Performance Report
WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU EXPLAIN MY DECISION TO ASSIGN FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE OR TELEGRAPH AVENUE FOR THIS CLASS. HOW DOES THE BOOK YOU CHOSE REFLECT THE INTER-RACIAL NATURE OF AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE AND IN WHAT WAYS DOES IT EXPLORE THE MEANING AND POWER OF POPULAR CULTURE ITSELF TO SHAPE AMERICAN LIVES? 2-3 PAGES. (25%)
B) WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU DISCUSS THE FILM YOU CHOSE TO WATCH FOR THIS CLASS. HOW DOES YOUR FILM ADDRESS RACE AND/OR GENDER AND/OR SEXUALITY. HOW DOES THIS FILM REFLECT WHAT WE HAVE STUDIED THIS QUARTER? (movies provided in files, i suggest BLACK PANTHER OR Straigh OUTTA COMPTON)
C) CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. YOUR ANSWER SHOULD BE 3-4 PAGES AND NEEDS TO HAVE AN ORGANIZING THESIS. (50%)
- WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU EXPLORE THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE IN THE 20TH CENTURY. IT IS IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE A DISCUSSION OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN RACE AND TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR ESSAY.
- IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE CONDUCTING A MAPQUEST SEARCH FOR DIRECTIONS. YOUR STARTING POINT IS EARLY MINSTRELSY IN THE 1830S & 1840S (DADDY RICE, THE ETHIOPEAN SERANADERS, DAN EMMETT, THE VIRGINIA SERANADERS, ETC.) YOUR DESTINATION IS ELVIS, BOB DYLAN, EMINEM, AMY WINEHOUSE, ETC. WHAT IS YOUR MUSICAL ROUTE? (AND I DON’T MEAN NEW YORK CITY TO MEMPHIS.)
- BRAD PITT, JAY-Z, TYLER PERRY, OPRAH WINFREY AND THE EXECUTORS OF PRINCE’S ESTATE HAVE DONATED ONE BILLION DOLLARS TO THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS FOR THE CREATION OF A MONUMENT ON THE SCALE OF MT. RUSHMORE TO HONOR AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS PROVIDED A MOUNTAINSIDE IN THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS IN SOUTHERN COLORADO.
AS THE PLANNING FOR THE HUGE PROJECT BEGINS, THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT HAS CREATED A WEBSITE SO THAT AMERICANS CAN CHOOSE WHAT FOUR PEOPLE WILL BE HONORED FOR THEIR ROLE IN SHAPING AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE IN THE LATE 19TH, 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES. IN ORDER TO CAST A VOTE YOU MUST WRITE A ONE PAGE DEFENSE OF EACH PERSON YOU HAVE CHOSEN. CAST 3 VOTES. (KEEP IN MIND THAT MEGAN THEE STALLION, ARIANA GRANDE AND LIL NAS X (ALTHOUGH ONE CAN MAKE A CASE FOR HIM AS GENDER BENDING AND PATHBREAKING, WE DON’T KNOW HOW HE WILL PLAY OUT IN TEN OR TWENTY YEARS). – FLAVORS OF THE MOMENT – HAVE NO PLACE ON THIS MONUMENT. ALSO THIS MOUNTAIN IS NOT ABOUT POLITICS OR CIVIL RIGHTS. IT IS ABOUT POPULAR CULTURE. PLEASE DO NOT CHOOSE MLK , OBAMA, OR ANY OTHER PRESIDENTS OR POLITICAL LEADERS. THINK ABOUT INNOVATORS, INVENTORS, AND THOSE ARTISTS WHO HAVE CHANGED THE PLAYING FIELD OR WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF TIME. YOU CAN INCLUDE WRITERS, PAINTERS, INVENTORS, ATHLETES, ETC. BUT THIS IS NOT ABOUT EMPTY CELEBRITY. THIS IS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE A SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICA’S POPULAR CULTURAL HERITAGE. YOU WANT TO CHOOSE SOMEONE WHO WILL CONTINUE TO RESONATE 50 YEARS FROM NOW. STEPH CURRY IS A SHOOTING GENIUS. BUT HE DOES NOT HAVE A PLACE ON THIS MOUNTAINSIDE. MICHAEL JORDAN, MAYBE.
- CONDUCT AN IMAGINARY SEARCH ON MAPQUEST. YOUR STARTING POINT IS MINSTRELSY IN THE 1830S. YOUR DESTINATION IS I LOVE LUCY. WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU DESCRIBE THE LANDMARKS OF THIS JOURNEY.
- WRITE A PANEL DISCUSSION (IN SCRIPT FORM) IN WHICH 5 IMPORTANT CULTURAL INNOVATORS (LIVING OR DEAD) DISCUSS WHAT THEY SEE AS THEIR CHIEF CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE POPULAR ARTS AND THEIR HOPES AND FEARS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THEIR MEDIUMS. THIS CAN BE ANYONE FROM L. FRANK BAUM TO JACKIE ROBINSON TO NORMAN MAILER TO BERT WILLIAMS TO AL JOLSON TO BOB DYLAN TO BIG DADDY RICE TO LANGSTON HUGHES TO PHILO FARNSWORTH (THE INVENTOR OF TV,) TO AFRIKA BAMBAATTAA, TO LADY GAGA TO JONATHAN LETHEM TO KENDRICK LAMAR. (THESE ARE JUST EXAMPLES. YOU CAN CHOSE WHOEVER YOU WANT. )
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- WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU EXPLORE AND EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CROSS POLLINATION THAT TAKES PLACE BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICANS AND JEWISH AMERICANS IN PRODUCING OUR POPULAR CULTURE. WONDERBAR IS A VERY IMPORTANT SOURCE TO EXAMINE FOR THIS PAPER DESCRIBE THE NATURE OF THIS COLLABORATION AND THE WAY IT PLAYS OUT OVER TIME. IT MIGHT HELP YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT NORMAN MAILER’S VERY WEIRD ESSAY THE WHITE NEGRO.