Ryan Schram's Anthrocyclopaedia

Anthropology presentations and learning resources

User Tools

Site Tools

You are here: start » 1002 » 2020 » cultural-critique
1002:2020:cultural-critique

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
1002:2020:cultural-critique [2020/08/18 19:59] – [References] Ryan Schram (admin)1002:2020:cultural-critique [2020/08/18 22:06] (current) – Ryan Schram (admin)
Line 23: Line 23:
 Consider all of the topics we have discussed in this class: pregnancy, childbirth, hospitals, parenting, lunch, school, the economy, migration, urbanization, government assistance, advertising. In the ethnographic cases we read, the people described all thought that their way of doing things was the best, most rational, and most natural way of doing things. In order for them to accept their cultural system, they had to internalize particular assumptions about how the world works. To begin, find an example from your own everyday life (1) that you can document using primary sources and (2) where you can see evidence that people have internalized particular cultural assumptions which (3) blind them to other possibilities. Consider all of the topics we have discussed in this class: pregnancy, childbirth, hospitals, parenting, lunch, school, the economy, migration, urbanization, government assistance, advertising. In the ethnographic cases we read, the people described all thought that their way of doing things was the best, most rational, and most natural way of doing things. In order for them to accept their cultural system, they had to internalize particular assumptions about how the world works. To begin, find an example from your own everyday life (1) that you can document using primary sources and (2) where you can see evidence that people have internalized particular cultural assumptions which (3) blind them to other possibilities.
  
-Second, reflect critically on what your source does //not// say. When a newspaper article uses the word //food//, it does not say what is included in that category because it does not have to say it. Its audience will come to the text with a set of assumptions about their world, and will filter information through those assumptions. To see the cultural background to your own everyday life, you have to pretend to be an alien who has landed from outer space, and would not understand the [[https://anthro.rschram.org/emic_and_etic|emic categories]] that people in one society have learned to use to make sense of the world.+Second, reflect critically on what your source does //not// say. When a newspaper article uses the word //food//, it does not say what is included in that category because it does not have to say it. Its audience will come to the text with a set of assumptions about their world, and will filter information through those assumptions. To see the cultural background to your own everyday life, you have to pretend to be an alien who has landed from outer space, and would not understand the [[:emic_and_etic|emic categories]] that people in one society have learned to use to make sense of the world.
  
 Third, explain the cultural context that you perceive in primary source or sources you have found. Make an argument that links specific details about this way of thinking as examples to a larger claim about the ideological perspective that underlies it. Third, explain the cultural context that you perceive in primary source or sources you have found. Make an argument that links specific details about this way of thinking as examples to a larger claim about the ideological perspective that underlies it.
Line 31: Line 31:
 This assignment is much closer to a traditional argumentative essay. You will be evaluated on how well you explain your own ideas, and how well you support your ideas with concrete information from a primary source. This assignment is much closer to a traditional argumentative essay. You will be evaluated on how well you explain your own ideas, and how well you support your ideas with concrete information from a primary source.
  
-You are not required to research your topic by finding scholarly sources (or secondary sources) on your topic. Your argument will be stronger if you explain your own interpretation fully, rather than relying on other people’s ideas. You can, if you want, discuss readings from our class or other scholarly works, but it should not be the main part of your essay. If you do use other sources, you should [[https://anthro.rschram.org/the_quest/citing_sources|cite them appropriately]] as you have in your other assignments.+You are not required to research your topic by finding scholarly sources (or secondary sources) on your topic. Your argument will be stronger if you explain your own interpretation fully, rather than relying on other people’s ideas. You can, if you want, discuss readings from our class or other scholarly works, but it should not be the main part of your essay. If you do use other sources, you should [[:the_quest:citing_sources|cite them appropriately]] as you have in your other assignments.
  
 Otherwise, your essay will be evaluated based on how it measures up in several specific ways: Otherwise, your essay will be evaluated based on how it measures up in several specific ways:
Line 37: Line 37:
   * Do you have a **single, clear claim** about what you conclude from your primary source about the **larger cultural context** in which you live?   * Do you have a **single, clear claim** about what you conclude from your primary source about the **larger cultural context** in which you live?
   * Do you use information from your source as **evidence** to support a point you make, and your overall claim?   * Do you use information from your source as **evidence** to support a point you make, and your overall claim?
-  * Do you explain the **reasons** why specific information you learned in your birth interview leads you to a larger conclusion? +  * Do you explain the **reasons** why specific information you have found leads you to a larger conclusion? 
-  * Do you describe your birth story in **enough descriptive detail** for your reader to understand how you arrive at your conclusion?+  * Do you describe your evidence in **enough descriptive detail** for your reader to understand how you arrive at your conclusion?
   * Is your prose **clear and readable**?   * Is your prose **clear and readable**?
   * Are your paragraphs **coherent**, that is, does each focus on one main point or topic?   * Are your paragraphs **coherent**, that is, does each focus on one main point or topic?
1002/2020/cultural-critique.1597805986.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/08/18 19:59 by Ryan Schram (admin)