Project Text Assignment: The Pop Culture and Social Issues Research Paper

Directions:

Write a 6-7 page (1600 words minimum) persuasiveresearch paper about an issue relating to pop culture. Your paper should have a well-defined thesis (claim about the issue) and use various persuasive rhetorical techniques. This essay will use what you learn in your research to decide on a thesis/claim and defend/explain your point of view. You will be choosing a specific topic and both of your scaffolding assignments (separate prompts) will ideally relate in some way to that topic. If you are having trouble narrowing your topic, please come and see me.

Some Topic Options:

• Option 1: Pick specific social issue and research how that social issue is portrayed in a specific area of pop culture. You will analyze the representation of this issue in pop culture, or the influence of pop culture media (film, music, shows, sports, popular books, or other pop culture phenomena) on the social issue itself. Consider how pop culture products can both reflect issues in our world and bring awareness to them, but can also influence people and change people's attitudes or thoughts about certain issues.

• Option 2: Consider a particular piece or genre of pop culture that interests you. (a genre of music, a particular sport, a genre of film/tv, a genre of books, or a specific example of any of these.) Make a claim about how the issues of representation and diversity relate to the genre/show/etc you have chosen.Choose a specific kind of diversity-racial, ethnic, gender, sexuality, class. How diverse is this genre of tv/movies, sport, or type of music? What issues connect to its relative diversity or lack thereof? How does representation (or lack thereof) in your chosen form of pop culture have an impact on minority groups being represented (or not being represented or not being represented accurately)? We will be discussing issues related to this option further in class.

• Option 3: Create your own topic have me approve it. As long as it relates to a specific aspect of pop culture and issues related to it, it is a possible topic! You must get your topic approved.

Format: Your paper should be written in Times New Roman font with one inch margins on all sides. The upper left hand corner of the first page should include your name, the date, the class, the assignment, and your word count. The upper right hand corner should have your last name and the page number. Your paper should have a descriptive title, which should be centered above the first line of your paper. For more instructions, please consult the format example, available on the class blog: lawson101fall15.weebly.com

Length: Your paper must be at least six pages long (double spaced, Times New Roman size 12 font) notincluding your Works Cited page. This is approximately 1600 words. This is the minimum length only. Your Research Paper can be longer than this, but it must not be shorter. Please include your word count along with your name/class/date/etc in the upper left hand corner of the first page.

Sources: Your paper must cite as least six different reputable sources. It is up to you to convince your reader that your sources are reputable and relevant. You may use books, articles from online databases, videos, internet sources, and any other source you believe will increase the credibility of your paper. Your paper must include a Works Cited page that lists your six (or more) sources in correct MLA format. See blog for MLA resources.

Some Friendly Advice:

• If you have never written a research paper before, it may seem like a big task. However, if you follow the steps that we go through in class and keep up with your research, you may find it to be an enjoyable process.

• Be sure to turn in all required papers and write required drafts ON TIME. Falling behind is one of the worst things that can happen to a paper during this process. Don't be the student who stays up all night writing his or her first draft.

• Lastly, write about something you are genuinely curious about and interested in. Don't choose a topic simply because you think it will be easy, or because you think I will like it. We will be doing this assignment for a long time, and you don't want to be stuck writing about a topic you don't really care about.

• And here is my 2 sources i did it

• The Danger of Fast Food

In my essay, I'm going to research and explore the decisions behind choosing fast food over healthier options. Even though people understand fast food can be harmful Why does it continues to be a multimillion dollar industry? Do you think fast food is unhealthy? Why is it that people know fast food is harming their bodies yet they still eat it? Some people find fast food a very fast and easy way to get a meal during the day. Especially when they have work and have no time to go home, and cook a meal. They can also be running late and want to grab a quick bite to eat. Even though they know that it's unhealthy, people think that they don't have a choice, and that as long as they don't eat it constantly they won't be harmed. However, fast food is harmful whether a person eats it a lot or even a little.

According to Ann Pietroangelo and Elea Carey, "These foods are often high in calories yet offer little or no nutritional value. When fast food frequently replaces nutritious foods in your diet, it can lead to poor nutrition, poor health, and weight gain." Since, fast food does not have nutrition in it, your body does not get the energy it needs to function. It also causes weight gain which leads to strokes and heart diseases. The more you eat fast food the more you are putting your body at risk. It might not seem like it is severe in the beginning, but the more your body receives it, the more it will get used to it. Since it replaces the vitamins in your body, you will end up with little or no nutrition. As Ann Pietroangelo and Elea Carey say, "The study determined that people who eat fast food are 51 percent more likely to develop depression than those who eat little to no fast food." Although many people think that depression and food are two completely different topics, they are the cause and effect of each other. For example, a person who eats a lot will feel satisfied in that moment but will regret it later as a result. A person who realizes that they are gaining weight will most likely feel insecure and even try to starve themselves to fit in. this leads to anorexia.

Another way people get attracted to buying fast food is through commercials and advertisements because they make it easier on them to buy nonhealthy options but to save money. People often blame fast food restaurants on the reason for obesity, but in fact people's choices are to blame, as they choose the harmful items on the menu instead of the healthier options. As Larissa Gedney claims, "The positives of fast-food restaurants can go beyond the cost and convenience factors with a little effort in choosing the healthier options on the menu." This means that fast food is not a bad thing if people use it the right way. Like many things, fast food has its advantages and disadvantages but what matters is how people benefit from it. For example, when ordering the healthy options that are given on the menu, that benefits the body and does not harm it. Like ordering salad instead of fried foods. The way people choose what to order is based on them, not the menu because the menu has all sorts of options including the good and the bad. Some people might ask, ‘why is the healthier options more expensive than the nonhealthy foods?' The reason is because healthier foods take more products to make than to simply fry them. It's also a faster way than cutting all the vegetables to make salad.

Conclusively, fast food places are not good for your health and can get you diseases at a young age. It also causes you to be overweight and not get the nutrition your body needs to function. On the other hand, fast food is not as bad as people think as long as they choose the right thing for their body to order. People need to be aware of what's on the menu before they order because there are healthy options that people avoid.

Works Cited

Pietroangelo,Ann. "13 Effects of Fast Food on the Body."Healthline.

Gedney,Larissa. "Positive Facts of Fast Foods " Healthline.