AMS 10: Paper Prompt Five FULL pages typed and double-spaced due in the beginning of class on Thursday,

March 3rd. Papers turned in at the end of class will be considered late. This paper is designed to give you practice in applying concepts and ideas from the class to your own original analysis. Your paper should engage with the ideas and arguments from at least two different readings (the books or articles in the reader) from class. This means that when you cite an author, it is not enough just to include a quote from that reading. Rather, you need to demonstrate an understanding of the main ideas and arguments that the author is making, and discuss how your own analysis draws on, further develops, and/or critiques those ideas and arguments. Your paper should have a clearly stated argument, offered in your own words, that is developed in the body of your paper. Be sure to analyze and interpret rather than just describe. Try to avoid general statements that do not draw evidence from the texts we have studied. As with all your papers, be sure to write clearly and concisely. Beyond the two readings you cite in your paper, you should also feel free to reference any of the cultural texts (this can include the documentaries, songs, and images) that we have discussed in class. Finally, be sure to give your paper an interesting title and to proofread your paper before turning it in. Please choose from one of the following options for this paper: 1) Icon Analysis The American cultural landscape is filled with icons that symbolize a certain image of the nation. This paper asks you to choose one icon that you think best represents your vision of contemporary U.S. culture. The icon can be a fictional character, a politician, a musician, an advertisement, or a material object. Why did you choose this icon? What is compelling about it to you? What do think this icon represents? What specific argument are you making about the nation through this icon? The icon you choose is important, and you will want to choose one that you find particularly evocative and rich in meaning. Your icon selection will determine what argument you can develop in your paper and the two readings with which you will engage. Thus, you will want to spend a good deal of time thinking about what icon you have chosen and why. 2) Envisioning the Nation Many of the texts we have studied in this class explore how popular visions of America are, for certain groups and individuals, riddled with paradox and contradiction. What do these competing values help us understand what the nation means to different communities in the United States? In your paper, construct a specific argument about

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how two different writers, filmmakers or musicians construct and reveal a particular vision of the nation. Some questions you might consider are: How has what it means to be an American been defined for (and by) different groups of people at particular historical moments? How has the idea of America been contested and imagined by individuals and communities living inside (and outside) the nation? And how have diverse groups of Americans struggled to define what it means to be patriotic and/or to belong in the nation? In your paper, be sure to engage with the ideas and arguments from at least two different readings from class.

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