Gender Communication – Conversation Paper

In this 2-3 page, formally written paper, you are to critically and thoughtfully consider the lessons learned in this unit. You can either:

1) choose a theme (idea) that runs throughout 3 or more of the readings/videos (think big on this one, though obviously “gender” or “gender differences” in general are too big and general) and critically analyze it. 

2) put the 3 or more of the readings/videos in conversation with one another. This doesn’t mean that you summarize three readings/videos and then provide a sentence on how their related (there shouldn’t be any summarizing of anything at all – summarizing is a book report and book reports are something 4th graders do). You’re making a claim about a large idea related to gender (big idea that’s insightful) and supporting it using three sources from this unit (so you’re tying together three of the readings/vids in some larger, insightful way).

In either case, you need to be referring to the readings/vids (refer to author last names and not reading titles when available.)

In no way should this paper involve summarizing the readings/vids. If you find yourself summarizing, you’re doing this wrong. (Summarizing = book report = 4th grade)

I’m fairly picky about writing; this is a senior-level class and I expect senior-level writing demonstrated in this paper. I allow contractions – that’s not a problem. I have rules on other common writing issues, though (which are easy to fix: write your paper and then search for each of these to clean up using the search function). These are listed at the bottom of this assignment.

You don’t need a header – just a nicely centered title. I don’t need your name or my name or the class or anything: just a nicely centered title.

Please save and upload your word doc (no PDFs) using your last name as the file name.

1.5 pages isn’t enough. If you hit page 5, you’re overachieving, and no one likes an overachiever.  😉

If you have an idea about what you want to write about and aren’t sure about it, hit me up. 

I don’t need a ref list unless you refer to sources not assigned in this class. Then please use APA format.

RULES:

• never use you or your as a general term in the paper
• no page-long paragraphs 
• none of the sentences should begin with “there is” or “there are”
• do not use “be it” or [whether] it be” 
• do not use “rather” for “whether” 
• do not use “bias” and “biased” incorrectly (something has bias; a source is biased.  A television show is not bias – it is biased).  [a pet peeve here]
• offset ALL titles of movies, books, etc., by italicizing them and capitalizing them correctly. 
• do not use the word “thing” or “things” anywhere in the paper – choose a more descriptive term
• do not use “apart” incorrectly
• do not use effect and affect correctly every time
• do not refer to any spectrum (try “contrarily” instead of on the other side of the spectrum)
• do not start any sentence with “which” 
• do not refer to something “in a light.” (try “perspective” instead)
• when referring to a gender issue, use “men” and “women” or “males” and “females” but not “men” compared to “females” or “women” compared to “males”  [generally, I prefer “men” and ‘women” over “females” and “males”]
• do not use the words “show” “shows” “showed” or “shown” (Try “depicted” “illustrated” or “portrayed”)
• do not use the words seen or saw
• do not used the phrase “touched on” (try “addressed” or “discussed’)
• when referring to the media call it the media and not just media
• do not use looked at as or viewed as when you should have used portrayed as or depicted as instead (e.g they are looked at as villains refers not to how they’re portrayed but how they’re perceived by someone – someone is viewing or looking at them; in this case if you’re trying to describe how they are cast, it should be they are portrayed as villains or “they are cast as villains.”)
• please make sure you don’t add an “s” to the end of the book author’s last name if you refer to her – it’s not “Woods” – it’s “Wood.” 🙂