either on your own or from movies or TV shows you've seen recently. In your own words, write a brief summary of each of these two gags (which may be visual or verbal). In writing these descriptions, do you best to communicate or leave intact the humor of the gag itself, as you might notice Dale attempts to do in relating the gags that he mentions in these first few pages of the essay. (Here, I'll be looking more for an effective communication of the gags in your paraphrase of them rather than whether they strictly qualify as slapstick or not.)

R: Jackass or Viva La Bam

Prompt for Jackass

Choose a single segment from volume 3 of Jackass and identify the ways in which that segment demonstrates some slapstick-like characteristics. Be sure to refer back to some of the signature components or moves of slapstick that we discussed from the Alan Dale essay.

Then, consider what elements of that segment are NOT characteristic of what Dale defines loosely as slapstick. If you feel you need to refer to a different segment for this portion of the assignment, that's fine.

Finish your response by speculating about whether these non-slapstick elements work against the idea that the weakness of the human body is a great leveling tool that emphasizes the limits and simplicity of human beings. Essentially, look for elements that don't fit into this essentially humble or humbling quality of slapstick.

Week 6

T: Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003.

Prompt for Day 1 of Jarhead

In roughly the first third of his memoir, Anthony Swofford seems to display a range of emotions about the Marine Corps, its culture, and various groups within the Corps (such as the STA). Choose TWO specific passages in which Swofford identifies himself either with or against the Corps. In your response, use these two passages to demonstrate and explain what you think Swofford's attitude towards the Marine Corps is.

R: Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003.

Prompt for Day 2 of Jarhead

In many of the critical essays we've looked at for this class (Filene, Traube, and Hammond and Jablow, for example), there's a clear sense of feat that twentieth-century American masculinity is somehow in danger or is compromised by mass cultural commodity culture. What is Swofford's attitude towards creature comforts? Is it similar to or different from that of his fellow Marines? What are the other threat (outside from a violent death during wartime) to American men or to the imagined caliber of their masculinity?

Begin Unit 2 on Masculinity and Sexuality

Week 7

T: Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003. PAPER 2 ROUGH DRAFT DUE TODAY IN CLASS

Prompt for Day 3 of Jarhead

Consider the persistent 20th-century fear that we've seen (both in the Filene reading about WWI soldiers and in _Fight Club_) that the vigor and fortitude of the nation's men suffers from the development of bureaucracy, consumer culture, and an emphasis on domesticity. What are the concerns about masculinity and American men that occupy Swofford in his memoir? What remedies does he suggest? How much faith does he seem to have in these remedies?

R: West, Cornel. “Black Sexuality.” from Race Matters.

Prompt for Cornel West's "Black Sexuality"

In the first half of your response, catalog and explain the different myths about black sexuality that West addresses. Be sure to include the typology enumerated on 119-20 and distinguish between the different popular conceptions of or beliefs about straight black male sexuality, gay black male sexuality, straight female sexuality, and lesbian black female sexuality (127-30).

Next, describe an instance in which we might be able to observe an example of the myths West is talking about. Is a particular aspect of these myths being reinforced (reinvoked) or is it being questioned or replaced with an alternative image or identity (as West would like to see)?

Week 8

T: LIBRARY DAY PAPER 2 FINAL DRAFT DUE TODAY IN CLASS

R: Neal, Steve. “Masculinity as Spectacle.” 9-20 and hooks, bell. “Selling Hot Pussy.” (pages 65-75). In class we’ll watch two music videos: Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” and Nelly’s “Grillz.”

Prompts for Steve Neale's "Masculinity as Spectacle" AND bell hooks' "Selling Hot Pussy"

Treat these as 2 separate prompts -- if you complete both, EACH response should be one single-spaced page and you will receive credit for TWO prompts, not one. Alternately, you may only choose to complete either one of the two.

"Masculinity as Spectacle"

In the first part of your response, define either set of the following terms, as Neale describes them in his essay:

1. narcissistic identification and fractured identification OR

2. voyeurism and fetishism (also referred to as fetishistic scopophilia)

Next, give illustrations of both phenomena in the pair you've just defined, using an example from a film you've recently seen or remember particularly well.

