Argue the case for some other author as a media theorist
Paper Three: Theorists and Theories
Thus far in the semester we have been concerned with methods: the methods, that is, of media criticism, be they semiotic, stylistic, narratological, ideological, etc. We have read works of media theory, but always with an eye toward their possible application in the detailed analysis of media objects. In this final paper, we turn our attention to theory as such.
The determination of a specific topic is up to you, but you must engage closely with the ideas of a theorist read in this class. Here are some options: Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes, Stuart Hall, Adorno and Horkheimer, Laura Mulvey, bell hooks, Marshall McLuhan, John Berger, Jane Feuer. 4 for key ideas, to the above mentioned authors (e.g. Malek Alloulah to Barthes, Susan Douglas to McLuhan).
To engage with theory is to demonstrate that you truly understand what a theorist is saying, at least in part. Hence your paper must include an introductory section of roughly two pages in which you lay out key premises of a given theory. Whether you then choose to apply this theory to some media object (i.e., perform a “reading”) or compare your chosen thinker to another written text (i.e., compare two different theorists) is up to you. In any case you must use at least one outside source, which you can find in a database or in the Media Studies Reader.
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