| Literary analysis and argument building are two skill sets that college freshmen need to have in order to ensure success in any academic program. Students who take Developmental English receive instruction in acquiring these skill sets. However, often it appears these students, in a formal classroom environment struggle with both concepts. Yet, is what appears to be happening actually the case?;This qualitative research dissertation, which employs a social constructivist paradigm and is steeped in grounded theory, explains what occurs when 20 students, 12 men and 8 women, self select contemporary and superhero films for purposes of engaging in literary analysis and argument discussion in an informal learning environment. Drawing mainly on the work of Bakhtin, Vygotsky, and Dewey, as well as contemporary theorists Rosenblatt, and Freier and film theorists as Costanzo, Golden and Harris, this dissertation explains the study results using mainly sociocultural theory and ZPD. It also demonstrates that using contemporary and superhero films can be a viable text for literary analysis and argument building in Development English composition.;Key Words: Superhero films, ZPD, Social Constructivist Paradigm, Grounded Theory, literary analysis, argument, text, Developmental English, college level, Dewey, Vygotsky, Bakhtin, Rosenblatt, Freier, Costanzo, Literary devices. |
