Assignment
Instructions:
The paper must be written in MLA format, including a formal outline.
The approximate length of the essay is 8 to 10 pages.
The paper must cite at least 5 research sources, including the following:
- Doctor Zhivago
- One full-length text (book) by an authority on your topic. Recommended sources are books and ebooks specifically on your topic that appear in the LAMC library catalog. This requirement may also be satisfied by citing a textbook for a relevant subject such as political science, psychology, sociology or history.
- One scholarly journal article from the LAMC library databases. This will be an article designated "scholarly" or "peer reviewed" in one of the databases such as ProQuest or CQ Researcher.
- One other periodical. This may be a second scholarly journal article, or it may be a major metropolitan newspaper or a news magazine.
- One Internet site. This may be the web site of an organization that offers authoritative information on your topic, a web site that specializes in news reporting, or a web site you use as an example of popular opinion or pop culture.
In some cases, other sources such as interviews or government documents may be used as well.
Do not use or cite informal sources such as web sites that collect or sell student papers (e.g. echeat or 123helpme), blogs maintained by individuals or groups that do not have solid academic credentials, or Q&A sites such as ehow or about.com. Acceptable web sites include those maintained by university departments, libraries, museums or government agencies.
You may choose to consult dictionaries and encyclopedias to gain a better understanding of terminology and the history of some aspects of your topic. If so, these should be listed on your Works Cited page. However, they are not substitutes for the required sources listed above, and the information you use from them should be limited to definitions and basic background information.
The required five sources must not only be listed on your Works Cited page, but must be either quoted or paraphrased in the text of your essay.
Topic Choice Guidelines:
The topic is the influence of public perception of/by a social movement through the control of information in a particular historical period. This may involve propaganda techniques or censorship involving messages in entertainment media, journalism, public assemblies, communications technology, education and other institutions. You may consider a variety of sources of information and means of influence from among the following:
- Static imagery such as billboards, posters, Internet memes
- Clothing, hair styles and mannerisms that identify members of a group
- Slogans and alternative terminology; political vocabulary
- Popular music and the cultures centered around bands or genres
- Educational approaches and content; historical revisionism
- News reporting and journalism
- Social themes in books, television and/or films
- Social themes in art and performance
- Censorship
- Social media
- Online advertising
- Search engines and news feeds
- Parades and celebrations
- Symbols such as flags and logos
- "False flag" events such as staged attacks and paid protests
- Celebrities and activism
- Funding sources of political or social activism
You may identify other influence techniques that are not listed here. Your essay should identify some examples of propaganda or censorship mentioned in Doctor Zhivago, and you may include historical information on this aspect of the Russian Revolution from other sources.