Submitted by Jason Mittell
FILM 4210 Fall
2001
Research Paper Assignment
The paper for the course
will be a research paper that focuses on the relationship between a specific television or radio program
(a “text”) and some aspect of the television or radio industry, or some aspect of the social context in which the
text was produced. The specific
topic is completely up to you – be sure to think carefully about what you
may want to spend the semester researching and writing about. This text/industry or text/social
context relationship is quite complex and thus must be carefully thought out
and supported with research material – we will discuss this methodology
throughout the semester. Papers
that just analyze the text will not
be accepted. Papers must be driven
by a central argument that is
backed by a combination of well-documented research and logical writing,
leading to an essay which is analytical rather than descriptive in focus.
Professor Mittell will assist you in developing this project throughout
the semester – feel free to discuss your ideas or problems with him at
any point in the process. We will
write these papers using a number of stages, as detailed below.
Paper
Topic Sheet:
Your list of potential topics is due in class on September
11th. Please hand in a typed sheet of paper that lists 2-3 topics, your particular approach to each topic
(i.e. text/industry or text/social context), and lists at least three
questions that will guide and
focus your research for each topic.
The Paper Topic Sheet will not be given a letter grade. However, if it is not completed on time
or does not meet the stated requirements, the grade for your final paper will
be affected.
Proposal:
The proposal is a typed, one-page proposal in which you lay out what you
will do in your full research paper, due in class on October 2nd.
See subsequent pages for a model proposal. The ideal proposal should present your plan for writing your
paper so clearly that if you were to give it to another member of the class,
they would be able to use it as a blueprint for researching and writing the
paper. The proposal will be worth
5% of your final grade, subject to lateness penalties as described in the
course syllabus. All students must
hand in a completed proposal in order to pass the course.
The core aspect of the
proposal is an argument – you need to center your proposal on a central
research question and propose a tentative thesis that will fulfill the paper
assignment in looking at a media text in relation to the industry or social
context. A proposal that does not
propose a central research question or offer a tentative thesis is an
ineffective proposal. If your
thesis is seen as not appropriate to the assignment, you will be required to
email Professor Mittell a revised thesis statement. You must
have an “approved” thesis statement prior to handing in your final
paper in order to receive a grade on the assignment.
You need your proposal
to indicate some sources that you will use to research your paper. As such, it is important that you begin
researching in the library. Your
proposal must identify at least 3 sources that you will use in your research paper – these may be either
primary or secondary sources (or both).
You must also provide a brief research plan for how you will find your
other sources and a consideration of what each type of source will offer your
paper. Please attach a partial
bibliography to your proposal, with full citations of all sources that you have
gathered so far – citations should be in either MLA or Chicago style.
Optional First Draft of
Research Paper:
You have the option in
this class to hand in a draft of your paper anytime up until November 6th to get feedback from Professor Mittell. The draft should be as completed as
possible to get the most valuable feedback. The draft must be typed and in the format for the final
paper.
Final
Draft of Research Paper:
You must hand in your
final draft on November 29th in class. Late papers
will be penalized (per the syllabus) unless arranged ahead of time with
Professor Mittell. NOTE – You must hand in your proposal and first
draft (if applicable), as commented on by Professor Mittell, with your final
paper.
This paper must meet the
requirements of the assignment, including the research requirement, a central
thesis driving your paper, strong writing style, and clear organization. Research must be clearly cited
following either MLA or Chicago citation styles—detailed information
about citation formats will be available through the class WebCT site. This paper must be 9-10 pages, typed & double-spaced—papers less
than 9 pages will be automatically and severely downgraded; papers may exceed
10 pages, but not excessively without grade penalties. Your grade will be based on writing
quality, a clear and well-supported argument, effective organization,
integration and proper use of research material, original and insightful
analysis, and fulfilling the requirements of this assignment. While you should analyze texts to
support your argument, textual analysis cannot be the main evidence you use to
present your thesis. Rather your
argument must be supported by research as explained below. Remember all sources must be cited
properly; instances of plagiarism, whether intentional or not, will not be
tolerated and students will face academic discipline.
