South Park Political Issues
Write an analysis of one of the South Park episodes—"Kenny Dies" and "Trapper Keeper"—that we watched in class. Notice this analysis is of the actual episode that we watched, not of the issue it discussed.

• "Kenny Dies"—stem cell research involves beliefs on a number of different topics: abortion, medical testing on humans, the ethics of profiting from human suffering, selling fetuses, etc. How do Trey Parker and Matt Stone present these various issues? What statement(s) are they trying to make about stem cell research and its related contextual issues, people's views on this research, and the complicated political debates surrounding this issue?
• "Trapper Keeper"—the Electoral College has various effects on the outcome of the presidential election. What statement(s) are Trey Parker and Matt Stone trying to make about the Electoral College, American politics, the two-party system, the election process as a whole, the attitudes of average Americans (politically active or inactive), etc.? Are their criticisms of the election system and of Americans justified? How? Specifically, this episode outlines various complaints different people had about Election 2000. What are Parker and Stone trying to say about these complaints? How? Is their message clear?

Think about the message of the episode you are analyzing; consider the possible claims that Parker and Stone are trying to make:

• How does your episode demonstrate different political viewpoints about the issue it discusses? How do the authors present the issue? What characters support or oppose different sides? Is this significant? Does the use of certain characters as supporters of different issues imply certain feelings of the authors?
• What different claims in the show lead you to believe the authors have a particular stance on the issue from the episode? What claims are made? How? Do these claims represent the authors' stances on the issues? How do you know?
• Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a South Park episode is presenting an issue sincerely or sarcastically. Does this complicate its purpose? What does this cause audiences to do when they view an episode? Is this good or bad? Why?

This paper is due Tuesday, April 23^rd.