"Selling Hot Pussy"

Flip through a recent copy of any poular women's magazine or celebrity gossip publication, paying attention to any ads or major visual layouts that feature black celebs or models. Select one or two specific photos or images and describe whether it resonates with (or deviates from) the stock types of black female sexuality that hooks identifies in mainstream late-twentieth century American culture. Be sure to provide clear evidence explaining how and why your photo fits or doesn't fit some of the preconceived notions about black feminine sexuality that hooks argues dominate American popular culture. Be sure to staple a copy of the photo(s) you discuss to your response.

Week 9

T: Halberstam, Judith. “Mackdaddy, Superfly, Rapper: Gender, Race, and Masculinity in the Drag King Scene.” Social Text 52/53 (Autumn/Winter 1997): 104-31.

Prompt for "Mackdaddy, Superfly, Rapper"

Imagine your own drag act, either male or female, to be performed by you or one of your friends. Describe in detail the kind of persona the act would entail as well as the performer who would perform it. What kind of identity would be up on stage and how would the performer (again, either you or someone you know) communicate this identity to the audience? Dress? Posture? Accessories? Accent? Performance of song, dance, comedy, skit, trick, instrument? Would the performance critique (that is, be critical of) the character it was performing or would it seek to reinterpret that character more resepctfully, as Halberstam describes in her analogy to sampling in rap (123). What would it play up or selectively remove from the character that the act would mimic? Would this be significant in terms of the performer engaging in the impersonation, as it is with Shon's performance of George Michaels or Retro's performance of "white trash?" Explain.

R: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001): to be screened in class.

Prompt for Hedwig and the Angry Inch

TWO options:

1. Compare Hedwig’s style of drag to Yitzhak’s style of drag. Though one is a man dressing as a woman and the other is a woman dressing as a man, they both seem to perform their cross-gendered identities differently. If it helps, you can refer back to Halberstam’s article about drag kings. What might each character/actor’s style of drag suggest about gender, about masculinity and femininity?

OR

2. Consider the relationships that Hedwig is involved in over the course of the narrative – with Luther, Tommy, and Yithzak. How does she behave in each, and how might you interpret her behavior over time in light of some of the comments made in the film about power (pay attention!)?

Week 10

T: Discussion Day for Hedwig and the Angry Inch Paper 3 Presentations.

R: Sontag, Susan. (“Notes on Camp,” 275-92.) AND Will and Grace AND Paper 3 Presentations.

We'll do an exercise tomorrow in class that will ask you to (1) define camp in your own words and (2) give an example of something that you think is camp and explain why. I'll have everyone write this out in class and you'll have the opportunity to go home, revise and polish it, type it up, and turn it in after the weekend (Monday or Tuesday). Part of my purpose in doing this is to have us get a little more experience with revision under our belts. PLEASE DO REMEMBER TO BRING A COPY OF THE READING TO CLASS TOMORROW.

Begin Unit 3 on Masculinity and Leadership

Week 11

T: Jeffords, Susan. (“The Bush Style,” 91-103) Paper 3 Presentations.

Prompt for "The Bush Style"

Consider the interpretive claims that Jeffords makes about the films she discusses in detail in this essay, _Twins_ and _Batman_. First, explain (using your own words) the ideological parallels that she draws between George Bush the elder's political situation in the late 1980s/early 1990s and these two different films. What are the key organizing contrasts (either/or patterns) in _Batman_ and _Twins_ and how do they related to George Bush, according to Jeffords?

Then, see if you can think of any ideological parallels between the current political situation and the central conflict or action of a recent popular film. In other words, see if you can try and do the same thing with contemporary popular film that Jeffords does with late 80s/early 90s films and Bush's attempts to construct a political identity that would distinguish him from his wildly popular predecessor while still appealing to Americans' sensibilities. (You need not use the president as the focal point of your discussion -- there may be some other contemporary theme that serves as this focus.)

You might consider the contention that the American constituency is bitterly divided into two particular and opposed groups (conservative and liberal), that "values" (whatever this might mean) are of key importance over particular issues and platforms, or that the U.S. is being threatened by a covert group of people both at home and abroad and that attacks from this group may happen at any time.

R: Peer Review Day for Paper 3 AND PAPER 3 ROUGH DRAFT DUE TODAY IN CLASS

Week 12

T: Hart, Roderick P. “Speech and Action: Building the Presidential Image,” 43-76.