In writing your paper,
here are some important guidelines to follow:
·
Titles of television programs or films should
always be italicized (Dragnet)
or underline (Dragnet).
·
Always number pages of your document.
·
Introductions should include a clear and direct
statement of your paper’s thesis and argument.
·
Paragraphs should not exceed one page in length,
but should be longer than 2 sentences – each paragraph should offer a
point, expand on it in depth, provide supporting evidence and analysis, and tie
your point into your main thesis.
Research
Requirement:
Your research paper must
include at least 8 different sources in your bibliography.
Of these sources, you must have at least 4 primary sources and 4 secondary sources.
The 8 sources are only a minimum – strong papers will
certainly use more than this.
In using sources, you
should keep direct quotations to a minimum. Only quote from a source if it is important how the source
says the point, not if you only are referencing the content. Thus it would appropriate to quote
Newton Minow’s phrase of the “vast wasteland,” but you
shouldn’t quote a source that simply explains his position on television
regulation. Rather you should
always paraphrase your
sources into your own words, tying their ideas into your argument and clearly citing
your source. Block quotations (pulled out of the
text of the paper) should only be used in exceptional circumstances where both
the content and phrasing of the material is crucial to your argument.
Types of Sources:
Primary
sources are the traces of the past that can serve as historical evidence. In the Mittell article on media
historiography, the possible source materials that are listed are all primary
sources. In studying television
history, the primary sources that you’ll most likely use include trade
journal articles, critical reviews, feature articles, interviews, relevant news
items, and media texts themselves.
Primary sources always come from the era which you are studying—if
you’re writing a paper about a 1960s TV show, you must use primary sources from the 1960s. Trade journal articles are especially
useful for examining the history of media industries, as trade journals are
periodicals that are aimed at an audience of workers inside the entertainment
industry. Articles will discuss
the developments within the industry, strategies that companies are using
regarding a particular program or film, evaluations of the success of a given
film or program, and interviews with industry “players.” Common trade journals include Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Broadcasting and Cable, and Billboard.
Popular press sources are useful to media research in many ways:
providing reviews of films or programs to give you an idea of how they are
being critically received, publishing interviews and profiles of personalities
involved with a particular film or program, investigating certain aspects of
media in depth often from a specific political perspective (e.g. liberal,
conservative, etc.), or providing social context surrounding a given program or
film. Be careful that you consider
the source of a given article—a specialty magazine aimed at horror film
buffs (like Fangoria) will
provide a very different perspective than a general periodical like Newsweek, so be sure to consider the target audience and
biases of given sources.
You
should seek a balance among your primary sources, looking to draw material from
as diverse a collection of sources as possible. Media texts themselves can be useful, but do not count toward your research requirements for this
paper, although they should be cited in your bibliography.
Secondary
sources are books or articles that are written about particular topics of any
history. They are usually written
“after the fact,” considering a topic in retrospective
analysis. Typical secondary
sources are scholarly articles or books, mainstream histories or criticisms
about past events, biographies and memoirs, and documentary
retrospectives. Secondary sources
offer analysis of their topics, usually by people looking backward on the topic
and trying to understand the past.
Secondary sources can range in focus, including a close examination a
particular text, an essay exploring a historical issue or moment, a comparison
of a number of texts united by a genre or theme, a response to previous
writing, or a theoretical exploration of concepts within the study of
media.
Secondary
sources help a research paper in a number of ways: raising issues specific to
your topic as explored by previous analysts, providing historical or contextual
background for your study, addressing larger concepts in media which you can
apply to your specific study, and forming a model of organization and style for
writing your own secondary articles on media (which is what all of your
research papers will be!). When
studying an obscure or recent media topic, often times there will be no
secondary source available that specifically addresses your topic; in these
instances, use secondary sources to supplement your understanding of the
related issues, providing information about industrial organization, historical
context, social issues, specific artists, or the text’s genre. Some topics will have secondary sources
that directly address the specific topic that you are writing about. While most of the books and articles
for this class may be useful secondary sources for you (and should be cited if
you do draw from them), class assigned materials will not fulfill the
required secondary sources.
