THE TEEN AGE Methods/Theory Paper Options The major paper for American Studies 101 (The Teen

Age) is a 12-15-page paper on one of the following topics. You must meet with me to have your topic approved before April 16. This means convincing me that you have found sufficient materials and developed your idea enough to complete the paper. Getting an early start is paramount! Additional office hours will be made during the semester to accommodate the class. In order to better understand how it is that scholars know what they know about teenagers, it is useful to explore and practice research methods. Central to any topic will be finding primary sources and creating an original thesis about them. 1. A Place. There are two options here: A. Present: Choose a spatial domain that teens frequent (e.g., high school, skate park, youth center, etc.); create an annotated map of the space, describing the people in it, their use of it, the way they distribute themselves, relate to one another. See if you can generalize, from several periods of observation, about the patterns of behavior that are evident at your particular site; then speculate about the symbolic meaning of this spatial behavior. Write a paper that considers what this place tells us about how these teenagers treat one another, think about one another, and otherwise organize themselves in the wider society; and that considers what ideological values may be signified, expressed, and in some cases, transgressed. B. Past: Choose a spatial domain that teens frequented in the past (e.g., soda fountain, the high school dance, and the 1950s prom). Write a social and cultural history of teens use of that space and their interactions therein. 2. A Moment. Choose one year in the 20th century (e.g., 1964, 1972, 1953, etc.), and research how teens were represented in American mass culture during that year. Write a paper that considers what those representations suggest about how teenagers were understood in that year and reflects upon what those representations reveal about the larger culture. 3. A Person. There are two options here: A. Present: Find a willing teenager and conduct an ethnographic interview about her or his adolescence. Write a paper about that teenagers adolescence, and consider how her or his experience invites us to reconsider adolescence; the social construction of gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, and age; the experience of high school; and whatever issues emerge from your interview of that teenager. B. Past: Choose an historical teenager, whether fictional or actual (e.g., Nancy Drew, Barbie, Emmitt Till, the Scottsboro Boys, etc.), and write a biography of that teenager. Write a paper that assesses how this particular teenagers biography has helped to shape or challenge our understanding of adolescence, identity, coolness, and change.

4. An Image. Choose an image relevant to the teen age (e.g., the cover of a teen magazine, photo of a teen idol, and a still from a film), and write a paper that reads that image as an expression of American culture. Be specific in detailing how the image is making meaning and what that meaning reveals about American ideologies, worldviews, practices, and so forth. 5. Make your own topic. I will entertain original topic ideas, but the burden is on you to prove to me that it is viable. This will mean demonstrating that there are primary materials, and that there is a secondary literature on the subject. This assignment has been handed out nearly three months before the paper is due in order to give you time to find materials, practice your method, and write a paper with an inventive, interpretive thesis. It is important to begin the hunting and gathering stage of the project early. Your paper should be situated in the context of American Studies 101, which means you should refer to course materials when applicable. However, do not simply repeat arguments made in lecture; work instead to develop your own interpretations and analyses. The paper is due in class on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. No later papers will be accepted.