CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY-FALL 2020
TERM PAPER
In addition to the class readings, students will be responsible for reading an additional ethnography outside of class. Students will choose one of the following ethnographies:
Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network by Ruth Gomberg-Munoz
In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio by Phillipe Bourgois
Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States by Seth Holmes
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in a Black Community by Carol Stack
For the purposes of this project, the edition does not matter.
Students will write the essay in stages.
Stage 1. Write a 2-3 page summary of the book. (Each of the following questions can be answered in 1-2 paragraphs for the body of your essay.)
Who is the author and why did he/she write the book?
What is the book about?
What are the main points the author is making?
What evidence does the author use to prove their points?
Stage 2. Write a 2-3 page analysis of economic systems in the ethnography. Apply what you have learned about economic systems from the textbook and class discussions to answer the following:
What part of the economic system is described in the ethnography?
How powerful is the role of the economic system in the ethnography?
How does the economic system affect the people in the ethnography?
What changes in the economic system does the author think are needed?
Stage 3. Write a 2-3 page analysis of race and/or ethnicity in the ethnography. Apply what you have learned about race/ethnicity from the textbook and class discussions to answer the following:
What racial/ethnic system does the ethnography portray?
What racial and ethnic stereotypes are shown in the ethnography?
How do ideas about race/ethnicity affect the people in the ethnography?
What is the relationship between race and class in the ethnography?
Stage 4. Each of the three stages you have written are sections of your final paper. Join them together and edit to make them flow from one to the other. Take out any repetitive sentences. Write a conclusion to sum up the book, and then write an introduction to your paper.
Grading. Each stage will receive a separate grade, making up 25% of overall essay grade. For the first three stages, you can revise and resubmit multiple times.
Grading rubric:
A= Well-organized essay that addresses all aspects of the task. Includes an introduction and conclusion. Demonstrates understanding of relevant anthropological concepts as well as main arguments of the ethnography.
B= Addresses most aspects of the task. Includes an introduction and conclusion and is organized into paragraphs. Demonstrates some understanding of relevant anthropological concepts as well as main arguments of the ethnography.
C= Addresses at least one aspect of the task. May be somewhat disorganized and missing introduction or conclusion. Limited understanding of anthropological concepts and main ideas of ethnography.
D= Lacks organization and coherence. Shows little understanding of anthropological concepts or main ideas of ethnography.