Encyclopedia articles are potentially useful secondary sources, but are too
broad to count toward your research requirement. There are a number of scholarly books on reserve in Pullen
Library for this course that can count toward your research
requirement—please check on GIL for relevant titles.
Every
class and every teacher has different requirements for planning and preparing a
research paper, but one common approach is writing a proposal or proposal. Even if it is not part of an
assignment, it is an extremely useful tool to help you focus and develop your
research papers; students are recommended to develop the habit of writing
proposals of this sort before writing any research paper. A proposal is a brief summary of what
you will accomplish with your paper and how you plan to achieve this goal
— think of it as a basic game plan for your research paper. Your proposal should do the following:
• clearly explain what your
topic is and what specific aspect(s) you will examine
• give some relevant background
information on your topic
• identify what basic research
question is driving your paper
• sketch out a preliminary
thesis statement and argument for your paper
• provide some of the sources
you will use to back up your thesis
• suggest a plan explaining how
you will gather and use additional sources
• explain how this project will
clearly fulfill the requirements of the assignment
Proposals
will differ based on the specific assignment, but the primary goal of a
proposal is to write out your
strategy for research and writing.
A proposal is an early attempt to answer a lot of questions that you
have not sufficiently considered and researched; thus it is not a firm promise
to follow the plan you lay out.
The proposal serves two major purposes: it forces you to think about and
answer these questions early in the writing process and it gives your professor
an opportunity to provide you with feedback and guidance to help refine your
research and writing. Hopefully
many things will change and develop from your proposal to the first draft of
your paper — the proposal is a tool to allow you to begin writing your
thoughts and strategies before you write a draft of the paper. While it may seem like a chore to write
out your ideas so early in the process, nearly all writers find that their
essays improve dramatically when they have developed their arguments and
research plans early and gotten feedback on a proposal from their professor.
Megan
is a student assigned to write a research paper exploring the relationship
between a radio, film, or television text and its media industry. Here is an outline of the process she
followed to develop a proposal:
• Choosing the Topic — Megan knew she wanted to write on
children’s television programming because that was one of her favorite
program types and she thought that she might want to go into the field after
college. She wrote down a list of
programs that might be legitimate topics to research; when she listed Sesame
Street, she got excited because
she remembered an interesting article she’d read a while ago about the
show’s anniversary. Since it
felt right, she chose Sesame Street
as her topic.
• Doing Background Research — Before writing her proposal, Megan knew she
needed to gather information to furnish a basic knowledge of the show and help
her develop an argument for the paper.
She looked in a variety of places: in guidebooks like Total
Television and The
Encyclopedia of Television; in
the textbook for her class (Tube of Plenty by Erik Barnouw); and on the Internet. All of these sources provided some good factual information
about the program (when it began, who created it, etc.), but it was not enough
to base an argument on.
• Gathering More Detailed Research — Using the knowledge obtained through her
background research, Megan was able to search the library effectively for
research materials. Her background
knowledge provided her additional search terms — instead of just looking
up information on Sesame Street,
she could look for research on the network (PBS), production company
(Children’s Television Workshop), and creative personnel (Joan Ganz
Cooney and Jim Henson).
Additionally she learned that the show began in 1969, helping her choose
what resources she should use to search for materials. Using these guidelines, she looked in
GIL to find relevant books. This
uncovered a number of books on public broadcasting in the late-1960s and
early-1970s. She checked out these
books and skimmed them for relevant information — she found many
references to Sesame Street
and its importance to the development of PBS. Because she found so much material, she felt that she had
enough research gathered to write her proposal.
