Analysis

  • Due Apr 22, 2021 by 11am
  • Points 100
  • Submitting a file upload

Each student will compose an essay that presents an analysis of one of two objects:

  • A corpus of activist material, which is a collection of texts associated by a common theme, such as organizational affiliation, authorship, or issue. A corpus is bound by at least one limiting factor, such as a particular medium or time period. For example, a corpus might contain all of an activist organization's tweets or all of the Facebook posts, emails, and YouTube videos it released related to a particular event. A corpus must avoid cherry-picking data; all of the documentary material within the limiting boundaries should be assembled so that a fair comprehensive analysis may be made. Texts within a corpus can be in a range of genres, such as social media posts, policy statements, song lyrics, laws, flyers or brochures, white papers or policy positions, emails, etc. After the corpus is assembled, its contents can be analyzed by tabulating the frequency of particular terms or phrases. By making such quantitative measurements it is possible, for example, to characterize how the organization has represented itself differently in various media or how the issues it addressed changed during a particular time period. There are many different ways to analyze a corpus to find meaningful rhetorical patterns and deviations.

  • An activist network, which is a visualization of interconnections. Many different activist network aspects can be visualized, such as a group's connections with allies and opponents, the search relevancy of different groups with regard to particular issues, the funding streams that support various groups, a group's various investments in different social media channels, the geographies where particular issues are more or less salient or where particular support services are available, etc. These aspects can be visualized through network graphs, geographical maps, tree diagrams, and other mechanisms. Such visualizations reveal connections that are difficult to conceptualize through other means.

All students will explore different options for corpuses and networks during the course. Once a student has selected a corpus or network to analyze, the student will compose an essay that provides insight into it. The essay should use concepts found in course readings and discussed in class where appropriate. It should be approximately 1,800 words and in MLA format with at least two scholarly sources. Its goal is to do the following things in this order:

  1. Introduce the subject by providing relevant background information about it
  2. Assert a contestable thesis
  3. Describe the corpus or network and how it was analyzed
    1. If addressing a corpus, identify its limiting factors, how it was collected, and how the textual information was processed
    2. If addressing a network, identify its data sources, why they were chosen, and how the visualization was constructed
  4. Identify and discuss evidence drawn from the corpus or network that supports the thesis
  5. Provide a conclusion that places the findings in context
     

Resources

Examples

These commented student examples may be helpful (although they address a slightly different assignment):

1619103600 04/22/2021 11:00am