KIM WOODS

Essay #3 Guidelines

 

Introduction to the Assignment:

Our topic:  Celebrities, Musicians, and Activism

Activism involves efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, or environmental change or stasis. Various forms of  activism range from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, economic  activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, and hunger strikes, as well as using celebrity's fame to advance a social concern or cause.

Analysis Essay #3 Guidelines

You must research only one Celebrity - an actor or tv personality or a Musician or Sports figure - who has been in the news (within the last ten years) actively engaged in advocating a social or environmental issue and in your essay, analyze and discuss their activism and analyze WHY they have a platform to persuade an audience. You should not focus on the issue they advocate but more on their activism and why celebrities have a platform to persuade.

 

 

No politicians or activists.

 

 

Research 3 articles/sources that provide different views on their activism.

· Page length: 5 pages (1,200 words of text min.), not including your works cited page.

· Include an image that relates to your subject engaging in activism on the 6th page.

· Note on image: The image should be small in file size - less than 500K and take no more than 1/2 of a page. Try using this free online Photo Editor to reduce the image size. Save your image as a Jpeg and insert it into the 5th page of your essay. You must include a correct MLA citation for the image.

· Must have at three outside sources (no more than 5) and citations.

· Must include a Works Cited page. The work Cited page does not count toward word or page count.

· Provide evidence from at least three articles/sources. At least one of your sources should be YouTube videos (an interview or news clip) about their social or environmental issue.  You must cite your direct quotes with the correct MLA in-text citation format.

Prewriting and Research steps:

1. Read and research unfamiliar material and ideas. Use the internet, library databases, etc., to look up words and other concepts that you know little to nothing about. 

2. Read the articles for details and highlight the main ideas. Describe the article in your own words. 

3. Avoid turning the focus inward.  Avoid phrases like "I think" or "in my opinion." You should stay away from the first person completely. By identifying something as your own opinion, you end up weakening them in an academic sense.

4. Do not focus on the summary. 

5.  Free-write and mind-map your ideas.

6. Compose at least two drafts and edit for clarity, sentence cohesion, and grammar errors. Proof with Grammarly.com

7. No first-person (use of "I") in this essay!

 

Essay Structure (follow this essay structure!)

▸ Introduction paragraph (hook and thesis): 

1. State something interesting about the topic (social or environmental issue) you are researching and your celebrity's activism with this particular issue. 

2. Provide a few sentences about the cultural context of the issue. Cultural context refers to social and political factors surrounding the issue of celebrity activism  This background information informs our deeper understanding of the issue of celebrity activism in question and allows us to analyze, rather than summarize, what we are studying. 

3. In 2-3 sentences, state your thesis. Your thesis should make a specific claim about your topic and answers a question:  "Why does your celebrity receive so much attention advocating their issue (social or environmental cause)?  (Think about why they are able to influence other people. What advantages do they have??). Also, how do they use their celebrity status to advocate their cause?"

(Your answer in your thesis should be more than just that they are popular or that they are a celebrity.)

The thesis statement acts as a roadmap for the rest of your essay; it defines the ideas and the order in which they will be presented. Your reader expects to see information about the subject in the order signaled in the introduction.

Too many ideas in your paragraph may cause the reader to lose the text and miss important points. 

▸ Body of Essay:

Each paragraph should only contain ONE point that supports your thesis.  You should have several paragraphs that provide evidence and examples to support your ideas.

Begin each supporting paragraph with a  topic sentence. This topic sentence is a statement that reinforces your point for the reader. Everything in the paragraph should support the point you establish in the initial sentence. Use specific facts from your research and specific examples to enhance and clarify the point you are making.

 paragraph prompts:

1. What is the ONE issue that they advocate?

2. What evidence is there that they have a record of involvement in this issue?

3. Provide evidence from an interview.

4. How extensive is their involvement in this issue?  What type of involvement? Protests? Social Media? Speeches? Donations? Give evidence from an article.

5. Has there been any criticism of their activism? (provide a direct quote with the in-text citation)

6. What rhetorical appeals (Pathos, Logos, Ethos, or Kairos) have they used in a speech to persuade their audience? (Find a video of an interview)

7. What phrases or words seem to be used frequently by your celebrity when they talk about their activism? (provide a direct quote with the in-text citation)

8. How does their specific use of language, and words, shape the debate?(provide a direct quote with the in-text citation)

9. Does your celebrity have ulterior motives, or are they involved for sincere altruistic reasons?

10. Why do we value their opinions and discard others?

11. Do we accept things as fact simply because someone famous states it as so

12. Are we more inclined to listen and believe a celebrity over a scientist?

13. How do we decide who is factually correct?

14. Have there been critics of your celebrity and their activism? (provide a direct quote with the in-text citation)

15. Are their studies that support their point of view or evidence that contradicts some of their views? (provide a direct quote with the in-text citation)

16. What are the audience demographics on this issue? What particular group of people listens to this celebrity? Why?

17. Does celebrity activism do more harm than good?

18. Should Celebrities Be the Voice of Social or Environmental Causes?

 

Conclusion:

In your concluding paragraph, restate your thesis or overall opinion of the analyzed articles and the author's conclusion, and offer additional thought on the topic not presented in the articles. The conclusion should only take up about 10-15 percent of the overall word count in your paper.

You must include direct quotes, in-text citations, and a Works Cited page.

No more than 15 percent of your total word count should be quoted material.

Save your assignment as a Word document with your last name and the name of the assignment.

Review:   Activism sample essay.pdf Download Activism sample essay.pdf

Use this Word Template:  SAMPLE_MLA_PAPER.docx Download SAMPLE_MLA_PAPER.docx