Queer Phenomenology

This assignment asks you to write an analysis for a literary text of your choosing. Here, a literary text is being loosely defined where it can be literally anything: graffiti on the street, a bowl of ph you enjoyed the other day, a poem, a song, a music video, Semele and the Wrath of Juno, whatever your heart desires. You are to pick a character, a scene, a connecting plot or theme, idea, conflict, representation, etc…and analyze it with respect to QueerPhenomenology. You dont need to do any other outside research for this project. Call upon your already extensive knowledge of queer phenomenology to respond to the text.

I am using the term literary analysis here because it is, most likely, an already-familiar idea to most of you. Below is a description of literary analysis to help get us started but it is by no means a mandate on how this essay must be written.

What is an Analysis of a Literary Text

Analysis is the practice of looking closely at small parts to see how they affect the whole. Literary analysis focuses on how plot/structure, character, setting, and many other techniques are used by the author to create meaning. Always be sure to discuss the significance of your observations to the main idea about life (the theme).

Begin by establishing the context of your analysis. Include the authors first and last name, the title of the work you are analyzing, and any needed information that will help to preview your thesis and thematic statements. 

Next, state the thematic statement. This is the main idea about life that the author is conveying. This is the why of your analysis. End with your thesis statement this will have the who, the what, and the how.

Use parts of the question you are answering when writing your thesis.  In short, thematic and thesis statements will always include:

Who the author

What the answer to the question (always answer the question being asked)

How the ways meaning is conveyed; the ways the answer is being shown

Why an assertion about life; the universal message being sent about people (theme) 

How can we generate questions for analysis

Here we can turn to Classical Rhetoric to look at how people think, how we think, and how we can respond to it. Our guidance comes from Aristotles topoi or places of thought.

Definition
genus / division / species
etymology
description
definition
example
synonyms
Comparison
similarity
difference
degree
Circumstance
cause and effect
timing
Relationship
contraries
exclusion
Testimony
statistics
maxims
law
precedents
personal example
historical example
authoritative quotes

The goal of this essay is to take a text (loosely defined) and use Sara Ahmeds Queer Phenomenology to tell us how the text encounters objects: how does it understand them? Is it in a straight way? A common way? What does the text face? What does it face away from? Does it orient us in a certain direction? If so, how? How does the text limit us or give us room to expand into a space? What space does the text offer for us to expand into?

Requirements

Use quotations and passages from Queer Phenomenology
Give your own definition of queer phenomenology
Present your own argument about how queer phenomenology can reorient or challenge our reading/understanding of your chosen text
1,200-1,500 words, times new roman 12pt font, double space, 1-inch margins
MLA Format and style conventions