Assignment

Following our discussion of the short writing "Applying a Reading as a Lens," and of Michael Warner's "The Trouble with Normal," you will now use this secondary source (Warner) as a lens for your analysis of one pop culture primary text of your choice.

Select a form of popular culture Text that you have not already written about. It can be a film, TV show, podcast, music video, song, artwork, etc. Try to pick something that is not an LGBT text. Michael Warner's ideas about normal, while developed in relation to LGBT issues, apply to many different forms of life, identity, and socialization. You will learn the most about these ideas by applying them to something new, rather than to the subject matter that Warner has already studied and written about.

You should apply one of Warner's theories to your reading of your text with the goal of developing a deeper understanding of both. As a working strategy, you should outline the theories you intend to use from Warner, the as well as brainstorm your initial analysis of the text you have chosen; this approach should help you avoid a summary of either text as you work with them for this paper.

Work closely with the texts as you have done with your previous paper and written responses, using the texts as evidence to support your claims and as material for further analysis. This paper is not a matching exercise in which you seek out only those instances in which the lens fits easily with the story. While you can elaborate on these instances, you should not ignore the moments that provide contradiction--seek out differences. Feel free to challenge the limitations of the Warner reading as you apply it to the text.