Extra Credit Assignment

Option 1: For this assignment, you will be asked to select one of the readings that we read over the course of the semester. This may include Generation Me, The Hip Hop Reader and/or Full Frontal Feminism. The objective of this assignment is to select one idea and analyze it. You will be asked to introduce the topic that you wish to discuss. Discuss the text and the author. You will not be expected to summarize the entire book, but the section that you have chosen. Think about your duties to your audience. Ask yourself, “What does my audience need to know?” The information that you will need to include contains:

· Title and author;

· Summary of the topic you have chosen to discuss;

· An analysis of the topic you have chosen to discuss.

Keep in mind that this audience has not read the text and/or article you have chosen, so you will need to explain it entirely. The analysis should represent your interpretation of the topic. For instance, if you choose to look at the double standards in place for men and women, begin with Valenti’s claim in Full Frontal Feminism. What does she have to say about the double standards placed upon women? You will be expected to discuss the implications of these double standards. For outside research, you may interview someone about these double standards like a young man and/or young women. What do they think of these double standards? What do these double standards imply? You may also view a movie and/or song lyrics to see how they refer to men and/or women. Discuss the implications of these double standards.

In the analysis, you will be expected to incorporate at least one quote from the text that you have chosen. Remember that the quote should not appear in a summary, at the beginning or at the end of a paragraph. You will be expected to frame the quote, which means by introducing it and analyzing it. You will be expected to adhere to the rules of MLA style. Furthermore, you will be expected to include a works cited page with this analysis. It will not be included in the page count. The minimum number of pages for this assignment is two. Points will be awarded with consideration of the audience, tone, language, required length, and adherence to MLA style.

Option 2: The second option is much similar to the first option. You will be required to adhere to all of the requirements that are outlined in the first option; however, instead of selecting a reading from the course material, you will focus in on a current event in today’s society. This may include, but not limited to:

· President’s actions regarding Libya;

· Egypt’s demonstrations;

· The plan to defund Planned Parenthood completely;

· Recent bills to redefine rape;

· Specific examination of state’s bills to limit abortion procedures and access;

· GOP’s proposal to cut food stamps;

· Lawmakers attempt to include creationism as part of school curriculum in select states;

· Facebook booting underage users.

Please see requirements outlined in the first option. Please note that you will be required to locate a journal article or news article for this option.

Annotated Bibliography Student Examples

From Josh Z., Josh M. and Chayse

Marcyliena Morgan's "Hip-Hop Women Shredding the Veil" claims the way that women have been portrayed in hip-hop as property in a society dominated by males. "Medusa, a prominent underground MC, describes herself as "One Bad Sista" who speaks with her ancestors by her side and contemplates their sacrifices and triumphs though the power (gangsta) and wisdom of her womb and vagina as she croons, "This pussy gangsta" (Morgan 112). The purpose for writing this essay is for the audience to understand how black women are trying to re-establish how they are portrayed in today's society. The intended audience could be for black male/female, but mainly for females, so they can understand the change of their role in societym and that they can become someone important. The audience should be able to trust her ethos as she is a black femlae as well. We could use this article to support our essay about the rise of black women in America such as Oprah and Tyra Banks.

From Josh H., Chris and Clayton

In Marcyliena Morgan's essay "Hip-Hop Women Shredding the Veil," she suggests that hip-hop has discriminated against black women. In order to show this, Morgan talks about the State of Missouri v. Celia case that tells how black women were a possession, not a free woman. Creating the image of how society portrays black women, this is diminished through the feminist and Black Power Movements. I intend to use Morgan's essay to show the struggles and rise of black women in today's hip-hop.

From Arion, Shana and Colton

In the story "Hip-Hop Women Shredding the Veil" written by Marcyliena Morgan, she is teaching types of courses contributing to hip-hop. She talks about the study of communication between different levels of class, race and gender. She started to talk about language and identity through the ethnography of the races she is explaining. The races that she is mostly focused on is the discourse and power of the Blacks/African American culture. She also talks about the edited language for the Creole race that she also is studying. The gender she goes into depth about all women and the hip-hop part of it. Examples include Angela Davis who is the artist Medusa, and Mother Africa embodied in that's known as Queen Latifah. We are using this because in the case of class, race and gender, we can look at the State of Missouri v. Celia. After trying to prevent mulitple rapes, she killed her master. In court, they ruled she was a slave, not a woman, so she was not protected.

From Marina, Lexi and Junior

In Morgan's article, she speaks of how African American women break the boundaries of a male dominated culture by speaking out against it. I intend to use this article to help explain what African American women are doing to make their voices heard through their music. Morgan states how black women are viewed as inferior, so they use their history to show their strength and worth. Since music plays a central role in their culture, they use lyrics they write in order to be heard by thousands.

