Topics for short response paper:
Please respond to *one* of the following questions in 1-2 pages (double spaced; approx. 300 words).
- What does it mean that Mary Richards throws her hat into the air? Analyze Figure 1 and
interpret what statement it makes about gender, the city, or earlier portrayals of women on TV.
- Consider the kitchen of Mary Richards. How does it compare with those of Alice Krampden and
Laura Petrie?
- Compare the shots from the openings of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Figure 1) and Sex and
the City (Figure 3). Interpret a similarity and/or difference in the life of a single woman in the city.
Or, consider how getting splashed by a bus is different from throwing a hat in the air.
Figure 1:
Mary Richards tosses her hat into the air in the opening sequence of
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)
Figure 2:
Mary and Rhoda look for food in Mary's kitchen from "Today I Am a Ma'am" (26 September 1970)
Figure 3:
The columnist
Carrie Bradshaw gets splashed by a bus in the opening shot of Sex and the City (6 June 1998)