Posted: February 7th, 2016

Critically Engaging 3 “Texts”: Your Focus in AA Studies

You will offer the reader 3 “texts” which engage, in different ways, your key theme. In this assignment, you will: 1) define and raise questions about your chosen theme (offering context), 2) offer close readings of the 3 texts you chose, 3) consider how these texts relate to each other (drawing connections), and 4) raise stakes.
On Choosing a Specific Focus/Theme: Before you choose your texts, narrow down and choose a specific theme or question. For instance, perhaps you’re interested in texts that address the pressures of assimilation or texts that respond to discriminatory laws. Choose a focus that you are curious about!
On Choosing “Texts”: For this assignment, you will include 3 texts of your choice that address your chosen theme. When I say “text,” that doesn’t mean you have to choose a written text. You are free to choose a song, a piece of visual art, a clip from a TV show, a poem, etc. Regardless of the medium, you will close read and analyze this “text.” You must choose ONE text from our class.
On Writing the Assignment: Your paper should include questions and context (what questions arise? What do we need to know about this theme?), close readings (analyzing word choice, language, and form), intertextuality (a fancy term for creating a conversation between and across texts), and stakes (why does this theme/these poems matter?). Remember, since you’re introducing these 3 texts, you are the “expert”! That means that you might need to include a secondary source (though not required).