Assignments are due every Thursday. Unless you can impress me with a good explanation, an assignment that is turned in late will be treated as the assignment for the following week. That is, you will have missed a week. You are allowed to miss two weeks’ assignments in the course of the semester and still receive credit for the class.
As assignment options proliferate, you can do any assignment you like from a previous week, as long as you haven’t done it already.
The thing to remember is to complete an assignment for every week. If you’ve received permission to turn in one week’s assignment late, it still only counts for that past week. You’ll need to turn in a different assignment for the current week.
Spring Semester
Assignment 1: Due January 12
Read “Ocean Power,” by the anthropologist Ruth Underhill. It is a chapter from her book Singing for Power. You can find it here.
After reading it once, go back and write a summary of it. What is she describing? Who are the participants? What is special about what they are doing? How and why are they doing it? (These questions are just suggestions. You may find more or different things you think are important in the reading.)
I’m not looking for your reaction to the reading — this is an exercise in careful reading and careful writing.
Finished product — about a paragraph, but well written and proofread.
Assignment 2: Due January 19
This assignment has several parts. I’m asking you to (1) carefully read all the quoted material (2) look at some photographs on-line (3) study and think about the printed out picture (4) do some coloring and (5) answer a question at the end.
Here is a line drawing based on the carved tomb lid of Pacal the Great, a Mayan king who ruled Palenque from 615 (when he was twelve) until 683. Print it out as close to filling an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper as possible — at least. Or you can wait until Tuesday when I’ll have copies at school.
Here is the tomb lid in situ: http://www.delange.org/PalenqueTomb/PalenqueTomb.htm This webpage is from Eve & George DeLange’s travel diary, whoever they are.
Read the first three descriptions of what’s going on in this picture, according to archeologists.
Study the picture and make as much sense of it as you can. Use your own wits, use the three passages, and if you like use any additional research you want to do. Then color the picture in a way that will help clarify what you see in it. For example, if you think something is a tree, you could color its leaves green and its trunk brown. You don’t have to color everything. In fact, it will probably be easier to understand the picture if parts are left out. This should be a fun assignment that you will enjoy doing carefully. You may prefer coloring an 11 x 17 xerox.
I’m not asking you to come to any conclusions about the correct interpretation, but it is worthwhile to remind ourselves that we don’t have to accept an explanation simply because it has been given by a teacher or a scientist. Nor should we reject an explanation just because it has come from a teacher or a scientist. Here’s what I do want you to write:
If you did want to reach a conclusion about which interpretation is correct (that is, I, II, and II on one side and IV and V on the other), what are some things you would want to know more about ? What other evidence would you look for ? What what questions would you ask ? Another way to look at this, if you wanted to argue that one interpretation or the other was correct, what extra information would you like to have to support your argument?
Assignment 3: Due February 2
I invite you to branch out! Explore a topic that that intrigues you, read a relevant book, do something that you can then share with the class. Or — Choose one of the following.
1. The musical instrument challenge. Using simple materials you can easily find around you, make a musical instrument that will play at least five notes. Bring it to class and play us a tune.
For this assignment, I am not limiting you to naturally occurring materials (like, say, agave or gourds), so you can use the detritus of modern civilization if you choose. Note – all your materials must be simple (no bringing in a “found” harmonica).
2. Using these images of Mayan gods, create a story book, comic book, or series of gag strips. What I mean is, print them out, cut them out, xerox them if you need multiple copies, and glue them in place in your book. Color them. Add speech balloons or captions. You can make up your own story or you can do a little research and find a Mayan story to tell. You could print out Mayan scenery for backgrounds! I will have copies of these images (faces both directions, so they can talk to each other) at school on Tuesday. If you want to refer back to the story of Xbalanque and Hunapuh that I read to you in class for inspiration, you can find a link to it under the Assignment 4 options.
3. Eat your gruel. As I’ve discussed in class, a mixture of coarsely ground grain and liquid — of various consistencies — shows up as a staple in many cultures. For example, Chona describes her mother’s wild seed porridge in “Autobiography of Chona, a Papago Woman”; the K!ung bickered over mealie meal in “N!ai: The Story of a K!ung Woman”; the ancient Mayans took lumps of fermented cornmeal into the fields for their mid-day meals; I read you a description of Tibetan tsampa in class.
For this assignment, do some research and find a detailed enough description or a recipe for a traditional mixture of this sort to make some for yourself. If you like, bring some in to share.
In addition to eating your gruel, write a short paper about it. What did you make? What region of the world, culture, historical period, etc. is it from ? Provide instructions on how to make it and a description of its taste. Where did you get your information? How can you be sure your information was reliable? What aspects of the preparation are not authentic?
Assignment 4: Due February 9
Choose one of the following, or one of the preceding assignments you haven’t already done. Note – now that Robert has argued that he can play found objects by hitting whatever is nearby, no one else can use this idea.
1. Read Jared Diamond’s theory about the collapse of Mayan civilization in his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Turn in a list of his theories as to why Mayan civilization collapsed. For each theory, list the facts he uses to support it.
