Analysis of Societal and Cultural Discourse

Analysis/Synthesis

The final major writing assignment will build on techniques and strategies you have been developing throughout the semester while crafting the summary & strong response paper, as well as the visual analysis paper. For this 3rd Paper, in other words, you will probably make some of these familiar moves (summarizing; responding/including your own insights, experiences, and opinions; as well as focused and fully elaborated [rhetorical] analyses), and you will also develop and incorporate a type of writing that is known as synthesis.

For this analysis/synthesis paper, then, you will come to terms with at least two texts (you choose the texts) that engage a relevant (to you) societal/cultural exigency, and in so doing you might, for instance, summarize and respond to the authors’ purposes and main ideas— including any associated, relevant visual texts; you will reveal and elaborate analytical connections between your chosen texts, as well as their connections to your chosen social/cultural exigency, by focusing on their respective rhetorical features and/or ideas; and you will ultimately synthesize such insights into a new perspective of your own. In other words, you will be examining a few different facets of an important societal/cultural discourse so that you might further develop your own point of view (through synthesis) and join that “conversation.”

As the authors of your textbook explain back in Chapter 3 (as well as in a variety of other places throughout the text—consult the index of the MHG for further reading), synthesis is an
intellectual activity you’ll encounter in many academic and life settings (35). In fact, the foundation for thoughtful and effective analysis often begins by demonstrating your awareness of a larger discourse or “conversation” and beginning to establish your own place in it. And this, in a significant but by no means exclusive way, is what synthesis is.

In addition to perhaps revisiting Chapter 3 in the MHG, we will also be covering Chapters 10, 13 (partial), and 20. In these places, you will hopefully encounter guidance that lends itself toward the successful execution of the 3rd Paper.

Speaking of which, successful essays will accomplish the following:

1. Sufficiently identify, contextualize, and present an exigent societal/cultural topic
2. Specify at least 2 authors/texts and establish how they relate to your topic, as well as to one another (hint: it might be beneficial to choose sources that do not necessarily agree with one another)
3. Effectively engage with a synthesis question (below) by putting forth a corresponding claim (thesis) associated with relevant readings/texts
4. Summarize and analyze the views (and rhetoric) of at least two authors/articles/texts associated with a synthesis question
5. Demonstrate you have carefully considered different perspectives associated with your chosen synthesis question and are able to articulate your own new response to
6. the same question; you contribute a new voice to the societal/cultural discourse; you take your place in the “conversation”
7. Because the 3rd Paper will build on the multiple concepts with which we worked while composing the 1st and 2nd Papers, there is little sense in stipulating precise expectations and requirements as far as layout, organization, and/or structure of the 3rd Paper. Generally speaking, I anticipate our papers will have an introduction, perhaps some summary work, possibly some visual texts (not required; will not count toward page count), body paragraphs that evaluate and analyze the main points, arguments, and rhetorical features inherent to the different authors/articles/(visual)texts, and concluding thoughts that clearly portray your new, emergent voice as a contribution to an important societal/cultural exigency.

With all of this in mind…
Choose ONE of the following synthesis questions as the focus of your essay. Consider your chosen synthesis question as both the starting point and the frame for your discussion of at least two texts.

Synthesis Question 1: Given what many people believe are the potential consequences of Climate Change, are there any areas of common ground (e.g. between proponents and opponents) within Climate Change discourse upon which a unified way forward toward solution might be realized?

Synthesis Question 2: Economic Justice seems like a positive thing to many people. However, it is an issue around which swirls much discord. In other words, there is more than one answer to questions such as what would Economic Justice realized look like? Should progress toward Economic Justice persist? Would society/culture benefit overall from its realization? How can resolution of what many believe is an inherently good philosophy ever become manifest, in light of the fact that consensus (between opposing sides of the issue) seems out of grasp?

Synthesis Question 3: Some societal/cultural issues feel overwhelmingly heavy—as in they seem impossible to remedy. Guns, in a word, is one of those issues. Setting aside the task of finding a solution to the entire challenge posed by Guns, what are some comparatively smaller, perhaps less “sexy” victories that might be collectively (between pro- and anti-gun activists) won and that might eventually lead to large scale remedy (whatever large scale remedy even means)?

Synthesis Question 4: On its surface, an issue like Immigration could seem rather straightforward in terms of problem and solution. There are many people, however, who see it as a far more complicated issue than meets the eye. Why is it that the issue of Immigration cannot seem to be satisfactorily resolved—why can’t any compromise seem to be reached? Or is that sentiment even accurate?

Synthesis Question 5: [If none of these synthesis questions resonates with you, you may attempt to compose your own synthesis question (I will help, if requested), but I will ultimately need to approve it. Be in touch with me if you see yourself tending in this direction.]

Again, I invite us to consider these questions as emblematic of discourses taking place in our society/culture—particularly in how they tend to be divisive (between opposing “sides”).
What I am asking us to do for this final 3rd Paper is to engage with varying perspectives associated with a chosen topic, evaluate and analyze them, and, from that work, insert your own voice into the conversation. In order to effectively accomplish this, you will all but certainly need to engage with points of view that are antithetical to your own.

Work Cited or References
I will be paying more attention to your MLA or APA format for this final 3rd Paper

• Provide formal citations for your sources in MLA (Works Cited) or APA (References) format, as well as in-text citations and overall general format/style. You can find models for MLA and APA format/style by consulting:

1. your textbook, Ch. 20
2. the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
3. the UH Writing Center

Length: I anticipate this final 3rd Paper to be longer than previous papers—and not because of some arbitrary reason but because there is simply more content to cover/include.
Therefore, the most successful papers will likely be no fewer than 4 full pages and no more than 10 full pages; approximately 5-7 full pages is what I will be expecting. (These page ranges are references to your written work and do not include any space taken up by images you include.)