Are there any rules or boundaries?

While we are keen to encourage independence and flexibility here, basic academic ground rules still apply:

• The essay must address a topic or issue germane to this unit and its concerns(in other words, it needs to be on some aspect or feature of celebrity /celebrity studies…don’t go writing an essay on quantum physics, unless it’s something like “Bad Romance: Quantum physics and the stardom of Lady Gaga”––in which case, we will be all ears!)
• It must be an academic research essay(i.e. it has to be based on and informed by scholarly research)
• There is no prescribed number of scholarly sourcesto be used because different projects will have different research needs but a general rule of thumb is that essays should include at least 4-6 scholarly sources
• You are of course free to use non-scholarly sourcesas well but the essay needs to be fully grounded in academic research
• Essays much show manifest evidence of scholarly research,typically through standard conventions of academic writing (e.g. quotes, references, paraphrase, etc)
• Essays can use any citational styleas long as these are used consistently and properly
• Essays can be formattedin any style but standard academic format protocols should apply (eg. normal font, >12point, >1.5 line spacing, standard margins, etc)
• You are free to include imagesin your paper if you like, but it is not required. If you do, be sure to provide proper citational references for your images
• Word length is 2000 words  (+/- 10%) excluding bibliography and footnotes

How will the assignment be graded?

Because of the variable nature of this exercise, Assignment 2 is not subject to a prescribed marking rubric. Essays will ultimately be assessed on individual merit. Nevertheless, core academic assessment criteria will be used to frame evaluation of all essays. These include but are not limited to:

• an explicit and comprehensive engagement with the assignment brief
• a well chosen and appropriately framed topic
• demonstrated knowledge of concepts, theories and arguments profiled in the unit and/or the field of critical celebrity studies
• use of appropriate critical and analytic approaches
• construction of a clear, progressive argument, analysis and/or reading
• evidence of appropriate scholarly research
• clarity and fluency of written expression
• use of appropriate conventions of academic writing such as referencing, bibliography/filmography, etcetera.