You can find the entire book Collapse online here . The chapter about the Mayans goes from page 166 to 186. There will also be a copy of the book at school or you can find it in most libraries. In the book, the chapter about Mayans goes from page 157 to 177. Note – Don’t print the whole book out – especially if you are using the school printer! It is over 500 pages long. Print only pages 166 to 186 if you must.
This is fairly dense reading. You will be able to follow it better if you keep your mind on the written portion of this assignment as you read.
2. Read the unabridged story of Xbalanque and Hunapuh and the Lords of Xibalba. When I read it to you during class, I cut out some pretty good parts. This link takes you to Chapter One of Part Two of the Popul Vuh. Read the entire Part Two, which is 14 chapters long. Don’t get bogged down by confusing parts; don’t read the footnotes unless you want to. Turn in answers to the following questions: what happened to Hunbatz and Hunchouen? Why don’t we know what toads eat? What happened to the two brothers at the end?
3. Watch the movie Apocalypto. This is an R rated movie, so judge for yourself if you need to talk to your parents and get their ok ahead of time. We have a wide range of ages in the class and probably a wide range of family policies about movie watching. Read this article– Orcs in Loincloths– for the opinion of a Mayanist about the movie. Write a thoughtful, well-written paragraph about what, as an Anthropology student, you gained from watching the movie.
Assignment 5: due February 16
To begin to get an understanding of Hindu beliefs, please explain the following terms. You may be able to rely entirely on my February 14 lecture or you may need to do supplemental research. The purpose of this homework is to help you get familiar with these concepts; relying on a dictionary definition won’t do that by itself.
(Be aware that these words are often defined differently in different eras, religions, or sects, so for this purpose you are more interested in understanding their general meaning.)
Cutting and pasting is forbidden. You must use your own words.
Brahman
Samsara
Varna system
Caste system
Karma
Dharma
Assignments 6 and 7:
Write an analytic essay about a ritual that you either participate in with other people or with which you are otherwise familiar. Your outline is due Thursday, March 1. The final draft is due Thursday, March 8.
What do I mean by “ritual”? Wikipedia defines “ritual” as “a set of actions performed mainly for their symbolic value.” They follow a particular, repeated form, like the performance of a play.
Some common examples are religious rites or services, rites of passage like coming of age ceremonies or weddings, some holiday traditions (when they are formalized and symbolic). A team might have a pregame ritual (like the Maori soccer team’ haka), a family might have a premeal ritual like saying grace, many events begin with a pledge of allegiance. Bringing in a birthday cake; setting out stockings on Christmas eve, or a special meal (pancakes on Sunday? ice cream after a dentist appointment?) can also be examples of rituals.
Sometimes people talk about private rituals, like how you eat your oreos or arrange your stuffed animals – but for this assignment I want you to think about a social ritual — one that a group of people perform together because it has symbolic importance for the group.
What do I mean by “analytic essay”? An analysis takes something (it could be anything) and describes and evaluates it. It breaks it down into parts, describes the parts, describes the function of each part, and describes how the whole thing works when put together.
Your final essay should include:
a. An introduction, where you explain the topic of your essay (what ritual you are analyzing) and your thesis statement. A thesis statement presents your argument or the point you want to make in your essay. The rest of the paper explains your thesis and persuades the reader that you are right. For this paper think of the question, “Why do people perform this ritual?” Your answer to this question will be your thesis statement.
b. A description of the ritual. You may want to write two descriptions – what it looks like from the outside and looks or feels like to a participant).
c. An explanation of ritual. Depending on the ritual you have chosen, there might be several reasons for the ritual, some of which might be subjective (the reasons given by the people performing the rituals), and some might be objective (a reason or theory from the point of view of an objective outsider). Describe how the parts of the ritual are related to this purpose and how well it works.
[An example: stockings are hung on Christmas eve (1) to give Santa a place to put presents (2) to help little kids believe that Santa will come (3) to make parents think that kids think that Santa will come (4) to relive the magic of a former belief in Santa (5) to get kids to finally go to bed on Christmas eve (6) to ratchet up the excitement so they can't go to sleep once they do go to bed -- and there's probably plenty more.]
e. A concluding paragraph.
What do I mean by “outline”? By March 1, I’d like you to have chosen a ritual to analyze. Do some effective brainstorming –think about all the different aspects, purposes, and consequences of the ritual.
Come up with what you will be saying in each of the above sections. Write your thesis statement.
Hand it all in (except the brainstorming — but save that– it might be useful.)
What do I mean by final draft? There is a wide range of ages and abilities in this class. I’m not going to set a minimum page length, but I expect everyone to do a thorough job that involves real thought. Your final paper should be typed and proofread.
Week of March 19 – 23
Please complete the final polished final draft of your ritual paper so we can display it at Project Night on Wednesday. If you have other things you’d like to display — musical instruments, your forensic anthropology project, a diorama of a pantheon — please bring them to school for Wednesday too. We’ll do an in-class review on Thursday instead of a regular homework assignment.
Assignment 8: Due March 29
Body Adornment
Read “From Tattoo To Piercing: Body Art as Visual Language” by Enid Schildkrout and Adrienne L. Kaeppler, available in the Anthropology notebook or by clicking on the link below.
