Blog Post 4: Mixed Media Messages Assignment Instructions (Collage with a 3 paragraph write up)
Gender and Pop Culture
Due on the date and time specified on the course calendar
Blog buddy feedback due on the date and time specified on the course calendar
Your goal for this assignment is to illustrate in both photos and written text how a specific arena of pop culture is marketed and sold on the basis of gender.
For this assignment, "product" is quite a broad term, which can mean just about any specific element of contemporary popular culture.
Examples include (you'd need to specify the brand, name, title, etc to really focus your argument about the marketing of a specific product on the basis of gendered marketing):
A TV show
A cell phone
A service
A clothing line
A gadget
A product for cleaning
A product for cooking
A toy
A burger from a fast food restaurant
...among many other possibilities (including products and services that are marketed to the public, but free of charge to the consumer. ad-supported products or services would fall under this criteria)
Think about the products marketed to women that use women to sell the product, or products marketed to men, which use women as well. What kind of images are used? What marketing strategies are utilized? How can you best convey the product as sold on the basis of gender?
Make sure your blog post's title, thesis, and 2 paragraphs with 2 specific quotes from course readings, and also the collage, form a cohesive articulation of a point you're trying to make.
Written Component Requirements
Title of Blog Post (your title is the blog post’s title). Make sure you develop a title for the blog post that reflects your write-up and collage, in a way that reflects the thesis/argument that you're making..
Intro with Thesis (1st paragraph) The thesis is going to be crucial here, because you will need to include it as a written component of the assignment. Your thesis should be as nuanced and analytically deep as you can find images and quotes to support.
2 Readings cited in a 2 paragraphs that underscores your thesis and the points you're making in the collage. You will need to cite the work of 2 course readings related to media, ‘the body,’ gender, and advertising (use the readings after the section you used for the previous blog post assignment). For most students, it may help to use the readings to find quotes to inspire the collage. Remember, short direct quotes (one quote in each paragraph).
Works Cited/List of References --Use the MLA! Make sure you include the two readings (in the parenthetical references in your two paragraphs) and the sources of media that you used for the assignment in a separate “Works Cited” list at the end of the blog post.
Reminder:
Analysis!
You’ll be graded on the level of analysis (not artistic ability☺) that you’ve demonstrated based on the relevant use of quotes, thesis, title, and through your visual collage.
Think of the collage as the body of the paper (for the most part), which stands in where the first three paragraphs would not be able to provide a cohesive argument/set of points to prove the entirety of your thesis.
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Getting the collage on the blog with your write-up
You can scan a paper/glue/scissors collage or you can perform this component of the assignment digitally, without the glue, paper, and scissors by using digital pictures/images/etc to create your collage using Picasa (a free download from Google for photo editing and is capable of making collages), Photoshop, or other software. Any method for creating the collage is fine as long as it will allow you to create an image file that ends in .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif, or .bmp).
Remember that the collage will need to be inserted as an image in the blog post.
If you’re scanning, remember that you’ll need to be able to fit it on the bed of the scanner.
Therefore, do not use paper larger than 8.5”x11” (standard printer paper size aka: letter-size)
If multiple sheets of standard printer paper are used, scan them in order, keep them flat, and don’t attach them to each other. Scan each separately, save each page as its own file, and then upload them to a single blog post using the “add image” icon in the usual “compose” screen used in blogger (just like you used for the first post) with the written components listed above. If you need to add more than one image to complete your collage, the pop-up window will show “add an image from your computer” and once you’ve clicked “browse” to find the first image, click the link above the browse for file area, which is labeled “Add another image” and use that until all images are uploaded and then hit the orange button as the last step.
