Analysis of watchmen

Essay 3: Watchmen For this assignment, you will write a 1,500 word essay that critically analyzes the novel Watchmen. Most importantly,I want you to choose a topic that is interesting to you. If there is something that interests you about the book, but you don’t feel like it would make a good paper topic or don’t know how to make it a paper topic, come talk to me. There are two options for this paper. Option 1: Examine how Watchmen challenges the established ideas of who/what is a hero or a villain. Think about the common characteristics and traits that we listed on the board for each of our units. How do the characters, the plot, and the themes of Watchmen show us a different example of heroes and villains? The best approach to this paper is to pick 2-3 characters, traits, or themes to focus on. Try to keep your topic choice limited in scope for deeper analysis. Option 2: Write a self-designed, thesis-driven, analysis of Watchmen. What interests you about the comic? Are you interested in the depictions of media/news and how that impacts the story? Are you more interested in the politics and historical aspects of the story, such as the Cold War/Vietnam/US-backed coup storylines? Do you have a particular philosophical interest (existentialism, nihilism, various religions)? Do you feel drawn towards the issues of gender/sexuality or Moore’s sometimes bad treatment of the female characters? Are you interested in masculinity and heroes? You can write anything you want as long as you have a clear thesis and you spend a good deal of time analyzing the comic. Anything can be a thesis, see me for help with this topic! All Papers: Regardless of your topic, I’d like you to spend time in the conclusion of your paper talking about relevance. Take your analysis one step further and make a connection to our present world. Essentially, what can we learn from your analysis of Watchmen in 2020? Think of this as the “Relevance” aspect or the “so what?” of your paper. Basically, why are we talking about this book in a class on heroes and villains? Or, if you’re doing option 2, why does your thesis and your reading of the comic matter to us (modern readers)? Note: This is not a descriptive essay or report, you must make an argument that is backed up by evidence from both the comic and outside sources. This means that you will be required to describe and analyze specific scenes/panels from the book and perform a close reading of these scenes to support your thesis. Essential Elements: At least 1,500 words minimum (not counting Works Cited page and headings) Three sources: your source must be reputable—either an academic journal article or book or a reputable internet/journalism source (Atlantic, NYTimes, Salon, The Guardian, Wired, Vice, etc.). Any of the articles posted on Canvas under the “files” tab in a folder named “Watchmen Resources” count as a source. MLA Format, including a works cited page properly formatted; solid command of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax. Works cited pages do not count in the word count. A clear, arguable thesis statement A clever title Grading Criteria My hope was for us to build a solid rubric together as a class, but the move to online instruction made that difficult. This essay will be graded using a very basic rubric shown below: Thesis Clear, defined main idea that is shown throughout the paper Analysis Your close reading and analysis of the comic including visuals/written word inductive/deductive reasoning interpretation/explanation of evidence Evidence/integration of evidence Context/integration of the comic Properly introduce and integrate outside sources quote/cite things correctly in MLA Structure Paragraphs follow a cohesive format (MEAL or other) Essay itself is structured intentionally Transitions between ideas in a paragraph and between paragraphs Grammar Because this is the final paper of the class, there will not be time for a revision. It is also very important that you get this paper in on time. Sadly, I’m constrained by MiraCosta deadlines for grading. I cannot accept papers after a certain point because there will not be time to get them graded and posted. Deadlines Wednesday, May 20th: Final Paper due on Canvas with no late penalty/full credit (any later and we’re running into campus-wide grading deadlines. Talk to me if you’re panicking on the 19th–by all means submit something rather than take a zero)