THE PROJECT
All around us are objects. Some we use daily, and don’t necessarily assign a deep value. Others we set
aside and cherish as having a deeper meaning. With all objects, we assume a sort of given relationship or
story. For this research project, you will select an object, develop questions around that object, and
ultimately work to find a better understanding of your culture and the influence of culture in our lives.
As we continue with our journey, we turn our attention to the cultural artifacts that inform our learning and
story. In this essay, you are going to find a cultural artifact that has been integral to the journey introduced in
assignment #1, and focus your analysis and reflection on it. This assignment should be 5 – 6 pages, double
spaced.
As with most journeys (and other phenomena) in life, their value lies in their cultural context. The point of this
essay is to place your experience (as a person and writer) within the larger human and cultural experience, all
without sacrificing the validity of your distinctly individual story.
Unlike other research tasks in which you begin by taking a position and arguing to prove a thesis, this
task begins with the established assumption and inquiry (questions) to understand those assumptions.
Asking good questions is a primary part of this assignment as well as an important part of any
research process
.
As you continue with your story, you will next turn your attention to the cultural artifacts that inform your
learning and your story. In this essay, you are going to find a cultural artifact that has been integral to the
journey and focus your analysis and reflection on it.
Your paper should explore several aspects of the cultural artifact, and address the following questions:
●
What is the culture that this artifact represents?
●
Who finds value in this artifact? How else is it used? What else does it stand for?
●
Are you a part of the culture which this artifact represents? In what ways?
●
In what ways are you not a member of the culture the artifact represents? What limitations do you face
in its ownership?
●
How did you encounter the artifact? What has been your experience with it, and how has it brought you
closer to the culture it represents?
LEARNING GOALS
1)
to invite you to inquire into cultural assumptions, values, and practices by choosing an object as the
source of inquiry.
2) to give you practice in processes of inquiry: forming and asking questions, revising questions, and
seeking answers.
RHETORICAL PURPOSE
To demonstrate the uses of an everyday item for revealing a larger pattern of cultural assumptions,
values or practices.
This assignment may make one of two rhetorical approaches. You may decide that you want to take a
stance as a cultural insider and explain your cultural community so that you can correct any “outsider”
misunderstandings about your cultural group. Another approach would be to describe your cultural
group and the relevance/ importance of your chosen artifact within the culture. In other words, you
would be writing about how your chosen artifact represents the entire culture or some important aspect
of your culture. Your reader should come away from your essay having learned a new way to look at a
taken-for-granted object and its accompanying story.
For our purposes, you can think of culture as
1.
An group of people (community, family, profession, school, language group, interest group) and
2.
The values and practices that unite them and separate them from other groups.
Regardless of the artifact you choose, it will, to varying degrees, participate in cultural practices, interests
or values. The artifact and its cultural context will serve as a lens through which you view, analyze, and
understand the influence of culture in your lives and others’ lives.
NOTES
This project works best when you select an object that has broader meanings or uses for people. Be
careful of selecting objects that strictly have meaning for you and your family unless they also speak to
something more broadly. For example, selecting a locket your grandmother gave you will only work if
you are exploring how lockets are symbolized and what they represent. The deeper meaning or hidden
story cannot simply be that your grandma gave it you unless you talk about the ideas of inheritance and
passed down artifacts in a way that is relevant to other readers. Please do not choose a cell phone or
textual document.
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