Preparation for Final

End of Class Evaluation1. Do you feel that this class has helped you to improve as a writer? What

improvements (if any) have you seen, and how did you achieve them? 2. What are some of the most helpful assignments/activities that we did in

class? Were any assignments/activities not helpful to you? Why not? 3. Please give me your thoughts on the textbooks (Mirror on America, Rules for

Writers, and They Say, I Say). Did you find the readings and advice useful in your development as a thinker and a writer?

4. Please comment on the usefulness (or not) of: • the course website• turnitin (and if you listened to the voice comments, how useful were those?)5. If you could give students who were about to start this course with me some

advice about how to be successful in this class, what would you tell them? Is there anything you wish you had known at the beginning?

On the Day of the Final, Bring…• REQUIRED:• Mirror on America textbook. You will be required to quote

twice from readings we have done this semester, so you might want to bring printouts of essays not from textbook.

• A print card or blue book• OPTIONAL:• Class Notes• They Say, I Say• An outline that may be no more than one page and may not

contain complete paragraphs. • A dictionary

The Final Question

• This semester, we have read many articles and had many discussions about how popular culture intersects with real-world issues. (In other words, why thinking deeply and critically about pop culture is important.) Choose one real-world issue and write an essay of at least two typed, double spaced pages in which you make and support a strong claim about the connection between pop culture and the issue you chose.

A couple of pieces of advice about this question…

• Do not write about the same issue you discussed in your research paper. Yes, I will be checking.

• You may bring an outline of no more than one page. You may not already have paragraphs written out, and any outline you bring must be stapled to your final.

• If you choose to type the final, you will be copy/pasting it into turnitin when you finish.

Audience for the Final

• In preparing for the final, it may be easier for you to imagine a specific rhetorical situation, including the audience you are trying to reach.

• Your target audience for this final is people who are either completely skeptical or undecided about whether or not it is valuable to study and think deeply about popular culture.

How should you reach this specific audience?

They Say…

• But it’s just music… • But it’s just

entertainment/tv…• Lighten up! It’s just an

advertisement… • Etc. (feel free to adjust

your “they say” to your specific topic)

YOU Say…• Respond with a thesis that

makes a claim about why your audience should pay attention to pop culture more closely.

• Your thesis should connect some aspect of pop culture to an issue that has a significant impact on real people’s lives.

Examples of How Real-World Issues Intersect with Pop Culture

• Example 1: – Real World Issue: women’s self esteem/body image– Points of intersection with pop culture: Magazines, ads, films that

encourage women (and men) to have certain beauty standards for women.

– Purpose of this essay: Make and support a claim about how women’s body image is connected to the points of intersection highlighted above.

• Example 2: – Real World Issue: Prejudice (racism, homophobia…)– Points of intersection with pop culture: Portrayals (or LACK of portrayals)

of characters from racial minorities, or of lbgtq characters. – Purpose of this essay: Make and support a claim about how the issue of

prejudice is connected to the points of intersection noted above.

How to succeed on this final:• Answer the question I asked. • Have a strong thesis/claim that makes a statement that

invites discussion. • Be as specific as possible as you support your thesis.

Generalities will not help you be successful on the final. • Follow all directions re: format, quote use, etc.• Participate in class discussions. Take notes. Bring them to

the final. • Come with your books marked – highlighter, post-its,

whatever you need to make the process of writing the final easier on yourself.

How the final will be graded:

• There will be three elements of your final that I will be scoring: – Thesis – Overall support of thesis– Use of quotes from readings

• Each of these categories will receive one of these scores:– Weak– Adequate – Strong

• The combination of scores you receive will determine your grade.

Final Grade Part 1: The Thesis

• A STRONG Thesis will:– Make a specific, easily identifiable claim that addresses the prompt

and invites further discussion. – Have a strong point of view

• An ADEQUATE Thesis will: – Make a claim that addresses the prompt.– Have a point of view.

• A WEAK Thesis may:– Be a question– Not address the prompt– Be a statement of fact – not invite further discussion– Make a weak claim, or one that is not easily identifiable.

Final Grade Part 2: The Support• STRONG support will:

– Always serve to support and explain the point of view expressed in the thesis– Be completely logically sound (no logical fallacies)– Show sophisticated organization that enhances the essay’s purpose.– Show an excellent attention to specific detail where necessary

• ADEQUATE support will:– Usually serve to support and explain the point of view expressed in the thesis– Be mostly logically sound– Show basic organization– Show attention to specific detail in some parts of the essay

• WEAK support may:– Not be relevant to the thesis– Contain many logical fallacies/poorly thought out claims– Be poorly organized– Show little attention to specific details

Final Grade Part 3: Use of Quotes• STRONG quote use will:

– Consistently use quote marks and citations properly– Consistently make quotes a natural part of the essay’s argument using the quote

sandwich method.– Consistently choose quotes that are relevant and a proper length.

• ADEQUATE quote use will:– Usually use quote marks and citations properly– Make quotes a part of the essay’s argument using the quote sandwich method.– Choose quotes that are mostly relevant and close to the proper length.

• WEAK quote use will:– Not use quote marks and citations properly– Contain many drop-in quotes that are not part of the essay’s argument.– Consistently choose quotes that are not relevant and are not a proper length.

Thesis Preparation:• A STRONG Thesis will:

– Make a specific, easily identifiable claim that addresses the prompt and invites further discussion. – Have a strong point of view

• Example of a strong thesis: When women are portrayed as sex objects in car ads, it invites the mostly male audience of these ads to think about women as bodies to be possessed, which in turn may contribute to an assumption that a real women who is displaying her body is “asking” for the sexual attention of the men around her, whether she expresses that desire or not. – This thesis makes a STRONG, specific claim about HOW women are portrayed and the EXACT

effects that portrayal has. • Example of an adequate thesis: Women are often portrayed as sex objects in car ads,

which may have an effect about the way men who these ads are aimed at think about the real women they meet. – This thesis makes a claim about the ads, but doesn’t define exactly WHAT CLAIM ABOUT THE

EFFECTS on the men who view them the thesis is making. • Example of a weak thesis: Why does it matter that lots of times women are portrayed as

sex objects in car ads? – This is a question. It makes no claim, and it has no point of view.

Brainstorming Time: • Come up with at least THREE different real-world

issues related to pop culture that you have not already addressed in your research paper that might be appropriate for this final.

• For each issue, find at least two different quotes from our readings this semester that relate to the issue.

• Share your findings with two other people. Can you think of other essays/quotes that might be useful for someone writing about the topics you chose?