LABOR REQUIREMENTS: 260-280 MINUTES. (~ 4 hours)
Deadline: September 26, 2017
Deadline: September 26, 2017
STEP 1: READ THE ASSIGNMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY...ALL OF IT...DOWN TO THE VERY LAST WORD (10 MIN.)
This is a two-part assignment. The first part will improve your research skills. It will help you learn how to use the resources at your disposal at one of the best institutions in the world (UC Berkeley). Learning how to find resources and use an advanced research system is a skill that will be valuable regardless of what career you end up in.
In the second part of the assignment, you will be improving your critical thinking skills by dealing with a personal essay and a complex, theoretical article. I’ve selected a few theoretical pieces for you to choose from. These pieces are interested in ideas of othering, power, race, and wandering— all of which are concepts that show up in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville and The Land of Darkness.
This is yet another informal writing assignment. It is crucial that you move through the steps as I’ve laid them out for you here. I know how much work can be done in the time I have allotted for each segment. I can also tell whether you have not spent the amount of time I’ve asked you to spend on a portion of the assignment. Remember, your default grade is based on completing the labor instructions of each assignment as I’ve assigned them. If you have trouble with any part of the assignment, it is your responsibility to email me and set up an appointment.
This is a two-part assignment. The first part will improve your research skills. It will help you learn how to use the resources at your disposal at one of the best institutions in the world (UC Berkeley). Learning how to find resources and use an advanced research system is a skill that will be valuable regardless of what career you end up in.
In the second part of the assignment, you will be improving your critical thinking skills by dealing with a personal essay and a complex, theoretical article. I’ve selected a few theoretical pieces for you to choose from. These pieces are interested in ideas of othering, power, race, and wandering— all of which are concepts that show up in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville and The Land of Darkness.
This is yet another informal writing assignment. It is crucial that you move through the steps as I’ve laid them out for you here. I know how much work can be done in the time I have allotted for each segment. I can also tell whether you have not spent the amount of time I’ve asked you to spend on a portion of the assignment. Remember, your default grade is based on completing the labor instructions of each assignment as I’ve assigned them. If you have trouble with any part of the assignment, it is your responsibility to email me and set up an appointment.
STEP 2: CHOOSE TWO SOURCES (40 MIN., 20 MIN. if you already chose your sources during library workshop)
- 20 MIN. Using the skills you’ve learned from the library workshop, please find two sources (journal articles or books) that you think may help you better answer your research question. Cite the sources using the Chicago Manual of Style:
- Journal Article:
- Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Journal Name Volume Number (Year Published): Page Numbers.
- Book Article:
- Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.
- Journal Article:
- 20 MIN. Then, write a paragraph, answering the following questions:
- How did you find these sources. Please be as specific as possible.
- Why do you think these articles or books will be useful to you?
- What are you hoping to learn from them?
- What question guided you to these sources?
STEP 3: READ, STUDY, WRITE ON PICO IYER'S ESSAY "WHY WE TRAVEL" 80 MIN.
- 30 MIN. Read Pico Iyer's essay twice:
- 20 MIN. Now, answer the following questions about the essay:
- What is Pico Iyer’s overall message in this essay?
- What do you learn from the introduction (opening paragraph) of his piece alone?
- How does he convey his overall message or prove his point?In other words, what is his methodology? Does he use specific examples, lived experiences? Does he draw on your experiences or ethos as a reader?
- 30 MIN. Write a 200-word free write on Pico Iyer's essay, reflecting on the following questions:
- How has reading this piece shaped, changed, or reframed the way you think about your close reading passage? Perhaps the piece inspired you to see new perspectives or think of different ideas or come up with a new question entirely. Perhaps it helped you realize something about the passage that you hadn't yet noticed. Put yourself, as an expert scholar on your passage, in conversation with Pico Iyer.
- If, and only if, you’re struggling with the free write, imagine the following scenario:
Scene: You and Pico Iyer at Cafe Strada at the corner of College Ave. and Bancroft Ave. in Berkeley, sitting at one of the small, two-person tables under an oak tree. Pico Iyer tells you why he travels, relating his essay in a monologue. He tells you about his experiences, his sense of wonder, and ability to lose himself, etc.
You respond with, “That’s fascinating Pico. I’m actually working on a travel narrative right now called [insert title]. Mandeville/Ibn Fadlan does/doesn’t seem to experience travel the way you do. Here are some reasons why I say that.”
STEP 4: READ, STUDY, WRITE ON THEORY 150 MIN.
- 15 MIN. Thoroughly skim (which means read the introduction, the topic sentence of each paragraph, and the concluding paragraph), and choose one of the theoretical excerpts below. You are choosing between Ania Loomba's Shakespeare, Race, and Colonialism and Edward Said's Orientalism. I resist telling you how to choose one, because it should come organically. If you have your close reading in mind, your ideas, and a question, you will intellectually relate to one of these pieces as you skim it. However, if you are struggling to choose a piece, here are some things to think about. You want to choose a piece because you want to triangulate your close reading and your question with a new outside scholarly voice. In other words, as an expert in this passage, you want to put yourself in conversation with this scholar. So, choose a piece that you think will teach you something new about your passage. Choose a piece that has terminology you’d like to borrow. Choose a piece that you think may complicate your assertions and close reading. These are just some reasons for choosing an outside source.
If you’re interested in the question of gender and women, you may also consider Simone de Beauvoir's "Woman as Other": https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/ethics/de-beauvoir/2nd-sex/introduction.htm
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- 60 MIN. Read the critical essay twice.
- 30 MIN. Now, answer the following questions about the theoretical piece you’ve chosen:
- What is the author’s main argument?
- What are some of her/his key terms? How does he/she define these terms?
- What is his/her methodology? In other words, how does he/she support his argument? What sources does he/she draw on.
- Choose a quote you find interesting, and copy and paste it into your document. Follow it with (Last name, Name of Book, page #).
- 45 MIN. Finally, write a 500 word free write, reflecting on the theoretical piece. How has reading this piece shaped, changed, or reframed the way you think about your question or your close reading? Put yourself in direct conversation with the work you’ve selected. Here are some questions to consider:
- Has the piece inspired you to see new perspectives or think of different ideas or come up with a new question entirely?
- Does the scholar use terminology that you think may be useful for you as you do your thinking or writing? What are those words/phrases/ideas?
- How will you use them differently? For example, if the author is using the "East" to refer to Islamic territory and you are working on a piece that is interested in othering or exoticizing land that is not the East, you will be using the author's terminology and theories to think through a different location or a different people.
- Does the scholar’s work complicate your analysis in any way. Those make for interesting moments to unpack!
This is what you will hand in on Tuesday, September 26, 2017:
Everything should be typed!
- A paragraph on the two sources you’ve chosen.
- The answers to the Pico Iyer questions.
- 200-word reflection on the Pico Iyer essay.
- The answers to the questions on the theoretical work.
- Your 500-word reflection on the theoretical work.