• Developing a Thesis — By this time Megan felt that she knew enough
about Sesame Street and PBS
to have a pretty good idea of what she could argue in her paper. Through her reading of materials, she was
struck that Sesame Street
emerged right at the beginning of PBS and was the most successful program in
the network’s early years.
She felt she had the makings of a good argument — that Sesame
Street was the key factor that
allowed PBS to become a successful public broadcasting network. Is this a
legitimate argument? She decided
that it was because it clearly fit the assignment (relating a media text such
as Sesame Street to the U.S.
broadcasting industry), it was not obvious (not everyone would have known how
important the program was), and she could defend it through research, not
relying on evaluation and opinion.
While Megan wasn’t sure that she, as a beginning undergraduate,
could make such a bold claim, she felt that her research supported her position
and that she could
convincingly argue her case in her paper — an original argument paper
always involves making a claim that is both bold and defensible using your
research!
Now she was ready to write a
proposal. Here’s what she
gave to her instructor:
(note that your proposal should be double-spaced)
In 1967, the Carnegie
Commission Report to President Lyndon Johnson recommended the establishment of
a public broadcast service, advising funding through a tax on television sets
as they were sold. Congress
followed the report by establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
but it did not endorse the proposed tax; PBS received only a minute fraction of
its operating expenses from the government. Faced with the possibility of failure, PBS needed something
to provide it with a clear identity and help it establish itself in the public
eye.
In this paper I will argue
that Sesame Street was the
vital factor that allowed for the success of PBS. I will summarize the historical background of PBS’s struggle
with financial problems and limited audiences, and detail Sesame Street’s creation by Children’s Television
Workshop. Sesame Street, through an innovative approach to educational
television that incorporated a multicultural cast, short segments to captivate
children’s attention, and mature humor to engage parents watching with
their children, effectively targeted a specific audience unlike any other
previous educational program. I
will show how the remarkable success of Sesame Street allowed PBS to capitalize on the
children’s educational market, resulting in more PBS programs following
the pattern and style of Sesame Street, an increase in viewership, and an increase in private funding and
support for PBS.
To research this paper I
will draw upon secondary accounts of the history of Sesame Street, including Getting to Sesame Street: Origins
of the Children's Television Workshop
by Richard Polsky (New York: Praeger, 1974), and reports about the
program’s effectiveness, such as The First Year of Sesame Street: An
Evaluation by Samuel Ball and
Gerry Ann Bogatz (Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, 1970). Additionally histories of PBS, like Public
Radio and Television in America: A Political History by Ralph Engelman (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,
1996), will provide background for the history of public broadcasting and the
importance of Sesame Street. For primary sources, I will look to
trade journals, found in Film Literature Index and LEXIS/NEXIS, for articles on the effects of Sesame
Street on the television
industry. Popular articles in
magazines, accessed through The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and ProQuest will provide critical reactions to the show and
its impact on PBS. By analyzing
how the text of Sesame Street
fits into the industrial history of PBS, we will be better able to understand
the significance of this groundbreaking and long-lasting program that
generations of children have grown up watching.
Megan’s
professor was very impressed with this proposal because she:
• clearly identifies her topic
• proposes a clear thesis in the form of an argument
• provides relevant background information
• identifies specific sources that she will be using
• outlines what other research she will undertake
• suggests how her sources will be used in her paper
• clearly points to how this paper will fulfill the
assignment
A
successful proposal should accomplish all of these goals. One way to test whether a proposal is
adequate is to show it to other students in your class — if they feel
that they could research and write a strong paper based on your proposal, then
it is probably a strong proposal.
If they have any questions that they would need to answer before doing
more research and writing, then you should address those issues in your
proposal.
Megan
turned this proposal into an excellent research paper with a clear argument,
solid research, and a strong focus on the relationship between a television
text and the television industry.
She would not have been able to write such a good paper without an
excellent proposal to clarify her project to her instructor and to herself.