Today's class is cancelled (March 5)

I am still sick, so I am cancelling today's class.  The essay assignment is described below.  It is due the Monday after break -- March 17.  Also, this assignment must be handed in as a paper document.  It must be done on a computer -- NOT HANDWRITTEN -- and printed out before class.  

ESSAY

For this assignment, I would like you to expand the brief writing I had you do on your faces into a full-scale essay which deals with your face/body, broken down into parts.  You may pick any of the parts I already had you write about -- eyes, mouth, hair, hands, nose, skin -- but you can also add other body parts if you would like.  You must deal with at least 5 different parts, and look at each from the vantage point of personal, cultural/historical and media-influenced.  When we talk about media-influenced, it can be anything from specific ads that tell you how these parts of your body should look, and what you have to do to achieve that look, to more subtle ideas about race, ethnicity and cultural expectations for beauty.  The goal here is to really think about how the media -- broadly defined -- influences the way we shape our ideas of self.

I would really like you to explore creative ways to think about and write these essays, beyond your own comfort zones.  Try to loosen yourself from the kind of writing that yells "ASSIGNMENT", and see where you might land.