Textual Analysis Assignment

Textual Analysis Assignment

J320: Gender, Media, and Diversity

DUE: On Canvas—Friday, April 28th at 11:59 PM

Length: 3-4 pages

Select one of the clips uploaded to Canvas and available on YouTube (see titles below) and perform your own ideological analysis of the text. This means describing what you see and hear, and using that evidence to support your own argument about how ideology functions in the clip.

In order to argue for your interpretation, you will need to include 2 kinds of evidence:

1. Evidence from the clip: A discussion of what you see, hear, and are told in the sequence and how that supports your interpretation (Remember to review and use the film analysis and semiotic terms we learned in lecture).
2. Evidence from class content: Back up your interpretation using at least two concepts discussed in class. In drawing on these concepts, your paper should citeat least 2 of the class readings listed below.

 

Concepts + Readings (select two):

• Social Construction
  • Michael Omi and Howard Winant, “Racial Formations,” Racial Formation in the United States, 3-13.
  • Judith Lorber, “‘Night to His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender.” Paradoxes of Gender, 54-65.
• Hegemony
  • James Lull, “Hegemony,” Gender, Race, and Class in the Media, 39-42
• Representation
  • Hall, Stuart. “The Work of Representation,” Representation, 1-26 +52.
• The Gaze
  • Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” 57-68.
• Oppositional gaze
  • hooks, bell. “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators” Race and Representation, 115-131.
• Queer readings
  • Alexander Doty, “There’s Something Queer Here,” Making Things Perfectly Queer, 1-16.
• Stereotype analysis
  • Stuart Hall, “The Spectacle of the ‘Other,’” Representation, 215-271. (Part 1+2, count as one reading)
• Orientalism
  • Said, “Orientalism,” 87-91.

 

 

Clips (select one):

1. “Slap that Bass”—A musical number from the 1937 Fred Astaire film Shall We Dance. Astaire plays an American ballet dancer, Peter P. Peters, who wants to blend his classical ballet style with jazz dancing. In this scene, Peters, who is traveling aboard an ocean liner, goes down into the bowels of the ship to visit with the crew.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsEpYYQCZQY

 

2. “The Jaguar Pitch”—In this scene from season 5 of Mad Men, the partners in the advertising agency (minus Don Draper) ask their office manager, Joan (Christina Hendricks), to sleep with Herb Rennet so that he will give them the coveted Jaguar account. In exchange, she demands 5% of the company and a voting partnership. At the end of the scene, Don, having found out about the arrangement, tells her it is not worth it, but he is too late.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yWzlUGQWWM (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 

3. “I Want it That Way”—In this scene from the 2015 film Magic Mike XXL, the characters stop at a convenience store on the way to perform at a stripper convention in Myrtle Beach. Mike (Channing Tatum) convinces Richie (Joe Manganiello) to dance for the clerk inside (Lindsey Moser) with the goal of getting her to crack a smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zip5iavhUU (Links to an external site.)
Remember to be specific in your analysis and reference examples from the sequence and readings. There are no “right” or “wrong” interpretations. Instead, you will be graded on your ability to work with the ideas discussed in class and readings and use textual analysis to present clear evidence to back up your analysis.

 

Additional Guidelines:

• Papers must be submitted in 12-point, Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins.
• Make sure you provide supporting information by citing readings using MLA or Chicago style and include a bibliography at the end of the document. (See: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.).
• If drawing on lecture material, you can simply indicate that in your prose (e.g. As Dr. Hanna explained, the sky is blue). Or you can present the material and then use an in-text citation—For example: The sky is blue (Hanna 01/09/17). Lectures should be cited in the bibliography using the following format:

Hanna, Erin. “Week 1: Introduction.” J320 Gender, Media, and Diversity,

University of Oregon. 9 Jan 2017.

• Remember: 3-4 pages means your text must cover the entire 3^rdpage. Points will be deducted if you do not meet the minimum length requirement.