So I have your next writing assignment ready to go. And this one will be worth 25% of your overall grade for the semester. In But What If We're Wrong, Klosterman writes:

"This is how the present must be considered whenever we try to think about it as the past: It must be analyzed through the values of a future that's unwritten. Before we can argue that something we currently appreciate deserves inclusion in the world of tomorrow, we must build that future world within our mind. This is not easy (even with drugs). But it's not even the hardest part. The hardest part is accepting that we're building something with parts that don't yet exist."

Okay, so that passage is a little bit confusing (on purpose–Klosterman tries to show off sometimes, well all the time). What he means, essentially, is that things don't become valued until they do, and they can't become valued until those who write the valuation of things (scholars, writers, etc.) write enough about that one thing (or things, or people) to agree that they (the things, people, etc). are valuable enough to have "Value" that sticks. In other words, Shakespeare didn't become Shakespeare until enough people wrote about Shakespeare as the Shakespeare that we now know (without actually having to have read anything the dude ever wrote). He's just…a name.

So for this essay, that's what you will do. You will build something with parts that don't exist yet. Take something, anything (a book, a film, a singer, song, etc.) that exists today and make it important for tomorrow. For example, I would write for this paper something like: Kanye West is the most important figure in American culture since Andy Warhol; and he, Kanye means more to the understanding of America more than anyone since Martin Luther King, Jr.

That would be my thesis. I would then go on to write a paper to prove my point. I could, and would, also write a paper like: Twilight is more important than Hamlet. And I could prove it. So…do that. Pick anything (it should be something that is not considered "valued" yet. Your job is to change the yet into a yes. And please, please, please do not write about Harry Potter. (You can, I'm just kidding, but try not to; it's too easy).

This paper should be at least three pages, double-spaced (Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1" margins all around). But it can be as long as you would like, over three pages.

 No late papers accepted. Oh, and please use Klosterman and these essays to help you along. 🙂