Discussion Question #4: Culture as Comic
Marjane Satrapi, The Veil
Post your ideas about this page from Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis. Try to let the following questions guide your response: How does Satrapi represent the culture of the Islamic Republic? What is her position in relation to that culture (An insider? An outsider? Both?)? You may want to consider the role her gender plays in the comic. How do the written text and graphic image work in tandem to deliver Satrapi’s message? Feel free to draw upon your reaction to ‘The Socks’ (Writer’s Presence 259-73), or respond to an idea presented in one of the earlier posts.
Due Mon Feb 2 2009 by 7 AM
Discussion Question # 3: Notes on Camp
This American Life Episode 109. Notes on Camp
As you listen to the podcast, keep the following questions/prompts in mind. Once you’ve listened to the full hour, respond to them briefly in writing.
1. List five things that you learned about camp culture and explain how you learned them (e.g., a interviewee’s response to a question, commentary provided by the narrator/interviewer, information that was implied bu not directly stated, etc.).
2. Choose one of the six segments and describe the commentator’s tone. Is it humorous, detached, inquistive, sarcastic, unsettled, informative – something else? Be able to defend your answer with specific examples from the section you’ve chosen.
3. Find one example of an open question that led to a full answer and a series of follow-up questions. Write down the original question, a brief summary of the response, and the follow-up question(s).
4. Write down at least one thing you learned from the format and style of the podcast that you anticipate using in your first essay.
DUE: Mon January 26 by 7 AM
Discussion Question #2: Laying the Groundwork
This post is designed to help you lay the foundations for Essay 1. Submit a post that describes the following:
- The topic you think you will write about for Essay 1; if you are still deciding b/t topics, describe your options briefly
- What your angle will be
- What your next steps will be in pursuing the topic
- Your questions about the assignment or the topic
Over the weekend, complete at least one of the following tasks, after having chosen a topic:
- Visit your site, and take notes based on your observations. If you are trying to decide between places, you might visit each of them and decide which one seems the most promising as a topic.
- Contact the person or people you hope to interview. Find out if they are willing to be interviewed and decide on a time and place to meet. Prepare a list of questions to ask.
- Complete research on-line or in the library to refine your topic, find an angle, or prepare for your interview (this kind of secondary research is optional for this assignment).
The purpose of these activities is determine how feasible and promising your chosen topic is. If you cannot find someone to interview, or you cannot gain access to a place you’ve selected, you may need to find a different angle or topic altogether.
Due: Fri January 23 by 7 AM
Essay 1: Descriptive Feature
Description: When you consider the world around you—particularly what is local, ordinary, close-at-hand—it is important to try to make sense of what you see. Beyond learning from texts, you can learn through observation and in communication with others. This kind of interaction facilitates learning and allows you to appreciate the significance of the local cultures that lend your immediate environment depth and dimensionality. For this 4-5 page assignment, you can choose from one of two related options:
- Researching a Local Culture: For this option, you will investigate, describe, and analyze a local culture or community of your choosing. As a working definition, we will define culture as ‘an invisible web of behaviors, patterns, rules, and rituals of a group of people who have contact with one another and share common languages’ (Sustein and Chiseri-Strater, FieldWorking 3). Cultures can be defined by geography (New Yorkers, Revere residents, Riverway freshmen), ethnic identity (Southern Baptist, Irish, Hatian), shared rituals or behaviours (fraternities, Girl Scouts, computer hackers, patrons of a coffee shop), or economic status (kitchen dishwashers, country club members, Whole Foods shoppers). You should select a culture with which you have some experience or in which you have an interest. Members of a local culture share or congregate in common spaces or meeting place; you will be entering such a space to complete your fieldwork.
- Researching a Local Place: For this option, you will venture off campus to observe, spend time with, and talk to people to get a sense of a local place. Given that many places in Boston are well known (e.g., Fenway Park, Quincy Market), you should try to find a unique approach or ‘angle’ to make such a familiar place interesting and new. Possible approaches include:
o Finding a new angle on a well-known place: For example, if you’re interested in the MFA, interview the gallery guards to discover what their perspectives are on the museum and its patrons.
o Finding an unusual or ordinary place in Boston that most people wouldn’t know about or might overlook; introduce the reader to this place.
o Transplant your interests: For example, if you were an insider to the Ultimate Frisbee culture of CA, find out what the Frisbee scene is like in Boston. If bird-watching is one of your hobbies, discover where the best spots are in Boston and interview the people you find there.
For both options: You will explore your chosen culture through primary research – at least one interview, reviews of relevant texts, and personal observation. You will interview one or more ‘expert’ informants, experienced members of the local culture. You will also examine any relevant documents (e.g., a newsletter of a scouting group or an academic article in your field) and spend some time observing the space that the local culture inhabits (e.g., a cafeteria or an advanced class in which a particular topic is discussed). You need not but may use library or web sources.
Purpose
The purpose of this primary research is to write an essay that is modeled after a feature article like those found in Time or Newsweek. Your objective is to write an informative piece that incorporates quotations from your informants and gives a sense of the rules, categories, behaviours, rituals, and distinguishing characteristics of the place or culture you are investigating.
Audience
The form of a feature article means it should be conversational, somewhat informal, and engaging. First-person may be used if you feel it is effective; but given that this is intended for a public source with a wide readership, the writing should be careful, concise, and well-edited. You should include a Works Cited page and should consult The Little, Brown Handbook or ask me if grammar questions arise.
Requirements
- Four to five full pages
- Typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman size 12 font
- Standard margins
- Page numbers
- A title
- Works Cited page
- Spell-checked and proofed for errors
First Draft Due: Friday, January 30 by noon
Revision Due: Monday, February 9 in class
