writing an essay
Jimmy Deng
anthro150ESSAY1.docx
Anthropology 150
Essay 1: Brainstorming
Good intellectual inquiries begin by finding “a place to stand” in the text or in the question at hand. This is not to say that the writing is about “your” feelings or “your” opinions only.
The goal is to CRAFT in your writing a “voice” that:
a) feels true to who you are and what you know;
b) demonstrates humility before what you don’t know (other people’s voices and feelings, for example); and
c) does justice to the complexity of the question before us.
The questions below are meant to help you identify your critical stance as we get started.
1. Cultural identity may be described as a “situated sense of self” shaped by shared experiences. Avowed identities are those that we subjectively adopt for the purpose of social identification (through “markers” such as gender, race, ethnicity, occupation, social class, geography, interests, hobbies, etc.). Identify 3 social memberships that describe you; identities that you feel comfortable enacting, or where you feel as an “insider.”
· I am …
· I am …
· I am …
2. Ascribed identities are attributed or assigned to us by others who seek to label an individual as a member of a given group. Recall an incident or time when someone made a hurtful or upsetting assumption about a cultural identity you embody (perhaps when they expected you to behave based on a cultural stereotype):
· I recall …
3. Anthropologists describe Culture as the practice of producing and exchanging “meaning.” What a person knows inside their culture is also how they interpret the world. Describe two “things you know for sure” (core values, beliefs, guiding principles, life lessons) that you learned from the experience of being a member of the social/cultural group you most identify with:
· I know for sure that…
· I know for sure that…
4. Since people and cultures are never monolithic or static, there are aspects of our cultural memberships that sometimes makes us uncomfortable or lead us to question the social “truths” we were taught. This doesn’t mean we reject our cultural sense of belonging. Describe one aspect of your own cultural identity that has given you pause, raised “prickly” feelings, or led you to question certain expectations of your own social group.
· One thing of my culture that I have always ………
5. Dr. Alvarez has discussed in class the phenomenon of Cultural Appropriation as a “paradox” ---caught between certainty/fuzziness, innocence/harm, offense/respect, trust/obligations. Complete the sentences below:
· One thing about Cultural Appropriation that surprises me is…..
· One thing about Cultural Appropriation that disturbs me is…..
· One thing about Cultural Appropriation that intrigues me is…..
