School of Social Work
AK/SOWK 2025 3.00 – Eating Disorders: The Political, Social and Psychological
Issues
Fall 2021
Instructor:
Time:
Location:
Office Hours:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Curt Pullan, MSW, RSW
Online
By appt only
[email protected]
Assignment One:
Media Analysis: Socio-cultural Issues and Eating Disorders
You are to find one advertisement image and one music video and critique each, with
each critique being 1-1.5 pages each. You will be commenting on what messages the
advertisement and video convey in terms of body image and eating. Following these,
you will write a 3 page reflection about the relationship between eating disorders and
western culture at large. Since this is a reflection, you will be sharing your own ideas
(feel free to back up your opinions with references, but these are not needed). This will
be followed by 1 page on ‘What you think needs to change’ and your conclusion. You
will be marked on your ability to logically and clearly describe your opinion.
Grading: 30%
Due Date: October 18, 2021
Purpose:
The main purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to demonstrate your
understanding of the impacts of media on body image and eating. This will be done
through your critique of both one advertisement image and one music video (both of
your choosing).
This will be followed by a 3-page reflection about the relationship between eating
disorders and western culture at large, and1-page on ‘What do you think needs to
change?’ and your conclusion.
Your critique and reflection should demonstrate your understanding of some of the
course themes/ concepts.
Structure of Paper

1. Introduction
2. Part One: Critiquing the Advertisement and Music Video
3. Part Two: Reflection
4. Part Three: What do you think needs to change?
5. Conclusion
   Structure of Paper
   Introduction – 1 paragraph
    Begin your paper with a thesis/ purpose for your paper, which basically means
   explaining what your paper will be saying (for instance, In this paper I will be
   critiquing an advertisement and a music video, both of which demonstrate the
   way in which body image is promoted in media, and will explain how western
   culture can negatively impact body image and eating)
   Part One: Critiquing the Advertisement and Music Video – 1- 1.5 pages each
    Choose an advertisement image and a music video to critique
    Provide an introduction and a brief and concise summary of both the
   advertisement image and the music video. For the advertisement image, you can
   choose to include the image in your assignment, but it will not count toward your
   page count.
    Critique your two pieces of media, commenting on what messages the
   advertisement and video convey in terms of body image and eating
    The advertisement and music video you choose can portray body image in a
   positive way (i.e. body positivity) or in a way that may be negatively impactful.
   You can choose to talk about what the advertisement/ music video do right in
   your opinion, or what they do wrong in your opinion
    You can also choose an advertisement you feel is more positive and a music
   video you feel could be more negative, and can compare the two of them, or vice
   versa
   Part Two: 3 page reflection about the relationship between eating disorders and
   western culture at large – 3 pages
    In this section you will reflect on the relationship between eating disorders and
   western culture at large.
    This can include the ways in which our western culture promotes certain body
   images in various capacities, fad diets and weight loss trends on platforms such
   as Tik Tok and Instagram, dieting culture, billboards, Hollywood and other
   models/ stars, etc.
    You can focus on particular populations, such as adolescence, women, men,
   trans or non-binary folks, or adults, etc. and how they may be particularly
   impacted by the ways in which western culture portrays body image and eating
   Themes you can explore in your paper (You do not have to explore these, these
   are just ideas, but feel free to use them as areas to focus on):
    How does western culture (including mass media) shape body ideals?
    Does western culture promote thinness as desirable? If so, how?
    How could western culture lead individuals to have body dissatisfaction?
    Are musicians, pop stars, movie stars pressured into having certain bodies/
   weights? Why?
    Is there a difference between how men and women are portrayed in media and
   other platforms? How does this effect men and women differently?
    Does body positivity in western culture make a difference? What are some
   examples?
   Part Three: What do you think needs to change? – 1 page including Conclusion
    In this section, you can reflect on what you think needs to change in western
   culture to better improve the way in which it portrays/ impacts body image an
   eating
    Are there examples of ways that this is already being done? If so, what are they?
    What could media (ads, music videos, etc.) be doing differently to have a more
   positive impact on those who consume the media?
    You can connect back to the advertisement and music video and comment on
   what they could have done better
   Conclusion
    Every great paper ends off with a great conclusion!
    A conclusion is comprised of describing what the goal of your paper was and
   how you were able to meet that goal.
    Usually it’s a paragraph long
    Your take – away learnings
   The Details
    Advertisement and Music Video Critique – 1 – 1.5 pages each
    Reflection – 3 pages
    ‘What do you think needs to change?’ and Conclusion – 1 page
    Total number of pages 6 – 7 pages in length
    You can go over in your page length, but try not to go too much over
    Pages should be numbered
    Use double-spacing between lines
    Use one-inch page margins
    Use 12 – point Arial or Times New Roman Font
    References (if you have any) should be in APA style
    There should be a title page with: Your name, student number, date of
   submission, Instructors name, Course name and number, and title of your paper
   (the title page and reference page do not count toward your page count)
    You may use headings/ sub-headings
    You may use first person (i.e. I/my)
    The assignment will be submitted through Turnitin on eClass
    See ‘late penalty’ on Course Outline for late penalty guidelines
    It is essential to site your sources if you use any
   Due Date: October 18, 2021
   (Please email Curt if you require an extension)
   Submit through Turnitin on eClass
   30% of final mark
   Criteria Value
    Provide an introduction/ thesis and a brief and concise
   summary of your advertisement and music video
   2 marks
    Critique the advertisement and music video (1 – 1.5 pages
   each)
   o Provide a clear and logical opinion/ critique
   o The critique has to clearly show the connection between the
   advertisement and music video, and body image and/or
   eating
   o Demonstrate some awareness/ understanding of the course
   themes and concepts (i.e. the language and definitions you
   incorporate)
   o
   8
    Reflection on the connection between eating disorders and
   western culture
   o Provide a clear and logical opinion/ reflection
   o Your reflection has to clearly show the connection between
   eating disorders/ body image and western culture
   o Demonstrate some awareness/ understanding of the course
   themes and concepts (i.e. the language and definitions you
   incorporate)
   o Your reflection should not include further critique of the
   music video and advertisement that you already looked at,
   10
   but should be exploring other subject matter/ content/ areas
   of western culture
    What do you think needs to change?
   o Provide clear and logical thoughts/ ideas on what you think/
   feel should be changed within western culture (i.e. in media,
   in social discourse/ narratives, in how we view body image
   as a society, dieting culture, etc.)
   o Your thoughts/ ideas on what could change should connect
   in some way to the critique and/or reflection that you
   provided
   o This can comment on the music video and advertisement
   you critiqued
   4
    Conclusion
   o Your conclusion should provide a brief description of what
   the goal of your paper was and how you met that goal
   through your critique, reflection and thoughts on what can
   be changed
   2
    Clarity of Writing
   o Clear and concise writing, with few grammatical and
   structural errors.
   o Citations and a reference page used if you have any
   resources that you used
   o APA style
   o Double-spacing between lines, numbered pages, one-inch
   page margins, 12-point Arial or Times New Roman font,
   correct number of pages

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