ISGS 4320           Women, Work & Family

Cultural Reading Assignment

This is a 5-page (or so) paper that critically examines a historical or contemporary cultural text (film, novel, short story, television show, play, magazine, ad campaign, painting or sculpture, etc.) for the messages it communicates to its audience about gender, work, and family.  The challenge here is looking closely and taking seriously the stories and images we consume all the time without giving them much thought.  If you feel like you are “reading too much into it,” you are doing this assignment right.  Suggested titles are at the bottom of this sheet.  I will enthusiastically approve others as well.

FINAL PAPERS WILL DO TWO THINGS:

1.  Your paper will present a thesis--that is, an argument or position about the text that requires defense or support (i.e. a reasonable person could disagree with you on this).  Generally, this will be an interpretation--an argument about the text’s meanings, intentions, and/or effects.  Your job is to analyze who the text addressed, how it worked, and what it meant for them.  You should pass judgment on the text as propaganda as well.  Do you agree with the messages it sends, or do you find them dangerous, disturbing, or prone to socialize a generation of viewers into the wrong kinds of attitudes?   

2.  You will offer specific, appropriate, and carefully analyzed textual and historical evidence that supports your thesis.  That is--you will quote from the book or film, describe a specific ad or include a xerox of a particular image, and then explain why that scene or passage or image is important to your interpretation or argument and how you are reading or interpreting the portion of the text.  Quotations or images need some framing by you in terms of context, tone, significance, links to your position, etc. 

THE PROCESS

(1) Preliminary Read or View -- Take some preliminary notes on the items/ideas/passages/images that relate to gender, work and family situation. 

(2) Identify the Audience

Who does this text address? 

Does it address men, women, or both?  How do you know--explicit statements, the kinds of concerns or issues highlighted, the kind of appeals (emotional or rational or both) or language it uses?  What is the race or ethnic background of the people represented?  Does it deal with a topic or issue that is particularly pressing to people from minority backgrounds?  What class of person does it address--wealthy, working-class, poor?  How old is the reader or viewer, do you think?  What makes you think so? 

Pay attention to the way the text is framed.

If you are doing a magazine, read both the articles and the advertisements.  Do they give the same messages/address the same people?  Do they complement or contradict each other?  Is it a Hollywood film or was it released in small, independent, “arty” places?  What kind of products are advertised during the show and what kinds of shows precede or follow it?  Is the book popular fiction or great literature?  How do you know?  How much does the text cost?

(3) What did/does this text mean for this particular audience?  What roles or values does it endorse?  What moral or lessons does it communicate?  (This is your working thesis).

Representations/Images of Women in the Text?

Do they work for pay in or outside the home?  Are they married, single, in committed relationships of some sort?  Do they have children?  Do they have help around the house, do you think?  What kind of work do they do?  Do they like it?  How are you as an audience member supposed to feel about this woman or these women--i.e. are we supposed to sympathize with them, laugh at them, condemn them as horrific examples, etc.?  Why do you think so?  How are the men they deal with portrayed? 

Pay attention to the ending

Is it happy or sad?  What is the “moral” or “message” the text leaves a reader with?  Is a woman punished for her work and autonomy?  Does she sacrifice all for her kids?  Does she get married and live happily ever after?  Does she dump her no-good husband, become filthy rich, and begin an affair with someone who looks like Mel Gibson?  (You get the picture) 

(4)  Go through your text and pull out the themes/ideas/passages relevant to your argument.  This may support your thesis, or may make you want to change the argument you initially wished to make in some way.

(5) Write the paper in which you present your argument/position, support it, and attempt to address the questions or counter-arguments someone else might raise about your position. 

Papers should be typed, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and standard font size.  Please number pages and staple papers in the upper, left-hand corner.

Due Monday 23 April at the start of class in two forms:   (1) hard copy you will hand in to me (see above); and (2) an uploaded electronic copy to TURNITIN.COM (see below).  If you are ill or have a family emergency and can document it, I will accept late papers without penalty.  If not, the grade drops one full letter grade for each business day it is late.  E-mailed and fax-ed papers are NOT acceptable. Turn in the text with your paper (if you can).  Have a 3-minute “rap” ready about your text and its message(s).  

I would be thrilled to talk about papers, look at outlines, talk about theses, etc. at any point.  E-mail and phone work if in-person does not.  ((972) 883-2338 / erins@utdallas.edu / Office:  Green 2.208)

TURNITIN.COM – go to www.turnitin.com.  The course id number is 1800621.  The password is “womenwork”

Suggested Titles:  Imitation of Life (1950 film or 1933 novel)--can do comparison with the 1934 film shown in class; Mildred Pierce (James M. Cain novel or film version); Sinclair Lewis, Main Street;

“She’s Having a Baby”; “Mr. Mom”; “Kramer vs. Kramer”; “All That Heaven Allows”; "Snow White"; AN EPISODE of a TV show that addresses the issue; an issue of Working Woman; a historical issue of some woman’s magazine (Godey’s Ladies Book and The Ladies Home Journal are available on microfilm at the UTD library for those who are interested) ...

You should limit yourself to analyzing a single episode of a tv show (although you may refer to other episodes as context for interpreting this one) or a single issue of a magazine, so that you can thoroughly analyze the language and images in the text in a paper of this length. 

ON CITATION:  Use the MLA Citation method (parenthetical references in text; Works Cited list at the end.  Explained here:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/