These are going to be a few things you will need to write the paragraph. It’s 300-400 words. Single spaced. There will be a lot but give it a look at This isn′t required but you also might consider looking at a couple of pieces of fan work (these you will find entertaining and maybe a little horrifying). First, here is a link to one of the original sites where people could upload fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/ It contains fan-written stories about virtually any form of pop culture (besides music) you can think of. Warning: some of this may be sexually explicit. If you want to look at something more contemporary, look at the Archive of Our Own (which will require you to accept the Terms of Service to access). Second, here are two links to some of the earliest Star Wars fan films. The first is long because it is a site that has used fan films to recreate the entirety of Episode 4: A New Hope and Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. You can watch however much of this you want. Star Wars Uncut The second is a Star Wars parody of Cops and is one of the earliest online examples of fan films. You certainly don′t have to watch the entire film but you can use these as evidence for how fans interact with texts. You also might think of some more contemporary examples you can draw on. Today we will be comparing two different genres of very political music. Over the weekend,you should listen to Kendrick Lamar′s 2014 album To Pimp a Butterfly and Florida punk band Against Me!′s 2014 album Transgender Dysphoria Blues and read the accompanying articles that should help you understand the albums better. Each of the albums deals explicitly with identity and politics by connecting personal struggles to a larger social consciousness. As you listen to the albums, you should read the lyrics (these are easily found online). You should also consider the questions that can be found in the Folder for today though you don′t have to write out answers to them. In class we will work on a assignment together that contrasts the albums. After that, we will analyze some other examples of contemporary music to try to understand how we will analyze music the rest of the semester. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar Article and Another Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues Against Me! Article The Battle of Representation: Race, Class and Identity in a Global Market Today, we will continue our analysis of representation by talking Crazy Rich Asians, the first major Hollywood film with a majority Asian or Asian-American cast since the 1990s. This is the one full length film I require you to find on your own but it is available on HBO if you have access to an account and you could rent it in a few other places. If you have difficulty viewing the film for technical or price reasons, please let me know. As you watch, pay attention to both its themes and how the film uses standard romantic comedy features (characters, plot points, etc) but weaves them together to tell a story that is distinct and resonated with at least some audiences. In class, we will go over a few ways that you can analyze the film. To prep for that, it would be helpful if some of you came into class familiar with the critical and popular response to the film. So google it and find out what people have said about it. How did critics respond? How did fans of the original books respond? How did people use the film in memes? The point is to use the film to explore both larger issues of representation (which I will go over in class) and some basic methods of pop culture analysis. Film: Crazy Rich Asians The Normal and the Abnormal: Regulation and Resistance in Pop Culture Today, we will build on our last conversation about representation by analyzing one of the key ways that pop culture shapes society and identity: through defining what is ″normal″ and what is not. To guide our conversation, I would like you to read Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal, one of Marvel Comics′ recent attempts to diversify its superhero lineup. Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel (previously Carol Danvers who you may know as Captain Marvel), will likely be one of the next heroes added to the MCU. As you read, think about how the comic is challenging ideas of what it normal both in the text (it is a key theme) and outside the text in the context of American superheroes. After that, we will have a larger conversation about how pop culture shapes ideas of normalcy and the consequences of that power. Novel: G. Willow Wilson, Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal • Analyzing Representation: In this very short assignment, you will write between 200 and 500 words in answer to the questions: Does representation matter in popular culture? Why or why not? To answer this, you must draw on materials from at least two days of Part I of the course. This is a much smaller version of what you will be required to do in your essays in order to give you practice before we get to the much more substantive assignments.