Stand-Up Paper #2 Topics

Due Friday, November 16th

4-5 pages and double spaced.

Choose One

1) Write about how a comedian haschanged your mind about or made you rethink a cultural issue. The issue orissues can be anything from politics to race to sexuality to drugs to religionto education to war to gender to love to bacon to death to language to anythingthat a comedian has made you reconsider.

The paper should first describeyour initial position/feelings about the issue, then present yourinterpretation of the comedian’s point of view, and finally illustrate how it haschanged your beliefs, positively or negatively from where you began.

You can use any comedian(s) youwant, from class or not. If nothing else, it’s an excuse to spend hours on end trolling forstand-up clips. Good times.

2)This paper topic allows the student tobecome the Master for once. It’s your chance to decide what should be on thesyllabus. Between now and the due date, your assignment is to watch TWOcomedians with similar thematic elements on your own, or with friends andfamily…or a pet of whom you’re particularly fond. Once you watch them, imagine you’re responsible for leading adiscussion about them. What would you impart to your students about humor,stand-up, and any specific issues that these performers represent? It isimportant that you actually watch the comedians you discuss,because ideally, this class will have changed the way you think about comedyyou’ve seen20 times. You’regetting college credit to watch funny people: appreciate that, don’t take it for granted.

Now, go get your paper on!