Stardom and Celebrity in the Media

Word length: 1,000 words (essay)

Richard Dyer argues that stars are made up of two elements, first “what they consist of, their production” and second, “the notions of personhood and social reality that they relate to” (2004:2).

Drawing from Dyer’s explanation of the star, choose from ONE of the following topics to construct an analysis on:

• specific celebrity/star death
• The wedding of a sex icon
• A celebrity/star scandal

Your analysis should be geared towards answering the following questions:

• How is the event presented across multiple media?
• How does the framing of the event change or reinforce that star’s image?
• How does this story fit into a wider discourse of other stories about this particular kind of star or kind of story?
• How does this event relate to broader theories on the notion of stardom?

Marking criteria:

• The essay shows evidence of an understanding of notions of the star as text;
• The essay demonstrates a critical approach to analyzing how the event fits into broader notions of celebrity and concepts in media studies, rather than just    description of “what happened”;
• The essay cites at least three scholarly sources and demonstrates secondary research;
• The essay is adequately referenced;
• The essay is composed of a central argument with a clearly developed thesis statement;