Media Product Analysis

After familiarizing ourselves with Boss Fight Books’ “nonfiction documentary-style” approach that “takes a critical, historical, and personal look at a single game,” we will compose a similar (albeit shorter) sustained analysis of a media product (such as a specific game, book, film, television show, or song) of each student’s choosing. This document should have a similar journalistic bent that explicates relevant aspects of the item’s development and attachment to cultural themes and communicates its personal significance. The analysis should:

• be in MLA format
• contain approximately 2,500 words (about eight pages) plus a discrete Works Cited section
• incorporate at least three external sources (primary, popular, or scholarly)
• forward a coherent beginning, middle, and end
• be submitted as a .pdf file

Tips:

• Consult our Engaged Reading notes. The information they provide about about close attention is applicable to a range of media formats.
• Review similar explications of the media products in the format you choose, such as Song Exploder or Every Frame a Painting.
• Focus on specific aspects of the media product rather than attempting to encapsulate the whole item (which would be impossible). Identify the most salient threads to communicate to readers. When it comes to developing your subject, it's usually more effective to start narrow and build outward than to start broad and focus inward.
• Don't write in sequential order from introduction to conclusion. Start writing in the middle of your work by discussing the elements that are most interesting to you. Once you have a grasp of this core, move on to the conclusion and then the introduction. If you try to write in sequential order your work likely will have an overly general introduction and a weak structure. This is because it is very difficult to set up what you are going to say before you know what that will be.
• Make use of UNCW's Writing Services. They can help you move from ideas to drafts and beyond.

Sequence and Deliverables:

1. Brainstorm potential media product options (Feb. 23)
2. Submit topic ideas and possible sources (Mar. 21)
3. Submit draft analysis (Mar. 23)
4. Submit final analysis (Mar. 28)