Project Web: Online Culture and Identity

FOR ALL READING AND ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES, SEE THE SCHEDULE ON MOODLE.

Scaffolding Exercise: Rhetorical Analysis

The purpose of this first scaffolding assignment is to encourage you to look critically and carefully at the
argument of another scholar. You will start by looking at the assigned articles in Pop Perspectives, as well as
the two student example essays. Choose one to write about using an in-depth rhetorical analysis.
Directions:
First, you must make sense of her/his main points by explaining them in your own words. You will start by
discussing some of the following points:
1. Who is the author and what is their purpose (as far as you can tell) in writing this text?
2. Is there any necessary context we may need to know to understand it? Here you might address questions
like who was the intended audience and when/where/why the text was originally published, or if the
writer is responding to anything in particular.
3. What is the writers position? What does the writing set out to prove to its audience or seek to make its
audience understand? What is the main point (thesis) and essential claims? What evidence does the
author offer for these claims? What kinds of support does the text use?
Next, respond to the essay with your evaluation and analysis of the claims and the rhetoric (not only what it
says but also how it was written)
1. Do you find the authors position persuasive? Do you agree or disagree with the claims?
2. What are their most interesting points or most well-supported claims?
3. Do you doubt any of the claims? Does the author make any assumptions or claims which they do not
support? Which assumptions or conclusions strike you as problematic or unreasonable?
4. Are there any problems with the way it is written? Are there issues with structure/organization, tone, or
word choice?
5. On the other hand, if you admire the way the text was written, how does the essays structure, tone, and
word choice help to support the authors thesis?
6. What are you views and thoughts on this topic? How do they relate to the ideas expressed in the authors
text? How might all this connect to your essay topic or other issues you are interested in writing about?

Assignment Success Notes: Your response should at least 600 words (about 2 pages, double spaced) and use
MLA citation. This means you must cite the text you are analyzing in correct MLA format. Use this exercise as
an opportunity to improve your MLA skills. If you include quotations from the original text, make sure they are
short quotation (no more than 3 lines long). Use this as an opportunity to practice weaving together short
quotes, summary, and paraphrase from another text with your own words, analysis, and opinions.

Project Web Essay: Online Culture and Identities

Prompt:
In this section of the class, we will read several essays about how identityand the ways in which we present
ourselvescan be influenced by online cultures. Online cultures and social media can have a positive impact on
our lives and identities, but it can also have a destructive or negative influence, and sometimes it's a little of
both.
Write about a way that an online culture is connected in a significant and influential way to how
people form or express identity, and make a complex claim about that connection using examples
and analysis to illustrate that claim.

Sample Topics Inspiration: Note: You are not limited to these. These are simply examples of the types of topics that
would fit this question.
How an online culture/subculture has shaped/changed/influenced your own identity and outlook on the
world. Is this subculture you identify with different from the one you were raised in? If so, how have
these differences been significant to you? How has the online culture impacted people who participate
in it as a whole?
The influence online music and music subcultures on the development of identity, for example, what it
means to identify as a punk, underground hip hop fan, a goth, a scene kid, a metalhead, a raver, etc in a
YouTube, iTunes, and Spotify world? How might this be different from music subcultures of the past?
The impact of online fandoms and geek culture on your identity and interact with the world
The significance of online communities on LGBTQ people and identities.
The influence of Facebook on how friends and families communicate, and how that changes the way we
see and interact with each other.
How social media sites like Tumblr, Reddit, 4chan, and other sites create communities and influence the
identities, self-expression, or social experiences of their users

Your essay should do these things:

First, it should have a clear main point (thesis statement) that makes a claim about the connection
between online culture and identity.
Second, it should show an awareness of the conversation that is already going on about these issues. You
should do this by fully describe the specific connection between online culture and identity that you
choose to discuss and also summarize some of the ideas that you have found in the class readings or in
your own experience or research.
Third, it should build a clear, coherent argument in response to the prompt and the sources that you choose.

Sources: Outside sources are admired but not required for this essay. IF you find or incorporate articles into
your essay that connect to the issues you are discussing, you must correctly quote and cite them. Please see the
MLA section of your Handbook and the Incorporating Sources Handout for guidance. We will also discuss how
to cite sources and avoiding plagiarism in class.

Length: 1200 words minimum. 1200 words is approximately 4 pages. IF you do outside research, you must
also cite any outside sources you include in your essay, including readings we do in class. We will discuss MLA
format in class at a later date, so you will not be graded on MLA correctness, but please give it your best shot
anyway when you cite your sources for this paper. You can find an MLA guide starting on page 109 of The
Little Seagull Handbook.

As always, I am here to help! Email or set up a conference with me for questions and concerns