ENG101 -- English Composition I

Prof. Eileen Joy (Fall 2003)

Short Paper #5: Alexander, "Cool Like Me" & Bordo, "Never Just Pictures"

Due Date: Monday, Oct. 20th

Format: 1-2 typed pages, double-spaced, 1"-margins

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS:

1. In his essay, "Cool Like Me," Donnell Alexander claims that evidence of "cool" is everywhere evident in American popular culture: "We all know cool when we see it" (368). Choose an example of what you think is cool--a musician, a celebrity, an athlete, or a style of clothing, to name a few possibilities--or something that passes for cool (what Alexander calls a "cool clone") in mainstream American culture. Thinking about what Alexander has written in his essay about the connections between black culture and "cool," explain why you think your subject is "authentic cool" or "wanna-be cool."

2. In her essay, "Never Just Pictures," Susan Bordo links eating disorders to "the contradictions of consumer culture, which is continually encouraging us to binge on our desires at the same time as it glamorizes self-discipline and scorns fat as a symbol of laziness and lack of willpower" (238). Can you think of some examples of this in television and print (magazine) advertising? [You will want to spend some time over the weekend carefully scrutinizing the advertising on television and also browsing through some popular men's and/or women's magazines at a bookstore or in the grocery store.] What evidence do you see that supports Bordo's assertion, and what do you think about it?

Special Note:

Short papers are meant to be INFORMAL FREEWRITING. I am not asking for a formal essay that is structured around a thesis, or that is organized around a specific pattern. Rather, I am asking for a reflection upon the questions posed above that is thoughtful and interesting, and I don't want you to worry about the form of your response--I want you to THINK OUT LOUD, without worrying about whether what you have to say follows a particular pattern, or has a beginning, middle, and an end, etc. What I do want to see is that you are willing to think DEEPLY upon any given question, and that you are courageous enough to go out on a limb or two with your ideas, while also realizing that, if you are being asked to write about a specific text (this includes films, videos, and websites), you should refer to specific places in that text that you think will illuminate or support whatever it is you are wanting to express. Finally, be assured that there is never (and I mean, NEVER) a right or wrong answer to any question I might pose to you in a short paper assignment. The questions posed are always, always open to multiple levels of interpretation.

These papers will be graded on a 10-point scale, and I will be evaluating them on the effort expended. The only way to insure a "0" would be to simply not make the minimum effort required (i.e., write at least 1-2 pages, or else--don't "jimmy" the margins or line spacing, don't start the first page halfway down the page, don't repeat the same statement over and over again with slight variations in word choices, etc.).