Anthropology Term Paper

ANTH1100 Semester Paper: Garbology and Rites of Passage

I need you to write me a short research paper. The paper must be in the form of an essay, on one of the two topics presented in this rubric. The essay must be at least 600 words long, double spaced and in a conservative font such as Courier or Times New Roman. As a research paper, you will be pulling the material for the essay from at least two sources (text & lecture) so you should provide in-text citations and a bibliography. The paper is to be uploaded to me, through the appropriate upload window on the class Moodle page. If you complete the paper at least one week prior to the deadline, you may upload the paper for me to review. I will edit the paper and provide suggestions for improvement. Once I return the paper, you will be able to address the issues I find and hopefully get a better grade.

The paper must be written on one of two topics, listed below. The topics are Rites of Passage and Garbology

General Grading Rubric:

1. Is the easy at least 600 words long? If it is not, I will not award any points for the assignment and there will be no chance to make-up the assignment.

2. Are all sources used for the paper properly cited in the text? Is there a bibliography listing the sources used for the assignment? If either or both are missing, I will not award any points for the assignment and there will be no chance to make-up the assignment. In fact, any plagiarism will result in no points awarded. Make sure you do not commit plagiarism! If you need help with in text citations (or any other formatting for that matter), the writing center in Rendezvous is a great resource.

3. The paper is presented as a well-crafted essay. All the necessary paragraphs are present and the paper is free of spelling and grammatical errors. This portion of the assignment is worth a total of 40 of the 100 points. Again, if you need help constructing your essay, the writing center it Rendezvous is an excellent resource.

4. Each of the topic instructions will include a rubric concerning the remaining 60 points of the assignment (see next page).

Topic choice #1: Rites of Passage

Before you begin this assignment, it will be necessary to have read the section of the textbook that covers Rites of Passage (page 446 in the 9th edition). You will also need to do some extra research on Rites of Passage. I would suggest searching for Arnold van Gennep. He did the foundational research on Rites of Passage. I will post a video that briefly covers his work on rites of passage on the Moodle page. Then, go to the library or go online and find a specific rite of passage and write an essay about it for me. Choosing a ritual can be difficult. If you are having trouble, you may contact me through email or through the discussion forum on the class Moodle page for assistance.

By the end of the essay, I should be convinced that you have a solid grasp of the parts and functions of a rite of passage. I should also have enough detail from you about the specific ritual you have chosen to be convinced that you know your ritual, and that it is indeed a rite of passage. Complete the assignment by following the steps below:

1) Make sure you are familiar with the details of a Rite of Passage as they are presented in the textbook. Pay special attention to the details of each of the three phases of a Rite of Passage.

2) Choose a specific ritual to write about. You should find ample material in the university library or online. Do not use the rites of passage from your textbook, or if you do make sure that you have gathered a great deal of extra material from other sources. I will be the most critical of those specific rites. Make sure that it is a rite of passage. Does it contain the three phases of a rite of passage? Do you know enough about the ritual to write a detailed essay? Make sure you can look at the ritual objectively. It is important to look at the ritual as a functional piece of a culture.

3) Write an essay of at least 600 words describing the ritual you have chosen, making sure to clearly illustrate how it fits the criteria for a Rite of Passage. I would suggest you organize your essay as follows as it will make grading the assignment (an awarding you all possible points) easier for me and my TA.

Introduction paragraph: Tell me what you are going to tell me. Introduce the concept of a write of Passage and let me know what ritual you will be describing.

Basics of an ROP: Describe the three phases of the basic Rite of Passage. Regardless of the specific RoP, each of the three phases has a universal function. Tell me about it.

Separation Phase: Describe, in detail the portion of your chosen ritual that serves as the separation phase of the ritual. Then describe how this portion of your ritual fits the criteria for the separation phase.

Transition Phase: Describe, in detail, the portion of your ritual that serves as a transition phase. Then, as before, describe how the portion of your ritual fits the criteria for the transition phase.

Introduction Phase: I think you should understand what to do by this phase.

Conclusion: Briefly summarize what you have told me.

Specific Grading Rubric (Rites of Passage):

1. The student clearly describes each of the three phases of a basic Rite of Passage, including the name and function of each of the three phases? This portion of the assignment is worth a total of 30 points.

2. The student describes their chosen ritual clearly, and in enough detail, to prove that the ritual is a Rite of Passage and to show how each of the parts of the ritual correspond to the three phases of a Rite of Passage. This portion of the assignment is worth 30 points.

Topic choice #2: Garbology

The things left behind or thrown away can hold more information about the people doing the discarding then their cities and monuments. While archaeologists of the early 20th century sought the tombs of kings, modern archaeologists place a greater focus on the homes and middens (‘trash’ pits) of the most common socioeconomic classes. The trash of the common member of the culture is far more instructive than the tombs or houses of the economic elite.

For this assignment I want you to record everything your throw away for one week. If you live in the dorms gather data on your roommate’s garbage as well. If you are part of a household or live off campus record what is thrown away at your residence. It is not necessary to take out your trash and go through it, but if you eyeball it and discuss with other people in your residence what they have discarded you should be able to obtain the needed information. Then, tell me about it in an essay.

The interpretation is the tricky part and I often advise students to imagine the garbage belonging to someone else, perhaps a neighbor. Then ask yourself some questions about the garbage and what it tells you.

What does the refuse tell you about the household?

Can you gauge the socioeconomic class of the household?

Can you tell how many individuals were part of the household or if the refuse was even from a single household?

What is the political or economic system of the culture?

Who were the people who discarded the trash? How can you tell this from the trash?

How many people were there?

What were they doing? i.e. Did they shop online? Did they have a party? Do they eat out a lot? Think about how what you are throwing away changes based on your changes in activity.

What time of year was it? How can you tell?

How old were they?

What gender were they? How do you know?

How many inferences are based on cultural assumptions that could be incorrect? (For example, does pink always = female?) Ë What might be missing from the trash, and why?

While you don’t have to answer every question, I do expect you to put careful thought into your analysis. I will be expecting you to be able to describe how the items of refuse provides the information you present as well as painting an image of the culture that created the refuse.

Please include your list of things that were thrown away; though it does not count toward the minimum length requirement, it is necessary for me in order to grade your assignment.

Specific Grading Rubric (Garbology):

1. The analysis in both the biggest source of points (50), and the most difficult part of the assignment. Try to answer the as many of the questions I provided as you can. Try to think about the garbage objectively. What can you say and defend with specific items of refuse? I am happy to answer specific questions through email or the discussion forum on the class Moodle page.

2. You must also provide a list of the refuse items, as an addendum to the document (at the end, after the bibliography). The list is worth 10 points.