Essay 1:

BLACK MIRROR: WHAT DO WE REFLECT?

Lens

Episodes

Themes

Marxist

Fifteen Million Merits

Organic/Inorganic

Panoptical

White Bear

Public/Private

Feminist

The Entire History of You

History/Memory

Post-Humanist

Be Right Back

Heternormativity/Revolution

Choose:
(2) TWO (minimum) from the Lens column
(2) TWO from the Episodes column
(1) ONE binary from the Themes column
Now that you have familiarized yourself with the writings of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels,
Michel Foucault, and Donna Haraway, you will be tasked to:

*COMPARE/CONTRAST TWO episodes of Black Mirror

as they pertain to one of the binary themes provided,
using the aforementioned ideological lenses to discern the
thesis (main argument) made in the episodes, and how the
show extends or contradicts these ideologies.
Things to keep in mind:
* Remember that you will need a well thought-out and specific thesis:
main idea + your argument + how it is important to the discourse/world.
* Your focus should be on both the visual and rhetorical moves made by the show and how they
function to prove their thesis, as well as how they further your own thesis. Remember to
analyze throughly, always connecting it back to your thesis statement.
* Your focus should be quality vs. quantity. If you find yourself repeating information or going off
on tangents, check to see if you have analyzed your evidence fully, and that is engages with
your thesis.
* Remember to cite your sources. Include a Works Cited page.

MLA FORMAT (owl.engish.purde.edu)

12 pt font
2,500-3,000 words.
FIRST DRAFT: No later than 10 p.m. on Sunday, February 22. (Hard copies in class).
FINAL DRAFT: No later than 10 p.m. on Sunday, March 1. (Hard copies in class).