R: PAPER 3 FINAL DRAFT DUE TODAY IN CLASS

Week 13

T: Research Tutorial Day

R: Thanksgiving Break – enjoy and be safe.

Week 14

T: Page, Helan A. “’Black Male’ Imagery and Media Containment of African American Men.” American Anthropologist 99.1 (Mar 1997): 99-111.

Prompt for "'Black Male' Imagery and Media Containment of African American Men"

For this, the prompt for the final 1-page paper of the semester, write an essay question of your own devising for this essay. As part of your question, include some kind of coaching on how best to answer the question. In addition to composing this response question, also include a healthy paragraph of several sentences in which you give a detailed account of what the key elements and pieces of information are that you expect to see addressed in the response to your question.

R: Peer Review Day 4 COPIES OF PAPER 4 ROUGH DRAFT DUE IN CLASS

Week 15

T: Peer Review Day 2 COPIES OF PAPER 4 ROUGH DRAFT REVISED DUE

R: Conclusion and Course Evaluations FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER 4 DUE IN CLASS

Paper Sequence

W101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

1-Page Response Instruction Sheet

You are responsible for eight 1-page responses over the course of the semester. As three of these responses will be accounted for by the in-class presentation for Paper 3 and the Peer Review worksheets for Paper 4, you must turn in five (5) responses that you will generate on your own. These responses should be single-spaced with 1” margins and written in 12 pt. font.

I will generally try to supply you with a prompt – a very brief paragraph of a couple sentences that helps to focus your response to the evening’s reading and which will include a couple open-ended questions to get you started on your own line of inquiry. I’ll get these prompts posted to the Blackboard site no later than the evening before the day we discuss them in class. Each response is due on the day of class during which we will discuss that reading.

W101 Paper 1: Summary and Response Dr. Elmwood/Fall 06

(3-4 pp., 15% of final grade, 150 points)

Rough Draft Due: M.Sept. 11/T Sept. 12

Final Draft Due: M Sept. 18/T Sept. 19

Prompt: Hammond and Jablow outline a shifting, trans-historical picture of ideas about male friendship by examining literary or epic narratives of celebrated male characters, both actual and fictional. As part of your summary, give a clear account of the different stages or models that the authors cite in tracing the broad historical development of male friendship in Western civilization. Then, using your knowledge of contemporary American mass culture, respond to the authors’ hypothesis about the nature of male friendship in the modern industrial period, at least as it appears in popular contemporary narratives about either fictional or actual male friends. Make sure that your response goes beyond merely reasserting the authors’ claims about male friendship by testing, expanding, or elaborating on Hammond and Jablow’s theories about male friendship

Summary and Response (Hammond and Jablow, “Gilgamesh and the Sundance Kid: The Myth of Male Friendship”)

• Explain abstract concepts or ideas through opposition, illustration/example, or perhaps metaphor.

• Clearly define key terms that the authors rely on to make her argument.

• Link important terms. For example, are certain words related through opposition? Do some terms serve to clarify or explain others? Do the authors replace one term with another? For what reasons?

• Prioritize and omit carefully, given the page limit. Which issues seem to have greater weight for your authors?

• Emphasize the more general importance of the author’s argument (the “so what?” problem). Remember, too, to strike a balance between the forest and the trees; that is, avoid being either overly general or overly specific to the exclusion of material worthy to be included in your summary.

• Respond and expand, test, or elaborate on the authors’ ideas rather than simply identifying another simple illustration of them. How can you suggest a small addition or alteration to the authors’ ideas about or definition of gender?

Feedback to be received: Global comments from me

Grading Criteria (Papers need not contain all criteria to qualify at a particular level):

The A paper will provide a complex and coherent discussion of the main terms and concepts that concern Hammond and Jablow in their essay. Displays a comfort with and grasp of ideas enough to explain with a minimum of verbatim (word-for-word) quotation. The response portion of the paper should go beyond merely repeating what the author has already established by questioning, testing, critiquing, or adding to the conceptualization of gender that the author establishes in the essay. Contains few or no grammatical errors.

The B paper will give a fairly clear account of Hammond and Jablow’s thesis, with some omissions or oversights. The summary will contain a good amount of original wording, but borrowed language may distract a bit from the authors’ original voice. The paper’s response portion attempts to introduce a new line of inquiry or test the authors’ conception of gender but may not be entirely convincing in its execution of this response. Contains minor grammatical errors.

