Reference no: EM133746836

Homework: Anthropology

Bad driver. Math wizard. Model minority. In this hilarious and insightful talk, eighteen-year-old Canwen Xu shares her Asian-American story of breaking stereotypes, reaffirming stereotypes, and driving competently on her way to buy rice. Canwen Xu's slogan for life is "Canwen can win." Born in Nanjing, China, she moved to the United States when she was two years old, and since then has lived in some of the whitest states in the country, including North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho. A senior at Timberline High School, Canwen is passionate about politics and is the national membership director and Idaho state director for the Young Democrats High School Caucus. Also a programmer, she started an all-girls computer science workshop called Code For Fun and received National Runner-Up in the 2014 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing competition.

YouTube Video: "I Am Not Your Asian Stereotype | Canwen Xu | TEDxBoise".

Your homework is to write an essay-an ethnography-that examines YOUR individual participation in a specific culture or subculture. Now, the word "culture" doesn't need to refer only to religion or heritage; it can include hobbies, professions, institutions, etc.. Possible topics include flyfishing, hunting, fishing, knitting, dancing, gospel singing, freecyclers, riding quads, skiing or snowboarding, skateboarding, being a fan or participant of any sort of sport really, gaming (either online or face-to-face), blogging, cooking, being a fan of a particular TV show or band, rock climbing, military, non-traditional student, online shopping, Ebay, autograph collecting . . . the list is endless.

There are four components to this homework:

1. Define the culture: What are the parameters that define inclusion in or exclusion from a group? How do group members view outsiders and what motivates members to belong? Is there an initiation of some kind?

2. Illustrate how people (yourself and others) participate in this culture: Behaviors, ideas, objects, gathering places, etc.. What are the culture's most symbolic or significant rituals? Why is meaning assigned to them? What is the group's social hierarchy, and how is it organized and maintained? What objects are present, how are they typically used, and what significance is attached to them? What language is used?

3. Describe the stereotypes of this culture from within and without. How are these reinforced or refuted through your own experience?

4. Research how someone outside of this culture could find out more and participate: For example, festivals, shopping experiences, restaurants, ceremonies, conventions, etc..

5. You needn't address these aspects of the homework in this particular order; writing an ethnography is much more fluid than that. However, if you would like to treat the above components as a template for the essay you may do so.

Be careful that you look at your choice of culture objectively; it is difficult to be open-minded about a group to which you belong.

Finally, this will be a persuasive essay. Your ethnography needs to be focused and be built around a question you're trying to answer about the way the group sees things. Your challenge is to help your audience (me) to see what they've probably already seen but in a new way. Ultimately, what will make your essay meaningful for readers will be how well you succeed in helping them see through the eyes of your study subjects. It relies on a strong use of detail, description, and scene, think of Geertz and thick description.