annotation+template

Many of our most difficult institutional, political, and interpersonal situations beg for better cultural analysis and understanding. Becoming adept at cultural analysis involves, above all, learning to read -- and reading is a creative act, a combination of play and work to interpret signs (words and images). The two main activities in this class for advancing this are reading anthropological articles (which you will do on your own) and reading films (which we will do in class), and becoming practiced in the art of interpretation. By the end of the course you will complete 10 article or film annotations, addressing as many of the questions below as you can. Check with me if you would like to add films or other articles to the list of possibilities that are not in the syllabus.

Credit received will depend on complete coverage of questions, use of concrete examples (or direct quotes) from the article or film to illustrate points, and careful, thoughtful writing. Annotations can be in essay form, or you can answer each question separately, but in either case must be in complete sentences and paragraphs. It should be clear that you you have moved beyond notes to a sophisticated analysis.

Copy the following list of questions to a word document, write out your responses or your synthetic essay, and print and turn in a hard copy when you have completed it. You can turn in an annotation anytime, but you must turn in ** at least 3 of them by March 10 **, and ** all 7 of them by the last day of class ** to receive credit.

Here's a good example of a good annotation that I graded as a 10 (out of a possible 10), done on a film about the "Lost Boys of Sudan." And here's an example of an annotation that I graded as a 5.

1. Title, author/director, year of publication/release?

2. What would you say is the central argument or narrative of the article/film?

3. What cultural dynamics does the article/film draw out? (Gender? Conflict? Ritual? Leadership? Religious? Art? Political? Legal? Economic? Technological? Ecological?)

4. What parts of the article/film did you find most persuasive, compelling, or moving? Why?

5. What parts of the article/film were you not compelled or convinced by?

6. Are there cultural changes or points of intervention suggested by the article/film?

7. What additional information has this article/film compelled you to seek out, or what additional questions does it raise for you?