Essay 3 – Timed essay due Friday

Essay 3 – Timed essay due Friday

Context:

This week, we are discussing the representation of gender in the media. We are also practicing two important critical thinking skills: visual rhetorical analysis, and applying a reading as a lens. To do so, we are making use of two interesting articles about how male and female bodies are represented in the media: Jan Kilbourne’s “‘Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt’: Advertising and Violence” and Michael Kimmel’s “‘Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code.”

Task:

You will have two hours to write a timed essay. I know that timed writing can be very stressful. It is a requirement for this course because it is an important skill you will likely need to apply throughout your college career and in your professional life. You will be able to share tips about writing timed essays in this week’s module.

The essay is available on the site between Thursday 7/5 at 12 am and Friday 7/6 at 11:59. Make sure you plan a time to complete the essay during these two days.

Important: the essay must be completed and submitted by 11:59 pm on Friday, so do not start your essay any later than 9:45 pm Friday.

Prompt:

When you begin the essay, you will be shown an image that is a print advertisement featuring a woman and a man. You will be to respond to this question:

What is the image attempting to say about either masculinity or femininity?

Use the ideas of EITHER Michael Kimmel or Jean Kilbourne (not both) to make your argument.

Requirements:

• There is no specific word count requirement, but in order to complete this assignment as fully as possible, I recommend you use all of the time available to you.
• You are not required to include a Works Cited page, but do include page number citations when referencing the article you choose to use.
• Include a thesis that answers the question. The thesis should be about what the images communicate, then use the article in the body of your essay to support your analysis.

To Prepare:

• Read both articles, and decide which one is most interesting to you. Which article do you feel the most comfortable with? You will need to explain its ideas and use its ideas to support your argument, so be sure you understand those ideas.
• Next, annotate the article carefully and/or take notes on a separate piece of paper. You may use these notes during the essay.
• Note: if you prefer to prepare notes for both articles, that is fine too! But you must choose ONE article to use for your argument.
• System requirements: We use an online proctoring service for this essay, and to make sure that you are set up correctly, I am requiring that the quiz this week be completed with the same service. You will need to use the Chrome browser and install an extension in order to use this service. If you have any trouble with the technical aspects of this, please let me know as soon as possible so I can help.