“Orange is the new black”, and feminism is the theme
Directions:
With that in mind, here’s what to cover in the prospectus;
A. What show do you intend to write about and what is your ‘critical orientation’ to the show? Every show presents some specific aspect of ‘life’ to us in a way that you might find incomplete, unfair or otherwise objectionable. You might also want to consider how a show achieves something exceptional in aesthetic terms (narrative complexity, interesting visual style, ideological content, etc.) The specific thing that you want to criticize and the attitude that you bring to your critique are called your ‘critical orientation’. Explain what your critical orientation is and why other television critics should care about it.
B. What critical ‘model of thought’ that we’ve studied in our course do you intend to use to help you write this critical essay? Take some time to remember each of the essays we’ve read and what the authors of those essays chose to critique. If necessary, look ahead in the textbook to an essay that is pertinent to your topic.Tell us which essay you’re inspired by and how it influences your thinking about the show you’ll analyze.
C. Research the show, or the genre of show, and summarize two academic book chapters or journal articles that deal with the show or the problem you want to write about (one paragraph for each article is sufficient). For example, there is an e-book in our library all about masculinity and Breaking Bad. Use the library web site to find academic book and journal articles – if you google this research topic you won’t know if you’re reading academic writing or not.. If you can find nothing specfic about your show, then find work that critiques the genre of show you want to analyze. One of the articles that you summarize can come from your textbook if you wish.
D. Finally, most important, what is your thesis statement? In one or two sentences, summarize the main point of your essay. Remember, the thesis must be something that people could reasonably have differing opinions on. If your thesis is something that is generally agreed upon or accepted as fact then there is no reason to try to persuade people of it.