The C paper either misconstrues the authors’ ideas in some significant way or uses verbatim quotation to such an extent that it is clear s/he has not grasped the key terms and ideas of Hammond and Jablow’s essay. The response section does not extend or test their ideas in any new ways but merely reasserts them. Grammatical errors, too, may impede the paper’s readability.

The D paper quotes excessively or misrepresents Hammond and Jablow’s ideas, using key terms incorrectly and mentioning details of only minor significance. The response portion misapplies the authors’ ideas and is thus largely irrelevant to her discussion of gender. Contains significant grammatical errors.

The F paper demonstrates little to no understanding of the ideas and concepts that Hammond and Jablow bring up in their essay. May contain large quotes that only recycle the authors’ words in order to give the impression of a summary. Fails to include a response to the article and may contain significant grammar errors.

W101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

Paper 2 (5-6 pages; 200 points, 20% of final grade)

The Assignment Basics: This paper will be an essay that focuses on the cognitive task of compare and contrast. Write about two films, one of which must be Fight Club. Choose the second from the following list: American Beauty, Jerry Maguire, Office Space, and Three Kings.

Write an essay in which you consider two films and what they say in their narratives about bureaucratization, mass culture/commodity culture or materialism, and these developments’ effects on the overall state of American masculinity as represented by each film’s protagonist(s). The essay should address how the films demonstrate the challenges or problems that confront American men at the end of the twentieth century. Who or what are the demons and obstacles? What are the challenges and the solutions suggested by each film? Furthermore, how are each film’s suggestions about these different and/or similar? Which things do both films seem to agree on and on which points of analysis do they differ?

You may refer to any of the critical essays we’ve read in class so far, but you are not required to do this until Paper 3. Keep in mind, too, that Paper 4 will allow you to revise and re-use a portion of a previous paper (up to 35%).

Some large-scale issues to keep in mind as you plan your rough draft for Paper B:

• Compare/contrast two primary texts that we’ve discussed in the class; to do this, you’ll need to break it up into parts (characters, setting, action, mood, etc.) and explain how Stress the more surprising of the two (comparison or contrast) by addressing it second;

• Structure to emphasize the more important half without losing intensity all around by using a parallel or serial organizational scheme.

• Produce an interpretation of each text’s commentary on gender models, areas of concern or crisis, suggestions for the resolution of a problem. Then, synthesize an argument in which you consider these two commentaries side-by-side in terms of how they conceptualize gender, what gender roles they address, and how certain beliefs about gender order our social world.

Feedback to be received: Global comments and some individual comments from me.

Grading Criteria (Papers need not contain all criteria to qualify at a particular level):

A: Paper clearly articulates and supports original and surprising claims about both films and their response to the gender anxiety of the context in which they were filmed. Demonstrates the presence of sophisticated similarities and also significant differences in the solution to these anxieties; their sources/causes; and the role of groups, institutions, or non-human forces in the resolution of the film narratives’ intrigues. Contains few or no grammatical errors.

B: Paper makes interesting claims about the film and draws some convincing parallels and distinctions between the two films. Achieves some success in bringing the two films and the gender concerns that motivate their plots into conversation with each other. Contains minor grammatical errors.

C: Paper advances a set of claims that may be lacking clarity, clumsily/inadequately supported, or somewhat unconvincing. Paper is discontinuous in its organization and seems to jump around without adequate warning or reason. Grammatical errors, too, may impede the paper’s readability.

D: Paper’s claims and/or thesis are vague, predictable, or overly general. Argument is difficult to follow or discern. Makes moralistic or overly judgemental assertions rather than clearly using evidence to persuade the audience of a set of objective claims. Contains significant grammatical errors.

F: Paper contains mostly plot summary and makes insignificant or excessively obvious assertions about the films. The essay does little to clearly establish an argument. Contains significant grammar errors.

ENGL 101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

Oral Presentation Instruction Sheet

As I’ve suggested in class, your in-class oral presentation on Paper 3 should last about five minutes and should consist of a clear explanation about your chosen paper topic, the topic and thesis you will be writing on, and the research you have found that may help you advance and/or clarify some of your ideas

Though there is no set format that you must follow, all oral presentations should do the following:

• Mention the text that you’re writing about, and explain to us (1) your research question and (2) your working thesis.

