Exploring the Text

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  1. What is John Jeremiah Sullivan’s claim about Michael Jackson? Find and analyze at least three different types of evidence that Sullivan uses to support his claim.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What is John Jeremiah Sullivan’s claim about Michael Jackson? Find and analyze at least three different types of evidence that Sullivan uses to support his claim.
  2. How does Sullivan establish ethos in this essay?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How does Sullivan establish ethos in this essay?
  3. Sullivan traces Michael Jackson’s career and image through his songs. Listen to them or watch them on YouTube. Do you agree with Sullivan’s assessment? Do they reveal something different to you? Explain your answer.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Sullivan traces Michael Jackson’s career and image through his songs. Listen to them or watch them on YouTube. Do you agree with Sullivan’s assessment? Do they reveal something different to you? Explain your answer.
  4. Sullivan is considered a practitioner of New Journalism, a term coined in the 1960s to describe writing characterized by the use of elements of fiction to get at the story behind the story. How does Sullivan get at the story behind the story in “Michael”?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Sullivan is considered a practitioner of New Journalism, a term coined in the 1960s to describe writing characterized by the use of elements of fiction to get at the story behind the story. How does Sullivan get at the story behind the story in “Michael”?
  5. Critic James Wood of the New Yorker said of Sullivan’s prose that it “bend[s] itself around its subject…[he] lets his subjects muss and alter his prose.” Find examples in “Michael” where the subject of his essay has an effect on his prose style. Hint: look for places where the essay sounds more like a novel.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Critic James Wood of the New Yorker said of Sullivan’s prose that it “bend[s] itself around its subject…[he] lets his subjects muss and alter his prose.” Find examples in “Michael” where the subject of his essay has an effect on his prose style. Hint: look for places where the essay sounds more like a novel.
  6. In an online interview with Shona Sanzgirl for the SF Weekly, Sullivan was asked what he meant when he said that Michael Jackson’s body was the “greatest piece of postmodern American sculpture” (par. 20). He answered that he meant it literally, saying, “[I]t’s hard to imagine a piece of art that more thoroughly transmitted the anxieties and contradictions of his time.” What anxieties and contradictions do you think Sullivan is talking about?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - In an online interview with Shona Sanzgirl for the SF Weekly, Sullivan was asked what he meant when he said that Michael Jackson’s body was the “greatest piece of postmodern American sculpture” (par. 20). He answered that he meant it literally, saying, “[I]t’s hard to imagine a piece of art that more thoroughly transmitted the anxieties and contradictions of his time.” What anxieties and contradictions do you think Sullivan is talking about?
  7. Did reading “Michael” change any of your views about pop icon Michael Jackson? Explain why or why not.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Did reading “Michael” change any of your views about pop icon Michael Jackson? Explain why or why not.