Zoot suit character analysis

Essay 1: Photo Essay on Monsters

For your first essay, write a two- to three-page essay (not counting the photo or Works Cited page) using a MLA format related to our readings and discussions in class on monsters. You are NOT required to include research or use outside sources, including the readings assigned related to monsters, but if you do, you are responsible for using proper MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page. See Purdue OWL’s MLA Style Guide for help. I want you to include a photo that relates to the content of your essay, preferably one that you have taken or drawn, but it can be borrowed from another source and properly cited. You may also create a monster with Legos or other materials and take a picture. The photo can be uploaded separately to Blackboard.

List of possible topics:

At one point, I asked you write down your definition of monster. Your understanding of the term monster may have changed through our readings. Write a definition essay in which you define and expound on your idea of a monster. You can find some examples of definition essays at http://www.lonestar.edu/model-essays. Draw or create an illustration of a monster that relates to your definition.
Draw a cartoon or find one (and cite it) that uses one or more monsters to express your views on a contemporary political issue. After you finish the drawing, write a reflective essay and answer the following questions: 1) Did you use a familiar monster (such as Frankenstein’s Creature) or invent a new monster? What difference does (un)familiarity make in your cartoon? 2) Does your representation of the monster(s) create “Othering”—does it frame any ideas or people, perhaps those opposed to your own position, as a bad “them” in relation to good “us”? If so, what or who is framed as the Other, and what problems might this Othering pose? If not, who or what does your monster represent, and how does it avoid Othering them? 3) Finally, how might your use of monstrosity in your cartoon serve as a warning about society approaching the issue you’ve chosen in a dangerous or misguided way?