• Refer to a major piece of evidence – either a passage in the novel, a scene from Hedwig, or one of your videos of choice. Point out key details that you plan on using as evidence to support your thesis. Explain/justify your interpretation of those details and say why they support the thesis or main idea that you believe they support.

• Present a piece of outside research (a critical essay) briefly. Give us a quick idea of a certain part of a critical essay that you think you will be citing and how you expect to use/apply it.

• Mention remaining issues or questions that you plan on addressing in your paper.

Written Portion:

Please turn in a written record of your presentation, either in outline format (I., II., III., A., B., C., 1., 2., 3., etc.) or in the form of a short essay. While I won’t specify a length for the written portion, it should clock in around one single-spaced page either way.

W101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

Paper 3: Identifying a Trend and Assimilating a Deviation

Rough Draft Due Date: Nov 9(W)/10(R)

Final Draft Due Date: Nov 16 (W)/17(R)

You can choose to write about one of the four following texts: Anthony Swofford’s Jarhead, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Will and Grace, or two music videos of your choosing. If you choose the music video option, you’ll need to provide me with a copy of both videos, which I will return with the graded copy of your paper.

The Assignment: Paper 1 asked you to summarize and produce an original response to a critical essay, and Paper 2 asked you to produce a well-structured, organized comparison and contrast of two films. In a similar spirit, Paper 3 asks you to master yet another cognitive skill that will benefit you during the remainder of your studies and in your life beyond the university – identifying a trend and persuasively integrating counterevidence into your thinking about that trend. Keep in mind that the two parts of this paper are equally important. You will want to do as careful a job at establishing a trend as you will at demonstrating your ability to accommodate counterevidence in a way that goes beyond simply dismissing it or interpreting that counterevidence as a simple exception or an aberration.

The act of establishing a trend can encompass a broad range of different types of working theses. The thesis could center on a compare-and-contrast move or it could identify a particular trend or tendency in a single creative text (film, TV show, video, memoir, etc.). You might find it easier to try identifying the exception to the rule FIRST; for example, you might note a single odd occurrence that stands out because it differs implicitly from the rest of the TV show/memoir/video. Alternately, you might start by looking for a trend by trying to identify some kind of repetition of a phenomenon or by looking for a distinguishing contrast – for example, something suggesting that masculinity is defined as either x or y. A third option would consist of identifying a set of factors or features that all seem to point in one direction in terms of what they suggest. As you search for both the trend and its deviation, keep in mind that you’ll have to draw it back to questions about masculinity in the past ten years.

Crucial to a successful paper is your ability to deal skillfully, convincingly, and successfully with counterevidence. While it’s often true that some pieces of counterevidence can reasonably be explained away or downplayed, it’s also important that a writer be willing and able to adjust her thesis to account for evidence that doesn’t quite fit the pattern(s) she has identified. This assignment will develop your capacity for critical thinking and for adjusting your hypothesis when you come upon data that do not fit that hypothesis.

Research Component: You will be required to use TWO critical essays in your paper. ONE of these may be any of the essays we have read in class, and the other must be one that you find on your own. Though neither of your critical essays need to provide the entire basis for the trend that you identify in your paper, higher scoring papers will integrate an idea from these essays in more than a tangential or passing fashion. This engagement with others’ ideas will prepare you well to do a good job at a similar task in your final paper for the semester.

Grading Criteria:

A: Uses a significant piece of counterevidence to make the thesis evolve and change in an interesting or significant way. Avoids simply dismissing counterevidence as minimal in its impact on the thesis or as an aberration that does not necessitate reconsideration of the working thesis. Integrates critical ideas from a scholarly essay in a way that significantly advances the paper’s thesis. Contains few or no grammatical errors.

B: Deals incompletely or less convincingly with counterevidence. Is only partially successful or persuasive in altering or developing the thesis to account for or allow counterevidence. Critical essays used in the paper are definitely relevant, although they might be used somewhat randomly or less appropriately. Contains minor grammatical errors and/or minimal stylistic awkwardness.

