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1 . Task:
Product: A 6-10 page cultural analysis that uses a cultural artifact as a lens with which to view the culture that produced it and/or uses it. You can choose to use any cultural artifact you want, however, it must be an artifact that you have a personal connection to.
Sections: Your paper will be written in sections. Details on the contents of each section will be given in due time. The sections are:
Please consider:
Your topic choice is crucial to your success. You should choose something you want to know about instead of something you think you're supposed to know about.
Be prepared to work hard and stretch your brains - giving life to a product like this is a great joy and a great hardship. You must be obsessed.
You cannot complete this process a few days before it is due. Lenient deadlines are in place to guide you to victory - stay on target!
The points you receive on the final copy, along with all of the mini-assignments associated with the process, constitutes a major percentage of the points left in the semester. Regardless of how you perform in other areas, failure on this project will result in failure in the class.
A. Introduction Section:
As suggested in your first handout, yo will write a personal introduction at the beginning of your paper and reflection that finishes your paper.
Your introduction must do 4 things:
- Introduce the topic as well as the scope of the topic
- Define anything that a lay reader may not know
- Explain how you are personally connected with your artifact or how you came to choose it
- Gracefully begin your paper and seduce the reader
B. History Section:
One of the main sections of your research paper is a report about the history of your cultural artifact. This is simply what it sounds like- an explanation of where your artifact comes from. Think of the following questions as prompts to what you can write about:
- When did your artifact or predecessors to your artifact first come on the scene?
- Where was it first developed?
- What are important historical moments in the culture that produced your artifact that are related to your artifact?
- what is the history of the person/people that produced this artifact?
- How has the artifact changed or evolved over time?
- How has the culture that produced or used this artifact changed over time because of the artifact's influence?
Think of this section of the paper as the one where you present the facts that you support with your research.
Because you are presenting information that comes from your research, you must reference your source each fact that you express that is not common knowledge or that does not come from your interpretation. Anytime you do not cite the sources of your information, you are committing plagiarism.
C. Cultural Analysis Section:
The most important section of your research project is the cultural analysis section where you express your opinion about the meaning of your cultural artifact.
As with the cultural analyses you have read this semester, this kind of analysis takes deep thought and careful explanation and rhetoric if you are to be believed. Your opinion may be shaped by the opinions of others who have studied the topic, it may be a synthesis of others' ideas, or even the opposite of others' opinions. However it is that you arrive at your opinion, you must cite the sources that have lead you there or that support your arguments. The more evidence yo have for your arguments, the better.
Consider having 1-3 major points about the meaning of the artifact and explaining them in detail (instead of even more smaller points).
Hints:
Using some of the modes of analysis discussed in class, begin to come up with your own opinions about what your artifact might mean to the culture at large by thinking of answers to the following questions:
What are the possible intentions of the people/person that made this or who embody this artifact? What effect do they/he-she hope it will have on the people who consume it, use or interact with it?
- How is your artifact linked to the rest of society?
- What is your opinion of its importance or meaning to the rest of society?
- What forces in our culture make it likely for people to consume, use or interact with this artifact?
- Are issues of class, race/ethnicity, gender, or age important to your artifact or its consumption? If so, explain how?
- How does this artifact shape the people who consume, use, or interact with it?
- Make a guess: In ten or twenty years, will your artifact by widely consumed? Why or why not?
You will learn correct citation style in class.
4. Reflection Section
In the reflection section you write a 1 - 2 page explanation of the whole process of writing this paper - from the moment you chose it, through the research process and drafting.
Explain the process you went through by highlighting the successes and things you wish went better.
Please express what you felt you learned through all of this. Be honest and thoughtful.
5. Works Cited Page: A standard works cited page devoted to the sources you cite in your paper.
6. Annotated Works Consulted Page: An annotated "bibliography" of all the sources you consulted in order to learn about your topic.
2. Information Seeking
Walter Johnson’s Learning Research Hub provides access to a catalog of all books and materials located in the Media Center, and to a wide variety of general and subject-based online reference materials.
The links below provide useful research tools for this project.
General Resources
3. Location Access
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4. Use of Information
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
You must reference your source each fact that you express.
You must cite the sources that have lead you there or that support your arguments.
Finished assignment fulfills task.
- Evaluate using MCPS English Rubric for Gaining Insights
- Information found matches information needed?
- How well did my paper turn out?
- Did I revise with a critical eye?
- Sources are credited.
- Was I happy with my process of finding and using information?
- Work is complete and includes name and date.
- Work is handed in on time.
- How would I do a similar project in the future?
