I.P.E.S.

Almafuerte
Lengua y Cultura III
Blas Bigatti
2010

First Assignment

Task:

You must pick out a sequence, idea, phrase (whatever) from The red badge of
gayness (South Park, episode 314) to relate it to any of the ideas present in the
texts about historiography discussed in class, and then write a short (one-
page) article.

Steps to follow:

1) Think of an
an idea of YOUR INTEREST.
INTEREST The TV episode deals with many aspects
that can be related or contrasted to the excerpts that we discussed in class. Think
of one idea that you find interesting to relate and analyse. Ideas can be present
in a variety of elements from the episode: the plot, a situation, a dialogue, a
statement, a particular character, etc. And they can be related with any of the
elements present in the texts: with a definition, a sentence, a whole concept, an
example, etc.

Let me give you two examples (that you can’t use, sorry):

1-American people carry out huge re-enactments of past events. This implies
that they see the past as meaningful. In this sense, the tradition of re-
enactments in America could be compared with Elton’s point of view about the
usefulness of history.

2-One of the characters tells Cartman: ”The South still didn’t win the war (…) Too
bad you're such a dumbass in history, or you would have known that!” This line
implies that we can get to know the past provided that we study it. This idea
could be contrasted with Jenkins example about the A level exam on History.

2) Organise your ideas:

ideas Once you know what you’re going to write about, you
must organise your ideas and the information you have. There are many possible
and valid layouts for an article. In case you’re not sure about this, I give you one
possibility:

Introduction: In the first paragraph or paragraphs you should make a general

presentation of the topic, making it clear for the reader what TV episode you’re
going to talk about and briefly explaining its plot (always have in mind that
the reader is not supposed to know the same things that you know: you
mustn’t take things for granted).

Body: The body of your article should contain your main point. This is the
moment when you take something from the TV show and explain it through your
bibliography. Consider the order in which you will express your ideas (what will
you write first, what second, and so). Try to make your ideas follow a logical
chain.

Closing/conclusion: To finish with you can summarise your points or express a

conclusion.
 3) Write your ideas down: Once you have an idea of how to organise your
article, you must start writing it. When writing, have these things in mind:

-You’re not writing for the teacher, but for an imaginary reader.
-Be clear -the reader doesn’t know what you know; so you must make
things clear for him/her.
-Be logical (that is, coherent) –don’t say one thing and then something different
in the next paragraph.

Also, when writing, I will ask you to follow some style guidelines (don’t worry yet, if
you don’t get this, let me know and I’ll explain it personally!!!):

-Page size: A4
-Font: Verdana 10, single space between lines.
-Indentation: left indentation (0 cm), right indentation (16 cm)
-Paragraph: Paragraph justified, single space between lines, first line indentation
(0,5 cm), automatic hyphenation.
-Initial header: institute, course, teacher’s name, student’s name, year.

4) Drafts: The first article you send me will be a

draft. I’ll check it and send it back with
comments. You’ll have to make changes taking
into account my feedback and then you’ll send a
final draft.

5) Doubts: Any doubts you have, you can always

consult me by e-mail. I check it almost daily. So,
if there is any doubt concerning the assignment,
or about how to handle the PC stuff, just let me
know.

6) These are the elements I will assess in your final version:

Assessment chart:
Argumentation: organisation,
coherence, clarity. (40%)
Language: correction of form and
register. Style. (20%)
Bibliography: correct conceptualisation
of given bibliography. (15%)

Form: Conformity to style guidelines.

(10%)

Process: improvement out of

corrections and class discussion. (15%)
Final assessment

7) DEADLINES:
April 13-20: First draft
April 20-27: Final draft

8) Extra material:
• The video of the episode is available online. You’ve got to possibilities:

1) You can watch it online: http://tv.mofile.com/VOB0A0C3/

2) You can download it and watch it on your PC (recommended):

http://cid-9b8b4208787ad508.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/South%20Park%20-
%20The%20red%20badge%20of%20gayness

• The script of the episode is also available in case there are some important
fragments that you can’t understand. You can read it and copy it from:

http://www.southparkstuff.com/season_3/episode_314/epi314script/

(--copy the directions and paste them on your search engine--)