C: Either uses a slightly less significant piece of information as counterevidence so as not to necessitate a significant reworking of the thesis or does not integrate counterevidence into the thesis. Alternately, as a result of trying to accommodate the counterevidence, the thesis actually becomes less convincing. May also make counterevidence out of something that doesn’t really seem like counterevidence. Use of outside ideas from critical essays may seem merely perfunctory – done just to get the requirement out of the way. Stylistic unevenness and/or grammatical errors, too, may impede the paper’s readability.

D: No clear counterevidence is presented and/or the thesis does not evolve. The thesis may also be difficult to spot. Use of any secondary critical sources is sloppy, seems random, or is irrelevant. May only cite one critical essay instead of the required two. Contains significant grammatical errors, and the paper’s style may make it difficult to read.

F: The paper has no thesis, merely spouts clichés instead of carefully reasoned ideas, or recycles accepted wisdom. Fails to incorporate ideas from any critical essay, whether from class or from outside research. Contains significant grammar errors and style works to impede rather than increase readability.

ENGL 101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

Paper 4: Entering the Conversation (5-6pp., 25% of final grade)

Bibliography: 50 points

Paper portion: 200 points

Annotated Bibliography

Due: Wed/Thurs, Nov. 29/30

Turn in an annotated bibliography of your three secondary sources. This will include the bibliographic citation for each source, in correct MLA format and a six-sentence summary of each of the three secondary sources AND at least three sentences on how you plan to use this source as part of the scholarly conversation that you will be setting up in your paper.

Paper Portion

Rough Draft Due: Mon/Tues, Dec. 4/5

Final Draft Due: Monday, Dec. 11 NOON – deliver to my faculty box in Norman Mayer 120

The Assignment:

Set up this paper by using three different secondary sources written by three different authors to establish some kind of conversation on a given topic related to masculinity and mass media. The three authors need not all disagree or engage in some form of contentious debate. All they need do is respond to or discuss the topic in question from a different perspective or angle. Think back to the in-class exercise where we investigated the overlap between Susan Jeffords’ “The Bush Style” and two other essays from our syllabus. This is the kind of overlap and conversation that you will want to create and emphasize in your paper, however, since you have the ability to choose your sources, you will naturally want to choose essays that are more closely related.

For example, if someone were to write a paper using “The Bush Style,” it could be paired with Elizabeth Traube’s “Transforming Heroes” to address the significance of hard work and its power within American culture to signify virtue. Alternately, Jeffords could be combined with Hart to create a conversation about the emphasis on image and appearance in American politics.

Your contribution needs to be sure to focus on mass media or popular culture in some way. In order to contribute to the conversation you set up, select some mass media/pop culture artifact (film, TV show, movie) and use it to help you intervene in the conversation. Be sure not only to intervene using your artifact of choice but also to produce an interpretation of that artifact. That is to say, avoid simply treating your artifact as a simple illustration of some single principle. Instead, demonstrate how your interpretation of your artifact presents a new or different perspective or take on the issue that your paper addresses. This reading should be around two pages long.

Some things to avoid:

Yes/no questions (“Do anti-cigarette ads help stop teenage smoking?” Instead: What are the strategies that anti-cigarette ads use in order to persuade teenagers to stop smoking or not to begin in the first place?)

The impulse to moralize (“Violence on TV encourages children to be more violent.” Instead: What do the different kinds of violence depicted in mass media suggest about how violence should and should not be used?)

Recycling accepted wisdom on a topic (“Drugs are bad.” Instead: How are drugs and drug use depicted in mass media? Is all drug use seen as dangerous or is there a spectrum of different degrees of drug use? Are certain drugs represented more negatively than others – which ones and how are they represented, exactly?)

Clichés (“Sex sells.” Instead: (fill in your own replacement questions here.))

The major criteria that will influence a paper’s score are:

• How interesting is the conversation that the paper sets up as well as the questions it asks?

• How well does the paper handle the task of bringing together different scholarly voices into a single space?

• What is the overall quality and relevance of the author’s contribution to the conversation?

• How appropriate is the artifact that the paper examines in contributing to the scholarly conversation AND how valid/persuasive is the author’s interpretation of that artifact?

You have the option to recycle up to two pages of text from either paper B or paper C. Given the assignment, however, you will want to re-work anything that you take from a previous paper in order to ensure that it serves your purpose as closely as possible in the paper.