From April, Jerann and Sierra

Marcyliena Morgan, author of "Hip-Hop Women Shredding the Veil," she asserts that young female African Americans are represented badly in hip-hop lyrics. Music today has many forms of African American women that speak of their culture and triumphs over slavery. In the case of the State of Missouri v. Celia, she is raped and left pregnant by her master. She kills him in self defense and receives a harsher punishment because she is a slave rather than a free woman. I intend to use this article to show how African American women overcame slavery through today's hip-hop lyrics.

From Jeriesha and Ashton

Morgan's thesis she is trying to get across is women have just as much right in the hip-hop world as anyone else. She supportsher theory by showing examples in the hip-hop industry of female artists such as Queen Latifah and Medusa. She also says "that hip-hop women share the same value of performance, hard, skillful, provocative and intelligent rhyming" (112). Target demographic of this article would be mainly young black hip-hop listeners ages 10 to 40. Due to more artists being black, it brings in more black listeners. Morgan is a very credible source and has researched her work well to give background on women and hip-hop. She makes a good connection with her audience because she uses examples, description and explanation well, so the reader can relate to what is happening. She also teaches courses on hip-hop as well as writing books and is the director of Stanford's hip-hop archive. We intend to use this source because it contains information regarding the State of Missouri v. Celia. Our argument is how Black women have had to work to get equal rights. This article was mainly about a slave who was raped by her master. She was on trial and lost because she was a piece of property. She ended up killing her master by standing up for herself.

From Shelby, Cristina and Greg

In the article "Hip-Hop Women Shredding the Veil" by Marcyliena Morgan, the main idea of the essay is how black female rappers stand out in a hip-hop world. Figures such as Dionne Warwick and C. Delores Tucker discouraged against thse artists because the violence and sexism in the lyrics. Most female MCs, for example Queen Latifah, Missy Elliot, and Lauryn Hill "promote self respect" in women (112). most women use their lyrics as an opportunity to break away from the set standards of society. An example of this would be the court case State of Missouri v. Celia of 1855. Celia was raped repeatedly by her master and killed him. She ended up losing her case because she was a slave and not considered a woman (113). The reason I am using this article is because the women in hip-hop's main mission is to rise above the slave standarsd set many years ago. They are not just rappers, they are women.

From Kayde, Heather and Penny

Marcyliena Morgan, associate professor in the department of communication at Stanford, and author of "Hip-Hop Women Shredding the Veil: Race and Class in Popular Feminist Identity." She asserts and implies black women use their music to tell about their standing in society. She uses examples of female MCs because music plays the role of the major source of socialization and expression of their lives. She points out MCs in order to raise awareness of the progression of black women's rights. She is targeting the young black women who listen to rap to tell them you don't have to degrade yourself in order to be heard.

From Cliff and Kyle

Marcyliena Morgan, Associate Professor of Communication, Stanford. Teaches hip-hop, discourse, language and identity, race, class and gender; the ethnography of communications and representation of the media. "....scholars and many feminists, while highly critical of sexism and violence in hip-hop, argue that it is a product and representation of male-dominated culture and should be criticized within American culture and media representation." Basically she is speaking on the subject of the male dominated industry of hip-hop and how it degrades and demoralizes women. We are using the article to help show the violence and attitude of young African American men toward women.

Mock Annotated Bibliography

Student's Name

English 104

Annotated Bibliography

Iwamoto, Derek. “Tupac Shakur: Understanding the Identity Formation of Hyper-Masculinity of

a Popular Hip-Hop Artist.” The Black Scholar 33.2 (2003): 44-49. Print.

Shakur is a misunderstood Black hip-hop artist to many hip-hop critics such as Bill O’Reilly and Bill Cosby. What these critics do not consider is what positive influence hip-hop music has on its listeners and the Black community. They don’t look at the context of the lyrics in which they are in place. They dissect these lyrics and pull out any negative influences and criticize its affect on the listeners and the Black community. Predominantly, Black males should be aggressive. They should assert authenticity by violence, drug dealing, and having sex with lots of women.

Keeling, Kara. ‘“A Homegrown Revolutionary’?: Tupac Shakur and the Legacy of the Black

Panther Party.” The Black Scholar 29.2 (1999): 59-64. Print.

The anger we see projected in Shakur’s lyrics stem from a rich family background associated with the Black Panthers. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was acquitted on charges of a plot to bomb public spaces in New York City, N.Y. Shakur lived at the very onset of oppression in his community. He was shot five times before the drive-by shooting that inevitably led to his death. His lyrics display black-on-black violence, misogyny toward Black women, money as a status symbol, and drug dealing. Keeling states that Shakur never quite lived up to his potential as opportunities were available to the Black community since the ‘60s and ‘70s. Shakur, the son of a Black Panther and the rapper, are two very different persons. Many critics don’t consider this in regard to his lyrics. His family wanted to live in an ideal world where possibility and opportunity were available to all persons, but Shakur prepared them to live in the world that he knew.

