Week 10
Due: Uploaded to Canvas by 5pm
This week I’m asking you to turn in a list of four possible topics for your final paper. I will not give you a specific topic or question for the final paper, and therefore you need to come up with your own topic. Your paper should be directly linked with our course materials (readings and films) or discussions, and is not a research paper. By this I mean that you should not need to do any extra research to produce this paper, but think and write about something that relates to our course materials. If you’re having trouble figuring out what you might want to write about, I suggest you think about things that have struck you as particularly surprising. Surprise can be a great place to start analysis because it enables you to reflect on your expectations and how they might not have been correct. You can also look back over all the discussion questions you and your colleagues have created throughout the semester. Do any jump out at you as great questions worthy of a longer answer?
Please know that I am quite aware that figuring out your own paper topic -- as opposed to just having one assigned to you -- takes a lot of work. That’s one of the reasons why I designed this week’s assignment to give your an opportunity to show me all the thinking and work you’ve done.
This week I’m asking you to turn in four possible papers topics because I don’t want any student to fixate on a single topic. There are many possible topics, lots of great ideas to explore, and you can take a bit more time to think through what might be most interesting to you and what might produce a strong paper.
Please turn in four topics, with a few sentences explaining what each topic would include. If you expanded on this particular topic, what would the paper be about?
If you have a preference, if there is one topic you would most like to write your final paper about, please note that. As always, this list is not a contract, and you’re welcome to turn in a final paper that deviates from this list.