Anthropology 1120 Assignment #2: Applying an Anthropological Perspective to Media Narratives Value: 10% of final grade DUE DATE: Section A: MONDAY November 27 in your tutorial Section B: WEDNESDAY November 22 in your tutorial You must also upload your assignment to Turnitin via the course Moodle website by the beginning of the lecture on the due date. How does it work? In Module 2 of this course, we have begun to examine worldviews and how anthropologists argue that nation-states and nationalism are one form of ‘imagined community’ (Anderson 2006) in which human groups organize, relate to each other and construct identities about themselves and others. In this exercise you will apply anthropological insights on nation-states and nationalism to one media narrative (see list below). For this exercise you must write a 3-4 page essay analyzing one media narrative listed below and its relationship to nationalism from an anthropological perspective. Your goal as an anthropologist is to ascertain what values and beliefs about Canadian or American national culture and/or identity are being communicated in these media narratives and how. Drawing on newspaper stories, your essay must discuss the messages American or Canadian media convey about 1) what American/Canadian national culture and/or identity looks like or should look like and 2) how it is conveyed (through what words, phrases or sentences) and 3) who is included/excluded in these narratives. Choose ONE of the following media narratives: 1) “As Rulings Are Announced, Cheers and Tears Among Waiting Crowd” (New York Times coverage of Supreme Court Ruling on Defense of Marriage Act, June 26, 2013) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/us/politics/supreme-court-scene-gaymarriage.html?ref=politics 2) “To be Indian in Canada today …” (editorial by Richard Wagamese in The Globe and Mail, January 14, 2013) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/to-be-indian-in-canadatoday/article7261247/ 3) “Canada Day dreaming: Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and a Canadian basketball dream team” (editorial in the Globe and Mail, June 30, 2013) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/editorials/canada-day-dreaming-anthony-bennettandrew-wiggins-and-a-canadian-basketball-dream-team/article12890228/?from=12915200 4. “Canada's immigration system lacks heart, critics say” (by Debra Black in The Toronto Star, June 28, 2013) http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2013/06/28/canadas_immigration_system_lacks_hear t_critics_say.html 5. “150th anniversary lays bare anger of indigenous Canadians not invited to first party” (by Jim Coyle in The Toronto Star, April 1, 2017 https://www.thestar.com/news/canada-150/2017/04/01/150th-anniversary-lays-bare-anger-ofindigenous-canadians-not-invited-to-first-party.html 1 6. “What 4 types of American nationalism can tell us about Trump voters” (by Bart Bonikowski and Paul DiMaggio, Washington Post, February 6, 2017) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/02/06/true-or-false-realamericans-are-christian-speak-english-and-were-born-in-the-u-s/?utm_term=.86600d706afe When are they due? • See above. LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE PENALIZED. READ THE “ASSIGNMENTS: GENERAL INFORMATION” DOCUMENT ON THE COURSE WEBSITE FOR A MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION ABOUT LATE PENALTIES. What should you learn from this assignment? • The point of the exercise is to give you practice in applying anthropological concepts discussed in lectures and readings to ‘real world’ issues and debates found in everyday contexts such as popular media. • This exercise will also help you develop skills in finding and evaluating specific information in research data for a specific purpose • The mark assigned to this exercise reflects your ability to connect content from the newspaper article to anthropological concepts and arguments about nation-states and nationalism discussed in lectures and readings. The mark also takes into account your ability to get to the point quickly How to complete the assignment Your essay should follow proper essay format (including an introductory and concluding paragraph) and address the following topics/questions: 1) A brief summary of the media article: What is the main issue or topic being discussed (10-15% of overall content) 2) What are the words, phrases or sentences used in the article that connect it to questions of nationalism, national culture and/or national identity (10-15% of overall content)? 3) Taking these words, phrases or sentences together, what overall message or messages are being conveyed about Canadian or American national identity and culture in these news articles? What messages are being conveyed about Canada or the USA as nation-states? To paraphrase Geertz (whom we read in Module 1), what kind(s) of story or stories are Americans or Canadians telling themselves about themselves and others in this news article (25-30% of overall content)? 4) How do these messages relate what we have read about nationalism and the nation-state in lectures and readings (It is highly recommended that you complete the required readings for the weeks 10 and 11 in order to answer this question)(30-40% of overall content). Formatting Instructions 2 • Required Information on the first page: Your full name, student number, course code (ANTH 1120 A, B or C), Name of your Tutorial Assistant, Time and Day of your tutorial. You should NOT produce a separate title page and can put all of this information at the top of the first page of text. • Technical Details: 12-point font, Times or Arial preferred, 2.5cm or 1inch margins all round, double-spaced, with page numbers, and clear paragraphing. . • Citations: See Chicago Manual of Style (Author-Date system) Guidelines in the “Assignments: General Information” document on the course website for how to cite specific ideas and phrases from the course resources you consult • Title and References are required for this assignment Tips on what to do and what not to do 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Do not spend the majority of the essay summarizing the article Do not spend the majority of the essay reproducing every word and phrase that refers to a nation or nationalism. Your job is to highlight what you think are the key words and phrases and to summarize the dominant or primary message(s) that are conveyed You are not being asked to provide your opinion on whether or not this is an ‘accurate’ depiction of Canada or the USA or Canadian/American culture and identity. Your job is to explain how a particular world-view is being produced, and what it is saying about that group of people. You may quote or briefly summarize points from required readings in order to illustrate your point. Extensive quotations or analyses from outside sources are not required. Be sure that you do your own work. Please do not copy your work from another student or reading. Work that is obviously copied from another source will be given a zero because that is plagiarism. See the “Assignments: General Information” document for further details on plagiarism. References Anderson, Benedict. 2006. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. 3
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