In this assignment, you will analyze some cultural practice, event, or issue that corresponds to at least one of the broad topics we’ve covered in this class (education, class, race/ethnicity, justice, gender, and technology). Your objective is to demonstrate your understanding of our course material by applying some part(s) of it to the interpretation of some external cultural issue.
Your object of study should be anything that invokes at least one (but possibly more) of our chapter topics. It can be an ongoing issue, or a single event, or a group of events, or even a practice or set of practices. It should be something, though, that asks us to question one of the “myths” in our book. However, it would be better if it were something that is not actually covered in our book; that way, you’ll more convincingly demonstrate that you can apply our material to external events.
The final form of this project can be one of many: paper; website; presentation; etc. I want to give you the opportunity to be creative, if you’d like, especially since this is an online class. However, each project should include the same elements:
An introduction to and explanation of the cultural issue you are analyzing. Make sure to provide enough information so that someone who may not be familiar with your object of analysis will understand the questions or problems that are raised by it, which you want to make clear: how does this topic ask us to reconsider one of the “myths” that orient us to American culture?
The application of at least one, or perhaps a few, reading(s) from Rereading Americato the interpretation of this object. In this section, you should be sure to explain the reading(s) you are using—again, making the points clear to someone who may not be familiar with the ideas—and then show the ways that your reading(s) can be used to illuminate or interpret the object under study. Essentially, you’re asking: what would this author say about this object?
Your statement on the issue, informed by the readings, but not bound by them. This can and should include original observations and analysis, where you describe the elements of your issue or event. What qualities or traits do you see here, and what do you make of them? This might include textual description, but you might also provide images, sounds, etc. Where do you stand on the issue, given what the reading says? You have some space to carve out an interpretation that is different from that that might be suggested by the readings; however, an interpretation that appears to reject our material out of hand for no reason is not likely to show an adequate understanding of our material.
If doing a paper, I’d expect it to be about 1000-1200 words or so (3-4 pages). If doing a project, where word counts don’t make as much sense, I’ll be more lenient, but every project must include the three elements above, in as thorough a form as possible.