Pinn. Anthony B. “Followers of Black Jesus on Alert: Thoughts on the Story of Tupac Shakur’s

Life/Death/Life.” Black Theology: An International Journal 7.1 (2009): 31-44. Print.

Shakur’s controversial lyrics paint a cruel, but accurate picture of the life living in the inner city and the prejudices that followed his family and the Black community. Some critics or even those in the hip-hop industry might call into question Shakur’s authenticity. Pinn chronicles Shakur and his family’s repeated attempts to avoid poverty. He watched his mother succumb to her addiction to cocaine. It was these life experiences that fueled Shakur to showcase the thug lifestyle in his lyrics. Although his intentions were not to merely entertain listeners, but to educate them on the harsh realities affecting the Black community.

From Written Assignment #1 - Conclusion

From C. Petersen

We must teach our children to respect others and in doing so, will gain the respect of others. Too

often, we look the other way, accepting this as just how things are and giving our children the

impression that we approve of them. They only way to change this is by example, by not

supporting this kind of imaging. As a society, we have done it to ourselves. Everywhere our

children look, they see humans portrayed as objects in the media instead of human, from

pornographic material, to movies, music videos, and soft porn magazines, such as Che` or

Maxim, a men’s magazine here in the US also trying to appeal to men 18-34. Women themselves

have allowed this abuse, and image to flourish; men have promoted it out of selfish desire. If

allowed to continue, this world will take every advantage of such, with a ripple effect to be felt

for generations. How long will society allow the greed and selfishness of the rich to promote their

desires above the health of the world? Keep dreaming of a better world, but sit on your hands

and do nothing to achieve it. Let others with their own selfish motives use our children and

discard them as if they were less than human and yes, whether it is your child in the ad or your

child being deceived by the ad they have been used. It is time to make a stand, time to show our

children we care. Then, when they are dreaming of a better world, it is one where wealth is

measured by love, family, and success is thought of as happiness and the ability to bless others.

From Written Assignment #1 - Effective Description

From S. Allen

We see the side of a primitive castle in the background, fairly small and more likely meant to

house a gentry-class family as opposed to royalty. This manor likely belongs to the woman.

Unlike her Lady Godiva-influenced mate, she is (or was) fully clothed in a peach-coloured dress

with jacquard trim and a necklace of undefined material. It could be silver as soon as gold; either

way, jewellery was not cheap in that day and age nor was it practical. For working classes,

jewellery was likely to be broken, poorly cared for, stolen or sold off for whatever was needed by

the family. Notably, her hair is also loose and flowing, blown about and mussed by the wind. Its

appearance adds even further to to historical setting, but with modern-day ideals –

anachronistic, in other words.


The sky is dark and windswept, possibly resembling that of a coming storm and the foliage is

pointedly dead and the ground painted darker than the sky. The man and the woman contrast

the cold, gloomy landscape with their warm colour, dramatic poses and garb, as well as

composition; the wind on the cover is shown as blowing from left to right, while their pose draws

the eye upward. A lot of attention and detail is put into the man and woman while hardly any is

given to the background. It looks as if the artist (or artists) spent hours upon hours on the male

and female and maybe twenty minutes on the background.


This 'perfect mate' – in this case, the man – is seen as standing tall and strong (while she is

falling) and quite muscular with a strong frame, but not suffering from muscles-that-don't-exist

syndrome (thank goodness!). He is shirtless, tan, long-haired and obviously physically strong

and powerful, but tuned in to himself, the situation and the woman before him; one could say he

is easily 'in control' of what is going on; this is emphasized even more by the title of the book:

Master of Desire. One arm is wrapped about the woman's ribs to support her and she seems

absolutely oblivious to anything that is not him. She is practically falling over herself to be near

and touching the man, one hand placed on his diaphragm and the other out of sight, probably

around his back … or maybe down his pants. Who knows.

From Written Assignment #1 - Effective Target Demographic

From C. Reid

They are definitely trying to sell this movie to middle class, middle aged or college/ high school

men from the ages 13 to 30 that likes sports. This demographic is targeted because the movie is

rated PG-13 and also it comes in an unrated version for older people in college or high school.

Religion or political views won't play a major factor to the watchers of the movie unless they are

older. The model is also placed in a stadium equivalent to a college football stadium, this will

attract the college aged men to watch the movie. Their statement on the poster “keep your eyes

on the ball” helps give the targeted sexual orientation of the men being straight.

