Equality 101

I’ve come to the time in the semester in my Developmental Writing classes in which we do an assignment based on body image and the media.  We read an essay by Susan Bordo called “Never Just Pictures”  (from her book Twilight Zones), among other essays, and talk about the way the media and societal pressures influence an individual’s body image.

Inevitably, the conversation focuses on women’s body image issues and the distorted and disturbing messages of the media and advertising.  Though Bordo herself mentions that the problem of poor body image is not just a female problem, many of my students usually immediately recognize that much of society’s pressure to be thin and beautiful is often focused on women.  Through this assignment, my and male and female students, regardless of race and age, begin to see how the media manipulates our ideas of what is beautiful and puts unfair pressure on females to become the “ideal” woman.

As part of the writing assignment, my students are required to find examples of advertisements to help support the claim they make about the media.  It always warms my heart when students point to images of ultra-thin models, understand that the image is most likely airbrushed, and then go on to wonder why average bodies are not considered beautiful.

I’m including this assignment below because it works so well in my classroom.  I think it is especially good for Developmental Writing students because of the focus on images.  It gives them something concrete to jump start their critical thinking, and the body image issue is one that almost every student has something to say about.

Writing Project #2: Media and Identity

Length Requirement: 3 pages (the Works Cited page is not part of the page count)

Source Requirement: 3

Documentation Style: MLA (in-text and Works Cited page citations)

Key Concepts:

Claim Structure

Audience

Source Use and Support

Summary

Taking a Position

Media Analysis

For this essay, we will revisit Susan Bordo’s “Never Just Pictures,” pages 85-91 of your book.  You will first summarize Bordo’s main claim, and decide whether or not you agree with her.  Once you’ve taken a position, you will find at least two pieces of evidence, in the form of an advertisements, to back up your claim.

The essay you write will combine your summary of Bordo’s claim, your opinion on her claim, your analysis of the advertisements, and an explanation of how the advertisements supports your opinion.  This may seem overwhelming, but we will take one step at a time and we will practice analyzing advertisements in class.

As always, if you run into trouble, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Helpful Hints:

1. First, summarize Bordo’s claim about media and body image.  Then decide if you agree, before you look for advertisements.
2. If you aren’t sure whether or not you agree, look at some advertisements first, and let your analysis of the ads help you take a position.
3. Freewriting is another great way to discover how you feel about a claim.