Cultural Analysis Assignment Description
Cultural Analysis. Write a short essay engaging in cultural analysis of an example of
media. Use at least one of the following readings from the course in your analysis:
3 ) Ryoo, Woongjae. (2008) The Political Economy of the Global Mediascape: The Case of the
South Korean Film Industry. Media, Culture & Society, 30 (6), 873889.
In this assignment, you will offer a cultural contextualization of a media example. You should
present a clear argument. An argument may be structured like this: by examining X (cultural
context) about Y (media example), we learn Z (why this matters). For example: By examining
US-Korean military relations (X), we can better understand how the music video Gangnam
Style (Y) is a critique of US imperialism (Z).
Advice on approaching the writing: Begin by writing a brief summary of the media example.
A concise example is best for the length of this assignment (e.g., a meme, a scene from a movie,
a tik tok video, a media installation example, a television episode, a short film, etc). Then, write
a cultural contextualization of the media example. This will require some research. You may, for
instance, want to unpack the example in relation to an identity, such as race, gender, class, or
disability. You may instead choose to contextualize the transnational cultural context from which
the media is made. This again requires a bit of research, even if you know these things, you
should cite research. Make 2-3 connections from the example to the cultural context. Remember
to engage one of the three listed readings. State what is learned.
Your goal is to demonstrate why cultural context matters in a very specific example, specific in
terms of a media example and specific in terms of culture.
The cultural analysis should be largely written in your own words, and you should use little
direct quotation. Cite research as needed. Remember that you should always cite sources, using a
page number when material (yes, even paraphrased material) can be found on a singular or
discrete set of page(s). Follow guidelines for written work.
Your short essay should be clear, direct, concise, and complete. Avoid unnecessary filler and
description. You do not need a typical introduction but should instead go straight into your
argument statement, with perhaps a sentence intro.
