U NIT S EVEN : R EADING I CONS A S TUDY IN P OP C ULTURE

UNIT SEVEN: READING ICONSA STUDY IN POP CULTURE

RESPONSE #1WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT MARILYN MONROE.

RESPONSE #2IN THE POEM BY OLDS, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE LINE “JUST AN ORDINARY WOMAN BREATHING”?

RESPONSE #3HOW DO THE LYRICS OF ELTON JOHN DIFFER FROM THE VERSES OF THE POEM BY SHARON OLDS?

RESPONSE #4IN WHAT MANNER TO THE POEM, THE SONG, AND THE PHOTOGRAPHS REMIND YOU OF THE WAYS IN WHICH WE TURN CELEBRITIES INTO ICONS?

RESPONSE #5WHAT DO THE FOLLOWING CELEBRITIES HAVE IN COMMON?WRITE DOWN THE NAMES OF ANY YOU RECOGNIZE.

ASSIGNMENT: JOURNAL #1CHOOSE A CELEBRITY WHO HAS PASSED AWAY, AND WRITE A RESPONSE IN WHICH YOU ARGUE FOR OR AGAINST THE PROPOSITION THAT CELEBRITIES ARE GRANTED AN EVEN GREATER ICONIC STATUS AFTER THEY DIE.

ASSIGNMENT: READ “THE AGE OF THE FEMALE ICON” BY HOLLY BRUBACH. SEE

HANDOUT.

RESPONSE #1: BRUBACHBRUBACH DEFINES THE MODERN ICON AS A “HUMAN SOUND BITE, AN INDIVIDUAL REDUCED TO A NAME, A FACE, AND AN IDEA.” HOW DOES SHE ARGUE THAT THE NATURE AND IMPACT OF HUMAN ICONS HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME? WHAT OTHER DEFINITIONS OF THE TERM ICON DOES SHE WORK WITH IN THIS ESSAY?

RESPONSE #2: BRUBACHWHAT DISTINCTIONS DOES BRUBACH DRAW BETWEEN THE WAYS IN WHICH WOMEN AND MEN RELATE TO FEMALE AND MALE ICONS, RESPECTIVELY? HOW DO HER ASSERTIONS RESONATE WITH, OR DIFFER FROM, YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES WITH MALE AND FEMALE ICONS?

ASSIGNMENT: JOURNAL #2EXPLAIN HOW THE CURRENT ERA OF “VISUAL INFORMATION” HAS CHANGED OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ROLE OF ICONS, MODELS, AND CELEBRITIES IN AMERICAN CULTURE, CITING AS EXAMPLES THE MALE AND FEMALE ICONS YOU FIND MOST IMPORTANT.

RESPONSE #1 WARHOLWHAT SHARED CHARACTERISTICS CAN YOU IDENTIFY AMONG THE WARHOL PAINTINGS? WHAT DOES HE GAIN OR LOSE BY REPEATING THE IMAGES?

ASSIGNMENT: ANDY WARHOLJOURNAL #3USING THE WARHOL PAINTING YOU HAVE CHOSEN, WRITE A RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 1) WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK ORIGINALITY AND UNIQUENESS PLAY IN WARHOL’S AESTHETICS? 2)WHAT CULTURAL VIRTUES AND VALUES SEEM TO BE PRIVILEGED IN HIS ART?

HOMEWORK: GO ONLINE AND FIND A PARODY OF THE PAINTING CALLED “AMERICAN GOTHIC.” PRINT IT, AND BRING IT WITH YOU TO CLASS TOMORROW.

DEFINITION: GOTHIC REVIVAL STYLE

DEFINITION: PARODY

RESPONSE #1: AMERICAN GOTHICTHE UPPER WINDOW OF THE HOUSE IN THE BACKGROUND OF THIS IMAGE IS DESIGNED IN THE GOTHIC REVIVAL STYLE. WHAT QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS CAN YOU SEE IN THE HOUSE THAT DEFINE THIS STYLE? WHAT DOES THE GOTHIC REVIVAL HOUSE CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL EFFECT OF THE PAINTING?

ASSIGNMENT: JOURNAL #4 USING THE PARODY YOU BROUGHT TO CLASS WITH YOU OF GRANT WOOD’S FAMOUS PAINTING “AMERICAN GOTHIC,” WRITE THREE FULLY DEVELOPED PARAGRAPHS, ONE FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: 1) EXPLAIN WHICH ASPECTS OF WOOD’S ORIGINAL IT DRAWS ON, 2) EXPLAIN WHAT IS BEING PARODIED AND 2) WHY YOU FIND IT HUMOROUS