shadow justice

Order Description

This will be a 5-7 page paper in which you explore in more detail some aspect of the material we have been studying, so, something specific to Los Angeles or perhaps
to race relations in America. Begin by re-reading the section in the Purdue OWL (under How to MLA in the Course Home module) on how to develop a topic and ask a
critical question. This essay will be an analytic, argumentative essay in which you carefully define a limited topic area and explore a variety of sources about that
topic. For instance, if you want to stick with one text, you might choose to look carefully at “The Pedestrian” formulate a critical question about it (i.e. what is
this story’s place in the genre of distopian Los Angeles fiction?), seek out scholarly articles that discuss your topic, and come to your own conclusion about your
question. Your paper would then offer your answer as its thesis and provide discussion about the selected passage from “The Pedestrian” as well as from your research
sources to support your thesis idea.

Alternatively, you might want to look at a thematic issue, much like we are when we focus on Leovy’s thesis of shadow justice in Los Angeles and its relationship to
gangs, disenfranchisement, community silence/insulation and the potential reinforcement of segregation this creates. You could, for instance, decide to write about the
spiritual effects of the car culture of Los Angeles, about the first-world/third-world clash here, or the city’s relationship to its “grown-up” cousins in the east or
its black-sheep brother, Las Vegas. Again, you would need to formulate a clear critical question that your paper will seek to answer, decide which texts you will use,
and read some secondary material that will help you. The secondary material can be specifically about a primary text, such as an article you find on Twilight or
Ghettoside, or it can be about your thematic issue, for instance, an article from a psychology journal on the culture-shock experienced by new commuters or one from
Time magazine about gentrification.Your paper must have a clear, focused, and contentious thesis.
You need to consult (and cite on a Works Cited page) a minimum of five secondary sources for your essay and you must be very careful to cite any direct or indirect
quotation of the material, any paraphrase of it, or any use of its ideas in internal parenthetical citations in the paper. In addition, at least one source from our
class must be included in your paper and put to serious work. Do not use this text as window dressing.
SMC offers library assistance online where you can consult with a reference librarian who will help you locate secondary materials. (Access this through the SMC
homepage.)
Next week, I will post a discussion thread on which you can post topics you are considering and get feedback from all of us about them, so read carefully the OWL
section on refining your subject area into a specific topic.
The paper must be submitted as an MS Word attachment or similar by midnight PST on the last day of our class.