Research Paper

Throughout the semester, you’ll be completing a few short written assignments that will culminate in the creation of a final research essay. The components of this essay include a brief proposal, an annotated bibliography, and the paper itself. The essay offers you two options; if you would like to propose an alternative you are welcome to do so, but please see me during office hours before your proposal is due so we can make sure it’ll be a good fit for the assignment.

OPTION ONE: ANALYSIS OF A Cultural Artifact

Many of the conservative ideologies that we’ve been learning about have been reflected, refracted, or otherwise expressed in some unlikely places: films, television, novels, videogames, music, and other media. As such, these ideologies are not simply reaching people through political figures and newspapers: audiences are consuming ideology through entertainment, even when that entertainment doesn’t even seem political. And these ideologies can shape and influence how we imagine American society, the government, our friends, our enemies, and more. Your task here is to uncover the politically conservative ideologies that are embedded in a popular culture artifact through close reading, and speculate, based on your analysis and findings, what the consequences of that ideological artifact might be for consuming audiences and for the nation itself. Caveat emptor! these artifacts are ideologically complex and may affirm some elements of conservatism while rejecting others. Strong papers will explore these contradictions and alternate interpretations. 

Your paper should address the following key questions:

• What are the political ideologies that are conveyed in the artifact?
• How does your artifact reflect some forms of conservatism but challenge others? Is it ideologically consistent, or are there contradictions in the messages it conveys?
• Finally, why might it matter that this artifact conveys some conservative ideology—who are the consumers/members of the audience for the piece? Is it widely consumed? Based on its audience, what might the consequences of such an artifact be for the beliefs or ideologies of our society (for example, what would happen if every American thought war was really like what we see in Call of Duty? Would we be more or less likely to go to war? Why?)?

You may choose from the possibilities listed below. If you would like to analyze an artifact that is not on this list, excellent – but please see me during office hours so we can discuss your approach and make sure it’s a good fit for this assignment.

Novels

• Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged (warning: super long)
• Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
• Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (choose one)
• Stephanie Meyer, Twilight (choose one)
• John Dos Passos, Midcentury
• George Orwell, Animal Farm
• George Orwell, 1984
• Alan Drury, Advise and Consent
• Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler’s Planet
• Elmer Kelton, The Time It Never Rained
• Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie
• Horatio Alger, Ragged Dick

TV Shows (pick one episode)

• 24
• South Park
• 19 Kids and Counting
• Silicon Valley
• All in the Family
• Leave it to Beaver
• Homeland
• Deadwood
• I Love Lucy
• The Wonder Years
• Family Ties

Films

• Red Dawn (1984)
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• The Exorcist
• The Dark Knight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Zero Dark Thirty
• Iron Man 2
• Easy Rider
• Starship Troopers
• Star Wars (choose one)
• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• The Green Berets
• American Sniper
• Them
• Minority Report
• Rocky
• Rocky IV
• On the Waterfront
• Gone with the Wind
• Newsies

OPTION TWO: ANALYSIS OF A Political figure

The second option of the final paper asks you to explore the intellectual and political ideologies of one person in American history. You’ll explore 1-3 (depending on length – you’ll need enough meat to analyze over 8-10 pages) key speeches, articles, books, performances, etc. that this figure created and analyze how the figure promotes, challenges, complicates, or reinterprets the conservative ideologies and histories we’ve discussed over the course of the semester. Warning! Each figure will likely contain beliefs that may align with some conservative ideologies and reject others. Strong papers will emphasize these contradictions.

Your paper should address the following questions:

• What contemporary or historical figures informed or inspired this person’s political beliefs?
• Who is he or she arguing against, if anyone?
• What is the person’s role or position in society, and how does that impact how influential his or her beliefs are across American culture and society?
• What are the political, cultural, and ethical implications or consequences of this person’s beliefs (in other words, why might these beliefs matter, and how could they affect American society and culture?)?

You may choose from the options listed below; talk to me about analyzing someone not on this list:

• Roger B. Taney
• Thomas Jefferson
• Abraham Lincoln
• William Jennings Bryan
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Joe McCarthy
• Whittaker Chambers
• Flannery O’Connor
• John Dos Passos
• Henry Stimson
• Dwight Eisenhower
• Russell Kirk
• Robert Nisbet
• Milton Friedman
• Barry Goldwater
• Jerry Falwell
• William Kristol
• Allan Bloom
• Saul Bellow
• Strom Thurmond
• Ronald Reagan
• George W. Bush
• Donald Rumsfeld
• Rand Paul
• Ted Cruz
• Glenn Beck
• David Brooks
• Michele Malkin
• Bill O’Reilly
• Rick Perry
• Greg Abbott
• John Boehner
• Sean Hannity
• Ludwig von Mises
• Rudy Giuliani
• Antonin Scalia
• Samuel Alito
• John Roberts
• Felix Frankfurter
• Dinesh D’Souza

Part 1: the Proposal

This part of the research paper is worth 5% of the course grade. It must be between 250-500 words, which is approximately 1-2 pages.

Your task is to submit a brief proposal explaining the topic that you would like to write your final paper upon. You have two choices for this paper. You’ll need to include the following components:

1. What/who your artifact/figure is.
2. A brief summary of its/his/her importance or relevance to American history and culture
3. Your initial/preliminary thoughts about how this artifact/figure relates to conservatism in some form – this can be somewhat speculative.
4. Why this topic interests you.

This assignment will be graded on clarity, specifically answering the four questions (with an emphasis on numbers 2 and 3), and organization.

Part 2: the Annotated Bibliography

The annotated bibliography is worth 15% of your grade. You’ll turn in a list of at least 3 secondary sources that your paper will build upon, with a paragraph in which you summarize the main point or argument of each source, explaining how the source relates to your topic. Proper sources include scholarly journal articles (search for these using Project MUSE and JSTOR), scholarly books and book chapters, and, in some cases, journalistic pieces.

You are not limited to using 3 sources in your final paper: this is simply the minimum number of sources you must use. At least 1 of the sources you use in your final paper and on your annotated bibliography CANNOT be from the syllabus—this will require you to do some light independent research. (So, you can use two from the syllabus and one outside, one from the syllabus and two from outside, you get the idea).

The annotated bibliography will be graded on clarity, thoughtful summaries of your sources, and specific connections made between the sources and your artifact/figure.

Part 3: the Paper

The final paper is worth 30% of your course grade. Your final paper must be 2000-2500 words (approx. 8-10 pages) and must include the following elements:

• A thesis statement in which you briefly explain your approach to the topic and its connection to conservatism
• A thorough, thoughtful analysis of your artifact/figure based on specific evidence (i.e. describing specific aspects of the movie, TV show, political figure, book, etc.)
• Direct linkages between your analysis of your topic and your additional sources in explaining the ways that your artifact/figure relates to conservative ideologies (i.e. quotes from the readings)
• An exploration of the contradictions inherent in your object of analysis (e.g. “this film is conservative in this way according to this author, but also challenges a key aspect of conservatism as posed by this other author)
• A discussion of the consequences or importance of this artifact/figure

Your paper will be graded upon the quality, clarity and originality of your thesis (i.e., making a unique argument), the specificity of your evidence, clear and explicit connections drawn between the evidence you cite and your argument, adequate exposition and analysis of conservative ideology, organization (i.e. transitions, a logical argument), and adherence to the logistical paper requirements as described in the syllabus.