Rationale: Hipsters and American Culture.

Hipsters and American CultureRationale: Hipsters and American Culture. Through in-class work and essay composition, each of you has demonstrated your ability to tackle difficult material and use it to develop an understanding of one of the more complicated ideas that inform our everyday existence in 21st Century American culture. You have used a basic understanding of hip to analyze modern advertising and understand its appeal to consumers, and you have read the most prominent texts in the conversation surrounding hipsters in order to develop some interesting arguments about what these people are all about and how they have influenced the society in which we live. Now, you will continue to develop your understanding of this idea and use it as a lens through which to see your world and your community. In Major Essay 3, each student will be tasked with further developing their understanding of hip and hipsters by using it to inform an evaluative essay that is supported by examples both from the texts we’ve read in class and from various texts that students will find through inquiry and research into their own interests regarding this subject. Assignment: Students will write a 3-5 page essay in which they evaluate some text, person, place, or event from literature, popular culture, the Tulsa area, or beyond through the lens of Hip. This essay is really about what you, the students, want to say about this subject now that we’ve almost finished the semester. Below, I have offered several suggested topics from which you are free to choose and respond, but you are also invited to develop your own idea based on what you are interested in learning and writing more about for your final foray into the world of hip. All essays should, however, conform to the standards of academic essays that we’ve identified and should contain a strong, evaluative thesis. You should engage the material we’ve already discussed as well as including at least one outside source found through careful, academic research with attention paid to the source’s credibility and relevance.