Using the music video tombstone by rod wave
Instructions: For this assignment, you will choose a poem, short story, a song, or any other literary “text” and write an argument explaining why it should be added to the ENG152 curriculum in the future.
Your audience is any English professor at Stevenson University, but if it helps to have a more
specific audience in mind, feel free to think of me as your audience. As you’re creating your argument, you should include the following sections. These sections can be a paragraph each or multiple paragraphs for a single section:
- One of the elements I look for when I choose texts is the text’s potential for interpretation. In other words, does the text contain rich and complex word choice, symbols, metaphor, imagery, etc.? Does your text contain tension, multiple possible meanings, and/or contradiction? (This section essentially asks you to do a mini analysis of your text. Remember, I can’t use your text if it doesn’t have the potential for complex analysis.)
- Another objective for the course states that students must “Identify the intellectual and emotional complexities of more than one cultural perspective or worldview.” How does your selection provide a valuable perspective or worldview that would help foster a better understanding of diverse perspectives in the class?
- You might also think about addressing the IKC objectives. How might your text help to fulfill one of the following objectives?
o Identifying own cultural rules and biases.
o Demonstrating an understanding of the complexity of other cultures.
o Recognizing intellectual and emotional dimensions of more than one worldview and using more than one worldview in interactions.
o Expressing openness to culturally different others. - If you can fill the required page length with the above material, great! If not, here are some other optional ideas:
o Discuss the meaning of your selection and explain why this meaning is applicable to the lives of students while also fulfilling the course objectives
o Discuss the importance or relevance of any themes/the message the author conveys to society and culture today, giving special consideration to your generation of students and/or the values of your professor and Stevenson University. In other words, how would the text relate to Stevenson University
students or the values of the school and/or the English department?
o How might reading your selection make students better people? Will your text help to develop empathy? Will it make someone a better citizen? Will it provide students with a better understanding of the world, society, diversity, culture, or human nature?
o Look up the university’s mission statement or diversity statement. How does your text fulfill one of these?
You will present this argument to the class at the end of the semester in the presentation.
Requirements:
- Length: 5 pages
- The essay addresses the prompt.
- The essay is submitted on time.
- The essay is submitted in the correct format (Word Document Attachment)
- Provide a bibliographic citation of your chosen text at the bottom of your essay and include line-based, in-text citations of the poem throughout your essay.
- Works Cited Format:
o Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Work.” Title of Site, Sponsor or Publisher [include only if different from website title or author], Date of Publication or Update Date, URL. Accessed Date [only if no date of publication or update date].
o In-text citations= (Brooks 2) – this is the author’s last name + the line number. - Formatting: Times New Roman, size 12, double-spaced, one-inch margins, MLA pagination.
- Your essay should be mostly free of grammar and punctuation errors. Use Grammarly and other AI tools to check for these issues.
- Your essay should contain an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
- Your introduction should contain enough background information to properly prepare your reader for the thesis.
- Include a thesis that makes a claim about a text you would like added to the class and explains how this text will contribute to the course objectives, cultural understanding, etc.
- Include tension and claim (bonus if you can fit in “reasons”)
- All body paragraphs should contain at least one direct quote from the text.
- All quotes must be introduced by no less than a short phrase, but ideally a full sentence + a short phrase that provides context about the quote.
- All quotes must be followed by analysis that explains how the quote supports your interpretation of the text and how your cultural identity influences your interpretation of the textual evidence. It’s also a good idea to explain why this information matters.
- Include a conclusion in which you restate and expand upon your thesis, restate your main points, and make a case for why this material matters. Why does it matter that students should encounter your text?
- Include a Title. Example of standard academic titles includes the following format: Short Phrase, Quote, or Concept: Short Explanation.