From Written Assignment #1 - Effective Objectification

From L. Hahne

This advertisement objectifies single, white, middle class, young women in the 70’s. The woman

is described as being wild and in need of being tamed. Mr. Leggs makes women out to be very

shallow by saying we would let a man treat us like a door mat just because he is wearing

attractive looking pants. Being a single, white, young woman this claim is highly offensive to me

because a man’s clothing choices has nothing to do with my feelings toward him. The text implies

that if your woman is wild and hard to control, you need to wear Mr. Leggs slacks, and by doing

so she will let you walk all over her. Women are viewed as prey that needs to be hunted and

taken down, according to this advertisement. It also portrays women as superficial, acting like

we only care about appearances. The quote “It’s nice to have a girl around the house” compares

us to a decoration, and the phrase “doll-to-doll carpeting” implies that men will be able to get

woman after woman to sleep with them, so many that they will have a carpet of women

groveling at their feet begging to be taken advantage of. The way the man has his foot on the

woman’s head symbolizes that she is a prize. Comparable to an animal mounted on the wall of a

huntsman, the tiger-women is likened to a trophy that the man has conquered and wants to

show off. A tiger is a very powerful creature, and a man that has killed a tiger is seen with great

respect because he has defeated something that no ordinary man could subdue. I believe that

this company, as well as many others at the time, was publicizing such objectionable ads to

attempt to put men back in the dominant position of the corporate world. This generation was

the first that a majority of women were in the work force. After the war ended many women

decided they liked working and wanted to make something more out of their lives than being a

stay at home mom. This new found independence for women threatened men’s need for being

the provider for his family so the media started encouraging men to take back their jobs and put

women back into their place at home.

From Written Assignments #1 - Effective Summary

From L. Hahne

In this ad there is a feisty looking young woman, around 18-24 years old, lying on the floor

with her head facing forward and looking at the camera. She has blonde hair cut into a bob with

short bangs, as was popular at the time. You cannot see the rest of her body due to it being made

into a tiger-skin rug spread out on the floor. A dapper- looking young man wearing a white

button- down shirt, a black tie, black dress shoes, and Mr. Leggs slacks is standing over the

tiger-rug woman with his foot placed on her head. The picture is cut off at the man’s mid torso to

allow the focus to stay on the pants and the woman. The man’s pose is that of a victorious hunter

who has successfully taken down his prey. The text helps to validate this idea by saying,

“Though she was a tiger lady, our hero didn’t have to fire a shot to floor her. After one look at his

Mr. Leggs slacks, she was ready to have him walk all over her.” In large, bold letters right under

the picture are the words “It’s nice to have a girl around the house.” This statement makes it

seem as though the woman is merely a decoration, not a valued member of the man’s life.

From Written Assignment #1 - Effective Introductions

From P. Elifrits

The room was dimly lit by what looked like a lamp that had fallen on the floor between the bed and the wall.

However, that wouldn’t explain the lamp that was still there beside the bed on the sea foam green counter top

night stand, giving the idea of a cheap motel. The colors muted in the room muted to the point of making it

seem there would be no sounds either. Stark white sheets rumpled in strange places; like the side of the bed,

where it looks like someone had grasped a hold of it and a spot on the pillow where someone’s head might have

been. He lays there motionless grasping at her hips as if he is just along for the ride, trying to gain some

control of her. Grabbing his arms, holding them to the bed, she says without words that the control is hers and

she is in charge. Her body is arched, eyes are closed and her head is tilted back with her hair flowing down her

back. Still in her black bra, with one strap falling of her shoulder as if to say, “You show me yours and I will

show you mine.” Her face is a vision, as if she is dreaming and his….well, it is covered by a magazine ad from

BMW, the only true color in the room and it comes from the series 3, red, and luxury sedan. That’s right I am

describing an advertisement for a BMW car. Does sex really sell everything?

From Written Assignment #1 - Effective Introductions

From C. Petersen

How many among us dream of a better world? It is probably safe to say all of us at one time or another has

done so. For some it has proven productive and useful, for others a complete waste of time and potential.

Every day, especially among the young people of this world, some will lose themselves in a dream world of

make believe and fantasy. Some will dream of possible ways to better themselves and the lives of their

families, by education, careers, making the most out of opportunities and contributing to society, building the

better world of their dreams. For others, living only for the present, never considering the future, such

dreams tend to be self-centered. Often these dreams are of parties or sexual conquests, and ways of achieving

what they believe to be success. Yet we cannot blame them for having these kinds of fantasies. Such things are

encouraged by those in the entertainment world, the media, and so called heroes of our day. Young people

look up to those portrayed as successful, because they have money, expensive things and women hanging on

every word, a view of success that the mass media tends to portray. It is this kind of absurdity and fantasy that

infects the lives of young people, destroying potential, promoting objectification, and destroying dreams that

must be stopped.