As a result of the discussions to date about comedy’s role in presenting news to various audiences, you are ready to “add your voice” to the “conversation.” You will undertake an exercise that calls upon you to offer what you have to say about the politics of humor…or the humor of politics…
Writing Project #2 requires you to discuss, in initial stages, your topic for research. You can delve into how comedy (along with conventional news sources) has been used to present news and its effectiveness. You can center it around a specific comedic medium/show/entertainer, a specific news event, or any one of the other options discussed in class.
Your proposal will share what research you have undertaken and how you plan to complete your research. Also, you will display your summary skills learned from Writing Project #1 by providing a summary of two academic sources relevant to your research; the sources you summarize should be works that you cite in your final research paper.
In addition, you will discuss how your research topic is interesting and worthy of discussion.
A successful proposal will answer the following questions: What do you seek to discover? What will be your contribution to the “conversation?” What have you discovered to date? What has been said about your topic? By whom?
Lastly, you will provide a preliminary, working conclusion to your research. Also, share what you have discovered in the way of material to corroborate the main points you plan to highlight.
This assignment should be three pages in length, typed and double-spaced.
Your proposal explains how you plan to “enter the conversation” about satire and comedy being used to deliver the news (your research paper is your actual “entry” into the conversation). In this assignment, you are basically doing the following:
– Briefly introducing the topic of comedy and satire being used as a means to deliver the news
– Briefly introducing your opinion (your “voice”) about the topic (Is satire’s use a good thing? A bad thing? Neither? Both? Again, what do YOU think?)
– Sharing why you feel the way you do and why your viewpoint is “important”
– Sharing how you will go about supporting your viewpoint? Here is where you will introduce two academic sources that you plan to use in your research paper
– You will also make mention of examples of satire/comedy being used to deliver the news. “To further illustrate my point, I will provide video clips/cartoons/memes of….”
You can simply mention your examples; no need for links in your proposal (you will discuss them in detail in your research paper). Let me know if you think you may need help finding examples.
– Briefly mention what you think are (or will be) the implications of the use of satire and comedy as a primary vehicle to deliver the news.
In short, your research paper at the end will be end result of you actually doing the things your proposal states.