ENGL 101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

Grading Diagnosis Sheet for Paper B

Name:_____________________________________

I. Argument and Persuasion: How convincing is the use of evidence to support claims, believability of claims, and specificity and inventiveness of the thesis? Does the paper include a clear introduction with a complex, challenging thesis as well as a conclusion that synthesizes and suggests further questions? Do you “buy” the argument and all of its parts?

Weak Needs Work Fair Good Outstanding

II. Comparison/Contrast: Does the comparison and contrast seem important and interesting? Are the ideas about the individual films tied successfully to bigger issues in an interesting or surprising way? Are the contrasts and comparisons drawn in the paper relevant or are they frivolous/trivial, as if simply to fulfill a requirement? Are they predictable or novel?

Weak Needs Work Fair Good Outstanding

III. Organization, Structure, and Coherence: How is the coherence and logical order in which the argument is explain and pursued? Are there appropriate transitions and clear, persuasive connections drawn between the different parts of the paper? Does the paper seem to jump around abruptly or do individual topics lead clearly into each other?

Weak Needs Work Fair Good Outstanding

IV. Style/Grammar/Spelling/Punctuation/Readability: Do sentences make sense? Are they coherently put together or do they require a couple reads to understand completely? Do oversights in proofreading impede the reader’s progression through the argument or do they somehow undermine the author’s credibility? Is the author in control of her vocabulary and sentence structure?

Weak Needs Work Fair Good Outstanding

Any other comments:

Letter Grade: Total Points: /200

ENGL 101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

Oral Presentation Evaluation

Name:_____________________________________

In-Class portion: Has the student successfully done the following?

_____Mentioned the text that s/he’s writing about, and explained to us (1) the research question and (2) the working thesis.

_____Referred to a major piece of evidence – either a passage in the novel, a scene from Hedwig, or one of the videos of choice. Pointed out key details that will be used as evidence to support his/her thesis. Explained/justified his/her interpretation of those details and said why they support the thesis or main idea.

_____Presented a piece of outside research (a critical essay) briefly. Given us a quick idea of a certain part of a critical essay that the student thinks s/he will be citing and how s/he expects to use/apply it.

_____Mentioned remaining issues or questions that s/he plans on addressing in the paper.

Grade:

Written portion:

Grade:

ENGL 101: Millennial Masculinities Dr. Elmwood/Fall 2006

Grading Sheet for Paper C

Name:___________________________________

1. Pattern and Deviation: Does the author establish an analytic pattern and then introduce counter-evidence which is then dealt with persuasively and convincingly through some kind of change or alteration in thesis?

Very Weak Needs Work Fair Very Good Outstanding

2. Persuasion and Clarity: Does the author clearly identify specific concrete points that she then argues convincingly in favor of by introducing and explaining supporting evidence? Are connections between evidence and claims/points evident or does the essay require the audience to guess at connections or otherwise fill in the blanks?

Very Weak Needs Work Fair Very Good Outstanding

3. Thesis: Is there a concrete, specific main claim that the paper works toward supporting via a series of smaller claims? Is it interesting and challenging and specific or does is merely re-state the obvious, recycle a cliché, reaffirm accepted/common wisdom, or rely on presupposed, shared morality or judgement?

Very Weak Needs Work Fair Very Good Outstanding

4. Organization: Does the essay proceed in a clear fashion? Does it contain an introduction that presents a working thesis that suggests the particular topics the paper will address in order to arrive at a final conclusion? Does the paper include a conclusion that effectively synthesizes the findings of the paper into a detailed, revised thesis that results from the essay’s various topics? How are the transitions between paragraphs and between sentences within paragraphs? Are there digressions, and if so, are they minimal or significant? Is it always clear where the argument is going and why?

Very Weak Needs Work Fair Very Good Outstanding

5. Spelling/Punctuation/MLA/Citations/Style/Grammar:

Very Weak Needs Work Fair Very Good Outstanding

6. Use of Secondary Sources: Does the author use two secondary sources to effectively advance an idea in a meaningful way or are the secondary sources merely thrown in as if to fulfill a requirement? Do the secondary sources make sense given the assignment – are they appropriate to the consideration of a visual or literary text?

Very Weak Needs Work Fair Very Good Outstanding

Other Comments:

Grade: Total Points: /250

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