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A reflection about creative writers and their merit in teaching writing. What are the benefits of learning from a seasoned writer, what are some of the negative experiences. Is there exclusion present within the writing classroom, are writing teachers prone to picking favorites. Piece would be part reflection, would touch on the needs of education and those new to the craft of writing.

The Simpsons has never restrained from making political statements, but what happens when life imitates art? Research and analyze the presence of political commentary in The Simpsons which have made their way back into political commentary.

A discussion of whether the female characters represented at Comic Con are overly sexualized. While male characters provide opportunities for fans to embody the strengths of their favorite heroes and villains at Comic Con; are the female characters being equally, accurately represented for their strengths? How much is being represented of a female character's worth when the focus is on her body and a lack of clothes. Fans can defend such costumes, claiming they are depicting the character as accurately as possible. But at what point can fans compromise the accuracy of their favorite character without contributing to the objectification of sexualized female characters in this Comic Con culture.

The recent outcry from the public about the lack of diversity in the Oscars nominations has created a huge scandal. But is the Oscars really something that matters? Do these awards actually correlate with the general recognition received in popular cinema – critics and audiences alike? Is this issue something that we should focus on or should our attention be better spent elsewhere? This will discuss the history of the Academy Awards and the diversity of its nominees and winners, as well as recent trends.

Ken Burns' documentaries are known to be informative, containing many professionals on the subject discussed with any topics up for discussion. Which of his documentaries best reflect these qualities and their intentions of informing audiences?

Analyze the hit TV Show Gilmore Girls from a feminist perspective, looking at the way feminism has changed since the show ended in 2007 and how the show's own brand of feminism is or is not outdated. Examine how the show's feminism works and doesn't work, and where it fails or does not fail.

In the last decade, the rise of writing poetry in order to raise cultural issues has taken off in a Border town called Laredo, Texas. The city neighbors Mexico and is delved in rich Mexican and American culture. It is balanced by both struggle, hardship, and endearment. This topic obviously does not have to focus on how slam poetry has specifically transformed this city, but it can explore how the Slam Poetry organization has transformed cities to be more expressive, literate, creative, and engaging with its own and surrounding communities. This topic could take many targeted perspectives, really; as long as it displays how empowering spoken word and the freedom of free speech guides society.

On the surface it appears that Avatar (the one with the blue people, not the Last Airbender) is a critique on imperialist violence, one long overdue in our culture. But the movie falls short not just once but several times, changing from a thoughtful social commentary to just another feel-good, white-savior blockbuster. I'm not here to critique the writing, though god knows it needs it.

I'm here to talk about how Jake, the wounded soldier, still endorses violence as the only option to take down the Colonel. "I was hoping you'd say that?" And then the film's narrative dances around having Jake kill the Bad Guy, because oh my god can't have your hero kill someone on screen. Though apparently Jake's killed lots of people before.

On the surface, the final battle is won (with Eywa's help) to preserve the balance of the land. This is undermined by the blatant glorying in death the film takes – the battle is framed as heart-stopping, glorious, something to revel in when you are winning and to dread when you are not.

In the end, the day is won with more violence, endorsed by a deity. There is no even stopping to think on the harm done after the battle – the casualties are swept under the film's rug, because they died for a good cause right? Oh, and some of the 'good' humans get to stay. Even though there'll be no funding for their equipment to be maintained and it's likely they'll NEVER get back to Earth. Oh well, they can live on a planet with floating rocks and air that's poisonous to them, right?

Consider the hallmark characteristics of each of the races described in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the epistemic basis for racial characterization in modern fantasy novels and film. To what degree of accuracy does Tolkien's distinction between good and bad races (i.e. elves and orcs, men and haradrim, dwarves and goblins) describe racial conflicts in the western world? How does Tolkien's attempt to moralize race? What are the implications of attaching an inherent evil to a race?

Both Avatar series have had a slew of promanent female characters serving a multitude of different roles, something rarely seen in the action genre of animation. In many other shows female characters are secondary characters or simply love interests for the main hero; but in both Avatar series women are protagonists, antagonists, side characters, mentors and everything in between. For this article the author should go over the Female characters of Avatar (Toph, Katara, Korra, Azula, Mai, Jenora etc.) And see what makes them not only good female characters but good characters in general. They can look at the characters individually or look at them as an overarching group.

Prosody has become almost a dying art in poetry, both on and off the age. With a rise in spoken-word, modern writing styles has kind of thrown the traditional rule-book out the window. But is proper meter and rhyme scheme a thing of Shakespearean past? Perhaps, by reviving the techniques behind the art form, we can reach a new level of creativity when it comes to poetry.

Analyze why certain things are redone over and over again. For example, why is Romeo and Juliet so popular that it is re-released in different formats? These include: movies, books, parodies, revamped novels/movies/games, etc. Why are fairy tales re-written every couple of years? Why are certain movies redone and re-released every few years? It can't just be popularity, is there a trend in the stories?

When analyzing literature from the early half of the 20th century, there are clear changes in writers before and after the World Wars. The biggest shift came after the Great War, as this was the first war of this scale, with such a large body count, and with new technologies and conventions.

Now that we are coming up on 15 years after 9/11, I suspect we can see a shift in pop culture following the attack on the Twin Towers, and analyze what the shift was, how it affected each medium, and how long the shit remained.

