McCain Ad Narrative Assignment

I decided to make a little change to our class assignments. I was a little disappointed with myself for class on Thursday and so I wanted to give the basics of narrative criticism another go around in class, this time with a better set of examples.

Below I have selected 6 ads from the McCain 2008 election campaign. For this assignment please watch the videos below (we'll do this in class on Tuesday 9-30) with an eye towards the construction of the narrative elements. Think in terms of the procedures we walked through last week. Who are the characters, what is the setting, plot and conflict? Who constructs the message and who is it meant to influence?

Once you have a thumbnail's sketch of the narrative characteristics begin by constructing a possible research questions. What are your impressions of the videos? As a critic, what strikes you about the stories? What parts of the story stand out and why? When you have developed a research question, the next strep is to propose a possible thesis, or main argument. In a sentence or two describe how you will approach the research question and the specific direction that your criticism will take. Keep in mind that the method (in this case narrative criticism) should be a part of your thesis and connected to your overall argument.

Once you have completed the first two steps, I want you to write a short essay 1-2 pages that proposes a paper using the videos as an artifact. No, I don't expect you to really write a longer paper about the ads. This assignment is to help you through a process of analyzing a mediated narrative and practice asking critical questions and constructing a thesis.

Your essay should be posted to your blog no later than Tuesday, October 7. This will count as your third in-class writing.

Artifacts from the Future

Hooray! I have long been one of those readers that skipped to the back of WIRED to peruse the Artifacts from the Future section first. The artists rendering of our possible futures was always entertaining and provocative. Now, WIRED is opening the section to readers and offering us a chance to put our Photo Shop skills to the test and predict our not too distant future.

I'm still thinking about how I'll use this in class. Some suggested extra credit for working on this side project...so perhaps there are a few extra points in it for the hearty and inspired student.

At any rate, click here to read more about the contest. This month is the McDonalds of the Future!