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Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Controversial Image Analysis Assignment/Research PaperResearch Paper: For this assignment, you will consider the implications of a controversial image by first researching various aspects of the debate, researching other images that relate to this debate, and researching the history of the debate. Then, you will create your own analysis of this issue by close-reading the image with the strategies we have learned in class. Finally, you will discuss how this process has changed your understanding of this issue and of visual rhetoric.Part 1: An Image in ContextStep 1: find a controversial image.Ex: Vogue’s Lebron James CoverStep 2: Summarize the current debate surrounding this particular image by referencing at least 5 informal sources like blogs and websites to outline the issue. Information about the photographer, the history/credibility of the magazine can go in this section.Key debate: The Vogue cover perpetuates negative stereotypes about black men. Types of proof used to talk about this debate:On ESPN’s website, Jemele Hill who claims that the cover was “memorable for the wrong reason”(2) and furthers her observation by noting that this image is not out of the ordinary; white athletes are typically shown smiling whereas black sports figures are presented as “angry, overly aggressive and overly sexual”(Hill 1).Ralph Isaac from the website, Bleacher Report, argues in an essay entitled “Why Jemele Hill is Wrong” and asserts that in actuality, he thinks that Hill is jealous and that she is “mad because LeBron is on the cover with a white woman” and that “black women, as do white men, hate seeing black men with white women”(1-2).Step 3: Identify other ways in which this topic has caused controversy in today’s society. (use your own findings or comparisons that others have made)Magazine covers featuring other black athletes in a negative light, Dennis Rodman with horns, Tiger Woods with a swinging noose, cover of Michelle Obama as the “queen of rage”Step 4: Identify the history of this issue using formal sources (articles and books)This issue is especially problematic because American media has a long history of negatively stereotyping African Americans.Types of evidence that would make sense:Cynthia Erb’s scholarly text, Tracking King Kong, contributes to this current debate for her work traces the ways that the iconic gorilla has been historically used “as a shorthand expression” that “draws upon a whole western history of depicting black male sexuality as bestial for its excessive and predatory nature, especially in relation to white women” (16).Part 2: Forming an OpinionStep 1: Identify a key question raised by this image and create a thesis that responds to one of these questions.Does this image perpetuate negative stereotypes about black men?Aftter reading the debates surrounding this issue, the other controversies surrounding this issue and the history of this issue, I have formed my own opinion about this cover. I believe that this cover deliberately portrayed LeBron James in an unfavorable light. To prove this conclusion, I will conduct a close reading of this cover to suggest that the magazine cover perpetuates negative stereotypes about black men as inferior, aggressive and sexually violent individuals. Step 2: How has this image changed your understanding of this topic in particular and of visual rhetoric in general?CriteriaExemplary (90-100) Acceptable (80-90) Unacceptable (50-80)ScoreClarity of Argument100 * Writing clearly argues for a perspective on an engaging issue. * Topic Sentences are direct and relevant to thesis* All paragraph information supports thesis* Organization allows for logical development of ideas* Each paragraph has distinct and necessary information* Writing clearly argues for a perspective on an engaging issue.* Most topic sentences are direct and relevant to thesis* Most information supports thesis* Organization allows for logical development of ideas* Most paragraphs have distinct and necessary information*Argument is unclear* Topic sentences are rarely directly relevant to thesis* Unorganized structure of paper* Unorganized information within paragraphsQuality and Incorporation of Outside Source Material 100* Sources are reputable, academic sources* Elegant transitions into quotations and sufficient explanations of quotations * Source material is directly relevant to argument* Most sources are reputable, academic sources* Adequate transitions and explanations for quotations* Most source material is relevant to argument*More than half of the sources are unreliable * Weak transitions and explanations for quotations* Source material rarely adds to the persuasiveness of the argumentAbility to Analyze an Image75* arguments about image are insightful* ability to successfully engage with language of visual rhetoricArguments about image are genericSome attempt to use language associated with visual rhetoric*Arguments are obvious* little or not attempt to use language of visual rhetoricSelf-Assessment10* demonstrates evidence of thoughtful reflection* indicates a sensitivity to process*some evidence of thoughtful reflection* some discussion of learning processLittle effort to discuss reflection or processCitation and Grammar15* little to no technical issues with MLA format and basic grammar* some errors with MLA format and basic grammar* careless errors with MLA format and basic grammar ................
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