Final Projects/Papers [30%]
Due: May 10th at midnight to moodle
Final Paper/Project There are five choices listed below, but if you have another idea for a focus that doesn’t quite fit in these categories, feel free to run it by me. In every case, your final paper/project must draw on a minimum of three of the required readings and two external academic readings (books or journal articles). Reference your sources (required and not) with full citation using MLA (Modern Language Association) formatting.
1. Write a 10-12 page close analysis of a media text and its fandom, considering how the media text invites audience participation and how audiences respond to that invitation
2. Write a 10-12 page close analysis of the way in which a film, television show, or web series imagines and addresses its spectators. You could consider a transmedia project as well (i.e. a media text that uses television or film and digital paratexts to tell its story and engage audiences).
3. Write a 10-12 page analysis of early moviegoing history in Middlebury, Vermont, or in another location that you have access to/a connection to.
4. Write a 10-12 page analysis of (some aspect of) media spectatorship culture in Middlebury in the present or recent past.
5. Write 5 2-page analyses of specific fan works in a popular critical voice. These reviews should be informed by the ideas we’ve encountered in theoretical readings and discussions, but they can be written in a more informal, popular, or playful tone. Imagine them to be a series of blog posts on a particular theme. You can also opt to post these online as an actual blog post series.
6. Write a 10-12 page paper exploring a specific case of audience textual creativity, such as personal web pages, bulletin board participation, fan fiction/art/vids, etc.
7. Create a film, visual essay (vid), webisode, website, or script that addresses the themes of spectatorship and fandom raised in class. In addition, write a 5 page paper in which you connect your creative work to the ideas raised in class and in the required readings.
You will have the opportunity to submit an optional rough draft for feedback. Whether you submit a rough draft or not, I encourage you to choose a topic that you feel truly excited about, start working on it early, and give yourself plenty of time to research, draft, rewrite, and proofread.
We will hold a mini conference/screening toward the end of the semester where you will share your projects with each other. You may not be finished with your project at this point, but you’ll need to have made enough progress to be able to share the final stages with your classmates.