Assignment: What Do Contemporary Representations of Superheroes Tell Men and Women About Themselves?
4-5 page paper
Students should examine any of the following prompts to help them pick a path for this paper. These are prompts, not a fully realized thesis statement-so there may be more to the sentence than you find below:
1. CHARACTER FOCUSED: What does a child or teen learn from ______[name of superhero] about being a______[gender]. [Three or four things examined]
2. TRAIT OR TOPIC FOCUSED: Men [Women] are learning____________from
superheroes and it's causing this/adding to this/etc.-[with three or four superheroes examined.]
3. DEEP ANALYSIS ASSOCIATION: What________[superhero] can teach us about ___________ [Topic]
4. CONTRASTING TRAITS, MULTIPLE CHARACTERS: Contradictory messages are coming from the presentation of ________ in contemporary comic books. [looks at two lessons people
are learning that are actually contradictory-using multiple heroes (or one hero)
5. REACTION-BASED/ READER RESPONSE: When comic books did , the backlash from readers was so strong. It teaches us a lot about _________ in society.
Students should develop their arguments with particular sources, and secondary sources talking about these traits/characters as well. If you can't find secondary sources on those specific comic books, try finding sources on the traits you are talking about.
Students should create theses that have their opinion (or comment) as well as how they will develop their argument hinted at in the thesis statement.
Students should write a 4-5 paper, Times New Roman, due Oct 23. This is an argument paper---you are trying to argue your point. Make your case, develop your points. Make sure that you don't assume all people will see the evidence and come to your conclusion---help us get to your conclusions.
Also remember to talk about the consequences of what you are proposing-what's at stake? What will happen if you are right? What might someone do to combat that consequence? Or what should one do to create the kind of consequence you'd like to see?
Remember this paper is about gender. So focus this on men and women and how they are "reading" superhero culture as kids or as adults.