Option 1: My American Experience
Interpret
your own life and “American Experience” in terms of 1 or
2 of these themes: (1) new beginnings, (2) the longing for history, (3) the relationship of
humans to nature, (4) the tension between individualism and
community,
(5) the processes of assimilation, integration, and multiculturalism, (6) conflicts between
science, religion, rationality and spirituality, (7)
traditional and modern views of womanhood or gender identity, (8) and compassion, responsibility, and the Wal-Mart trend. For this version of the project you will look back at one or two of the
themes that we have discussed in class and discuss the ideas of the thinkers who have addressed
these themes. You will use examples from your own American experience to evaluate the ideas of the
thinkers you discuss. Make sure you
discuss the ideas of the thinkers that you reference in some depth. You should also discuss
ways in which your own life and American experience can be understood and interpreted by
using these ideas. You have already engaged in many similar projects throughout this class, so the
basic idea should be familiar to you, though you will be developing your ideas further in this project.
Artistic
Analysis: Find at least 3 pieces of American art
that help to express your ideas. For each piece of art, briefly describe that work of art by using some
of the tools we have discussed in class to evaluate its meaning. You will want to look back to our first lecture
for a checklist discussing many of these tools. Be sure to show how the meaning of the art reflects back on your overall
discussion. Please provide a photograph, or digital picture of the images that you use in discussing
your ideas. If you would prefer more freedom, you can create your own original artistic creation (movie,
photos taken for this
project, collage, etc.) to go along with your paper. If you make your own artistic creation
you will still need to do the interpretive analysis of your work, but you may use just a single piece in the analysis.
In total your written analysis should be 6-10 pages
in length (at least 2,000 words).
Your paper should contain these parts:
I. An
introduction telling us the topic of your paper
II. A
discussion of the theme or themes you have chosen to cover (for example “new
beginnings” and “a longing for history”) and a
discussion of a few of the viewpoints and American authors discussed in class on that topic. (I might, for example, talk
specifically about the Pilgrim mythology, the
American
Farmer, and American artists in Italy here.)
III. A
discussion of your own American experience and how it relates
to the ideas of the thinkers and themes you have discussed
IV. A
discussion of some American Art and how interpreting that art can help to
explain the analysis you have given throughout my paper. (Each of the elements here can be discussed separately, or interwoven throughout your analysis)
I have attached a bunch of lectures and documents from throughout the class. Please make this analysis super in depth. For help on the American experience, I am an Asian American (specifically Indian) and experienced racism growing up. My parents immigrated to the States from India in search for a better life. As for the artwork, as long as everything is cited properly and relates to the themes, it will work!!