Talk to at least six people about tattoos. Talk to at least one male and one female in the following age groups: (1) young adults (this would include Jennifer and Vanessa); (2) old adults (me and older) and (3) adults in between those extremes.
Ask each one if he or she has ever gotten a tattoo.
If no, that completes your inquiry with respect to that person.
If yes, ask about why he or she got the tattoo. For example (if your interviewee need prompting), was it for adornment? because the design has some special significance? to mark a special occasion (a milestone, an achievement, to increase status)? The assigned reading may give you more ideas. He or she may have several reasons. Record all the reasons, but also ask which one was the most important.
If someone does not want to answer, politely find another person to interview.
Write and turn in:
1. The results of your interviews, neatly written.
2. A summary of your results (that is, see how your responses can be lumped. Is there a pattern based on age? on gender? on reasons?)
3. Some anthropological-type theorizing about what these results suggest. This is of course way too small a sampling to mean much, but pretend. (“Pretend” does not mean “be silly”.)
4. Relate your results to the description of tattooing in the Pacific islands. What motives or attitudes are shared? Be specific.
Assignment 9: Due April 17
1. According to many anthropologists, one of the most important purposes of a ritual is to strengthen the bond within a social unit. (What do I mean by social unit? Could be your family, a team, your country, a political party or political movement, your school or homeroom or graduating class, your church, your age group and so on).
Think of at least three groups of which you are a member. Explain what the group is and give an example of a ritual that strengthens the bond within that group. If you wrote about a personal ritual in your homework a couple of weeks ago, use that as one of your examples.
2. Strengthening the bond within one group can also weaken the bond a person might have with another group. For example, membership in an elite country club and participating in its rituals could weaken the bonds a person might otherwise feel with people who aren’t country club members. Another example — the segregated prom provided by parents of the white students in the documentary Prom Night in Mississippi might have weakened the bond the white students who attended it might have felt with any students who didn’t or couldn’t attend (at least I bet that was the parents’ intent). But also, didn’t the integrated prom provided by Morgan Freeman weaken the bond the kids might have felt towards the older, prejudiced members of their community?
Can you think of at least three examples of a ritual performed by a group which has the effect of weakening a bond with another group? Be sure to specify both the ritual and both groups affected by the ritual.
3. We live in a society (or at Kino in a microsociety) that puts a fairly high value on individual choice and personal freedom. At least, that’s my opinion. I put in the wiggle-room word “fairly” to give you the personal freedom to disagree with me.
Nevertheless, are there some things that you think are not negotiable ? That is, can you think of something that an individual can’t choose for him or herself to do or not to do? It doesn’t have to involve an illegal action. For example, I think people can’t decide that it’s okay to systematically (like over a long period of time) tease and harass someone who is littler or more helpless than they are. Some people believe everyone should say the pledge of allegiance.
Can you describe at least three things that you think are wrong and shouldn’t be allowed, regardless of the personal freedom of the actor to make his or her own decision?
About the those three things you listed. Can you imagine a culture in which they would be okay? If they were allowed in another country, would it be appropriate for an international organization to step in and say, “Cut it out.” ?
4. Choose five things you own that you think are expressive of who you are. Describe them and explain why you chose each one.
5. Spend some time looking at the on line collection of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. You can find it at http://collection-online.moa.ubc.ca/. The collection is overwhelmingly large. What I’d like you to do, in addition to just mooching around: Under Categories, click on Carvings and sculptures. See if you can find at least one artifact from each represented continent that strikes an emotional chord in you — that is, that you find beautiful or moving or appealing or amusing or scarey, etc. Print it out or describe it and explain why you chose it. Specify the best you can the emotion it evoked and theorize about why it evoked that emotion.
6. While you are at the Museum of Anthropology, look at the artifacts in the Music and Noisemakers section. Identify at least ten artifacts that look like something you could make — or make something similar. List them. Maybe they will give you ideas for The Greater Yawp.
Assignment 10 –
Make an excellent instrument for the Greater Yawp. Write a paragraph ruminating on some ethnomusicological aspect of the instrument you made.
Assignment 11
I have serious reservations about this article, but maybe I’m wrong. You tell me. Is he assuming that all teenagers are troubled teenagers, and that all teenagers’ brains are brains in turmoil? Is he making any valid points ? How about his conclusion in the last paragraph that teens are trapped in a frivolous world of peer culture instead of being with “the people they are about to become.” After reading this, maybe you can write me a nice couple of paragraphs. Explain how I’ve misread the article, or point out that he does say some interesting, worthwhile things, or show me some even more illogical and or offensive things he says. At any rate, write a couple of nice paragraphs telling me what you think.
Assignment 12
In anticipation of writing your end of the year class evaluation, this week I’d like you to write a thoughtful, well-organized essay about what you’ve learned in Anthropology this year. Factitos are fun, but I’m more interested in you reflecting on basic concepts, broad topics, and range of cultures, as well as any personal insights or revelations you’ve had in this class. This isn’t going to be your class evaluation; it should be a longer and more detailed description of what you learned than what you write in the evaluation. However, it should be a big help in writing your evaluation.
