Connections: Analyzing Two Texts
Your assignment in Essay 3 is similar to the previous two: you are analyzing texts to see
what criticisms they are making about U.S. and/ or global culture, what they tell us
about how we are living in this historical moment. The difference with this essay is that
you are tackling two texts: one of the two films we recently watched, Bong Joon-Ho’s
Snow piercer or Parasite, and one text that you’ve encountered outside of class. The
second text can be another film, an episode of a television show, a novel, a music
video, or whatever. You get to choose the text, but it should be a “work of art,” broadly
defined: a creative work (such as the examples just mentioned) rather than a journalistic
or critical work.
The trick here is that you are looking for a second text that has resonance with either
Snow piercer or Parasite (you can’t write on both these films): do the two texts offer
related socio-political critiques or share pertinent themes?
Do these two texts share a similar theme? As we’ve seen in class, sometimes
comparing one text to another can actually allow us to see, and to analyze, the texts
more clearly. This is, of course, another textual analysis paper, so all the established
rules apply (using close textual analysis of specific scenes/ lines, quoting and describing
specific visuals judiciously, etc). Again, you are looking not to describe or summarize
(simply saying what you see as similar is not an argument), but to make an argument
here about meaning (an Arguable Assertion you find across the texts). The only
difference here this time is that it should be a meaning that incorporates two texts.
You are invited—but not required—to reference Du Bois, Hooks, McDougall Jones,
Chomsky, or Alexander in the essay, but your argument (as reflected in thesis and topic
sentences) should remain firmly structured around what your two chosen films are
saying.
Remember, even though this is about two texts, this is another argument about
meaning: what the connections between these two texts say about U.S. and/or
Global culture. Avoid general commentary and blanket generalities, and overall, be as
specific as possible with your argument.
1,500-1,750 words.
