Important Dates:
Friday, 4/10
First Blog Post Due at 11:59 PM on SmartSite
Friday, 5/1
Second Blog Post Due at 11:59 PM on SmartSite
Friday, 5/22
Third Blog Post Due at 11:59 PM on SmartSite
Thursday, 6/11
Optional Extra Credit Blog Post Due at 11:59 PM on SmartSite
Word Count: Each post should be 500-700 words.
Your Task:
Over the course of the quarter, you will complete three blog posts on SmartSite. (You also have the option of doing one extra blog post for up to 10 extra credit points.) You can choose the topic of each post, but it must come from the list below. You don’t have to answer every question in the prompt—some will be more relevant than others depending on which text you choose to analyze—but your response should be detailed enough to prove a thesis. Whichever prompt you choose, focus on analyzing your chosen text, not simply describing or summarizing it.
You may respond to the same prompt more than once as long as you choose a different text to analyze each time.
Prompts:
Choose an advertisement that involves at least one nonhuman animal and compose a blog post that analyzes this animal’s significance. For example, does the animal talk, walk upright, or take on other characteristics that are typically associated with human beings? Does the animal appear to have its own thoughts, feelings, or goals? Does the ad allude to any legends or literature where this animal figures prominently? Is there an obvious link between this animal and the product the ad is promoting? Why might the writers of this ad have chosen this particular animal (or species) to sell this product? What relationship do they assume their audience will have to the animal(s) in question?
Choose a story, film, TV show, poem, or piece of music or visual art that does not come from the syllabus but includes a robot, animal, or other nonhuman entity. What is the significance of this animal or object? Is it a main character in the story? Is it mainly a background element? Is it a means of driving or facilitating a plot that mainly focuses on humans? (For example, is a dog just a way for two people to meet, or does it play a larger role?) What aspects of this animal or object seem to be most important or prominent? Does your chosen work seem to be promoting a particular way of looking at this animal or object? Does it ask us to see things from this entity’s perspective? Does it