There were works created specifically in response to the attack, including Bruce Springsteen's The Rising as well as Frank Miller's controversial follow-up to the Dark Knight Returns: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (at least in part as stated in Miller's forward to the Dark Knight Saga hardcover).Other works that were written before the attacks were deeply patriotic were brought back into the pop culture, notably Proud to be an American.

Examine pop culture before the attacks (late 90's-mid 2001), immediately after the attacks (late 2001-2002), a couple years after *2003-2005), 5-10 years after (2006-2011), and contemporary works.

Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Sherlock, Hannibal. Critics and everyday viewers alike say that we are living in a golden age of television. Shows that have depth and actually evolve slowly. It's a throwback almost to a time gone by, and folks are loving it. However, the way we watch these amazing shows is changing, at a ridiculous pace. Netflix, the former DVD mail service is now a titan and posterchild of the new way we "television." We watch shows when we want to. No more appointment TV, Must-see TV, or anything like that. There have been some folks, in articles in the Atlantic, and Entertainment Weekly among several others, that have been warning that these days are numbered. That our habits will eventually force TV to drastically change to our new, random habits. The staples and trappings of TV culture may be gone forever. Will watercooler talk exist when everyone is watching TV at their own pace? No more phenomena like the MASH finale, where millions all watched at the same time. There's another group that says this is all silly. That these habits won't go anywhere. The medium can be different; the habits can stay the same. Can they? WIll they? Sounds like a debate!

It seems that thought-provoking and emotionally-stirring stories are finally starting to matter in the vicissitudinous video game industry. Games such as The Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite have been lauded for taking new directions in their approach to narration and storytelling. Even more notable examples include Telltale's Walking Dead, the Stanley Parable, Gone Home and (most famously) Journey, all of which have received critical acclaim from critics and players alike for their strong focus on story and narration. As technology advances and budgets are expanded to include professional storytellers from art, literature, television and cinema, it seems that some in the video game industry is willing to undertake more ambitious and creative projects in regards to how games can tell a heartfelt story. With all this mind, will the video game industry eventually be primarily focused on storytelling and narration?

Do you feel it is important to write to the racial/ethnic identity of a character in contemporary literature, even if the subject of the work isn't directly related to that identity? If so, how much of that racial/ethnic experience is appropriate or necessary to include? How do these levels change if the writer is a different race/ethnicity from the character, and where is the line of insensitivity? For example, hypothetically, a Latinx writer wants to write an Indonesian character in their Young Adult sci-fi novel – how relevant is the character's identity as an Indonesian to the writing? Or, another real-life example, in David Levithan's "Every Day", the main character A wakes up in someone else's body every morning, an identity-less character bodysnatching other characters with numerous different racial/ethnic identities – how important, necessary, and/or appropriate would it have been to include the different racial/ethnic experiences A could potentially go through as these identities, especially considering the race/ethnicity of the author?

How has the rising popularity in Kindle and ebooks hindered the print medium? Will physical hardcover and paperback books someday go into extinction? While Kindles appeal to the younger, hipper audience, paperbacks still seem to retain a sort of traditional class. Why? Even though they both have their arguable pros and cons, what will become of printed works in the near and long-term future?

Nintendo's place in the history of the video games industry is undeniable. However, this gaming generation they have stumbled. The Wii U has failed to successfully succeed it's predecessor the Wii. The quality of it's games have never wavered. This remains Nintendo's saving grace. They have always maintain that they are a game company and hardware is secondary. Nintendo has received much criticism for their business strategies, many suggesting they abandoned their hardware altogether.

Many have defended Nintendo's strategy, as being paramount to maintaining the quality of their games. Is the coupling of their games with hardware essential? Would Nintendo be better served by becoming a software maker only? Some have argued that the handheld gaming market has been taken over by mobile games. At first Nintendo felt no need to go mobile. However, they have changed course and have already begun releasing mobile games. Nintendo will not be porting their most popular games, but will utilize their vast roster of characters. Is it too late? How will this change affect their dominance in the handheld market?

Recently Nintendo has released software development kits for the NX, their next console. Rumors have been circulating that it's a hybrid of a home console and handheld. Would this solve the issue? Another rumor out on the internet is that Nintendo has finally embraced focusing on power. Can this change in strategy finally get the elusive third parties on board? Overall, Nintendo has failed to recapture the success of the Wii. Their games have continued to sell and receive critical acclaim. However, this alone cannot help them return to the top of the gaming industry they help save in the 80's. Will their next console pick up where the Wii left off? Is the gaming industry overreacting to the underwhelming reaction to the Wii U?

For the last decade, black heroes from Marvel and DC Universe has transcended to higher levels, broke down the walls of stereotypes and inspired future characters to follow in their footsteps. There are several black heroes who did just that and much more. There is a comprehensive page on Wikipedia listing black heroes that could be used as reference.

Everyday when I log onto Facebook, I see people sharing articles like "10 ways to get the man of your dreams," "Why you aren't happy," "The happiest couples do this to survive…"

These irk me. Articles like this are polluting your brain. People read these articles thinking, oh THAT'S why I'm not happy and THAT'S why our relationship is so bad. Whereas actual news articles or long, in depth articles do not get as much attention because they're not listed out in a way that people can read quickly and get advice about their lives…a comparison between the two.