Introduction to the Comparative Study of Human Societies Writing assignment #3: Short Essay on Ethnography 800-1250 words The first two writing assignments in this course have asked you to practice two key methods in cultural anthropology: observation and fieldnotes; and interviewing

Subject:SociologyPrice:15.89 Bought3

Share With

Introduction to the Comparative Study of Human Societies Writing assignment #3: Short Essay on Ethnography 800-1250 words The first two writing assignments in this course have asked you to practice two key methods in cultural anthropology: observation and fieldnotes; and interviewing. In each case you looked at how the information you gathered (the “data”) showed you some incipient patterns that might not have been immediately visible. Of course, since you only gathered a small amount of data over a short period of time, these were not fully developed. In the books you have read in the course, the anthropologists used these methods over years, generating hundreds of pages of fieldwork and dozens of interviews. In this assignment, you will read an ethnography closely and write an essay about how the author used some aspect or element of their data to build their argument. Your essay will focus on the use of ethnographic information in one of the three books that we have read during the semester: Waterlily; Consuming Grief (though we didn’t read all of this, you may still choose to write about it for this paper, in which case you should read the rest of it); The Torture Letters. In each case, find some aspect of the data – a particular event, object, theme, metaphor, role or type of practice that the anthropologist uses to make the argument she or he hopes to make. Your paper should demonstrate how the information that the anthropologist obtained through long term on-the-ground engagement with their interlocutors helped to build a fuller understanding of the topic she or he has chosen. Examples (from articles we read) – the underlining indicates the aspect or element of the data that would be examined in the paper: How does Elizabeth Dunn show the power of workers in the Gerber factory in Poland through their specific work practices? In what way do the Naciremans use space in their body ritual (enclosed spaces, closed doors, spaces set aside for healing, etc.) and what does it tell us about their ideas of the body? What meanings does “blackness” hold for participants in Black Twitter, as discussed by Krystal Smalls – as a color, as a graphic element, as a space for organizing, as an identity, as a speech practice? How was the stance described in Janet McIntosh’s essay “Crybabies and Snowflakes” demonstrated in the election of Donald Trump and responses to it? Grading Rubric: Clear identification and thorough description of the scope, topic and argument (or aims of the story, in the case of Waterlily) of the book as a whole: 20 points Discussion of the aspect or element of the data on which you hope to focus, with detailed examples from the text: 20 points. Demonstration of how the analysis of this aspect or element helps to make the argument the author wishes to make: 20 points Structure and organization of the essay – introduction, conclusion, flow, transitions between points, etc.: 20 points Writing at the level of sentence and paragraph: perfect grammar and spelling, strong language, avoidance of excess jargon or verbiage, direct, interesting verbs, paragraphs with focused themes, etc. 20 points. 1