Political Correctness: A Culture Obsessed With Appearances

1. Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection Political Correctness: A Culture Obsessed With Appearances As seen through NBC’s hit-television program “The Office” By: Kristin Pinder

2. Background Name: Kristin Pinder Hometown: Nassau, Bahamas Major: Undecided ENG 110 Professor: George Hlavaty Project Title: “Political Correctness: A Culture obsessed with Appearances” Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection

3. Project Description Through the context of the television program “The Office”, the project discusses how political correctness is an allusion to a culture obsessed with appearances. Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection • Political Correctness Leads to

4. About “The Office” Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection Characters (left to right): Ryan, Pam, Jim, Michael and Dwight Filmed in a style reminiscent of reality television, the fictional program “The Office” follows the lives of the workers at Dunder Mifflin Paper Supply Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. A camera crew has decided to film Dunder Mifflin and its employees as a reality television documentary. The workers are well aware of the cameras’ presence.

5. Key Points The project begins with a short definition and background on political correctness. In the lines following the background, I lay out my main thesis – although political correctness is a good concept, its superficiality can create unintended negative consequences, and the pressure to be considered politically correct reveals a culture obsessed with appearances. Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection I provide support for this thesis by referring to Jackson’s theory of racial paranoia. I then gave examples of this theory through an analysis of “The Office”. On the show, main character and regional manager Michael Scott – in an attempt to look like the “World’s Best Boss” – struggles to be a likeable politically correct office comedian. Through Michael’s strange ways, “The Office” satirizes political correctness and American office life. The main rhetorical device the television program uses is humor. In conclusion of the essay, I alluded to the contradiction that political correctness creates – although political correctness was meant to be undiscriminating, political correctness ironically causes discrimination rather than hindering it.

6. Strengths of Project The main strength of my project is its originality. The ideas presented in this project are unique; not many people automatically associate political correctness with a culture obsessed with appearances, and it is difficult to establish a solid link between an important phenomenon and a trivial medium. However – even though my project is inventive – there is still an unmistakable relationship between the phenomenon discussed (political correctness) and the text I chose (“The Office”). Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection My project possesses a clear flow. Each sentence leads to the next, and each paragraph presents a precise central theme with valid supporting points. This provides an understandable argument that appeals to both ethos and logos, strengthening the contention.

7. Challenges Faced The essential task of giving a clear definition of “political correctness” was confusing. Political correctness is a very complex subject – the term has many different definitions that are interpreted in many different ways. Over the last century political correctness has been used as political propaganda, and therefore many of the academic sources I looked at were biased. In order to write properly, I had to vigorously search for predominantly open-minded sources and employ the least partial sentences of them. Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection Another challenge I faced was finding academic sources to support my main thesis. “The Office” is a very recent television program; episodes have only been airing for the last five years. I faced an obstacle in trying to find both recent and reliable sources that discussed political correctness through the context of “The Office”.

8. Objective Met ENG 110 Objective: “A more sophisticated writing process—including invention, peer responding, revising, and editing—that results in a clear, effective, well edited public piece.” Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection After I completed my first draft, I submitted my unfinished project for peer-review. When I got back my results, I was able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of my project. This allowed me to revise the document with a clear vision and an open mind. Peer-review was crucial to the structure and development of the essay. My project represents a more sophisticated writing process. Through invention, peer responding, revising, and editing, I was able to produce a translucent, understandable project that appeals to the general public.

9. Reflection Before I wrote about political correctness, I was confused as to what it was. I had an idea in my mind that turned out to be completely wrong. Writing about this subject opened up my eyes, and in doing so broadened my horizons. I am now aware of political correctness and I am able to recognize this phenomenon in everyday life. The most important advantage I gained from writing this paper is confidence in my writing abilities. I learned more about my writing style – I found my strength in thesis statements and my weakness in lengthening my main points. This newfound information has helped me write successful argumentative research papers in other classes. Jump to: • Home • Background • Project Description • About the Office • Key Points • Strengths • Challenges • Objective Met • Reflection