media
think of a topic that interests you most, and then see what theoretical framework
you may use to analyze it. In other words, start with the ‘small picture’, and then broaden your
focus, not the other way round. “I am going to write about ideology / political economy / the
Frankfurt school” is a recipe for frustration.
Example: think of a TV show that you like and analyze its ideological underpinnings (the
messages it aims to convey, the myths it re-enforces). Or: start from the clip with Iain Borden
that we watched in class and see how you can frame it in the theories of subcultures that we
studied.
In the same way, you may use any practice/ habit you encounter on a daily basis, an article that
you read, a movie or TV show that you liked, a place that you visited (in Canada or abroad), a
mall or a supermarket where you do your shopping etc. A video-game, an article from
Cosmopolitan, the subculture of Star Trek fans (the ‘Trekkies’), the Bachelor show, Disneyland,
Yonge-Dundas square, the selfie craze – (almost) everything may become a great topic for this
course, as long as you anchor it firmly in a theoretical perspective. This way you will meet the
key purpose of this course: understanding the relevance of theory for our everyday life.
You may use either MLA or APA (providing that you use it consistently throughout the essay).
Important: You need to use at least five scholarly sources (journal articles from peer-reviewed
publications, chapters from books issued by academic publishing houses) that were not included
in the course outline. If you are not sure whether a particular piece is a scholarly source or not,
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