Anthropology 110: Fall 2019

Final Paper Assignment

Instructions: Pick one of the questions below and answer it in a 3-5 page essay. Your essay should include:

• A clearly supported argument that answers your chosen question and provides a focus for your essay. Your argument must be backed up with specific examples from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. You must include at least four direct quotes from the book in your essay. (10 points)
• Two terms, ideas, or examples from other parts of our course (assigned readings, films, lecture) that help you to support and explain your argument. If you introduce a term from class (e.g., culture, ethnocentrism, or cultural relativism), you must define the term from lecture or the textbook. Don’t define terms from outside sources like websites or the dictionary (10 points).
• Clear, concise, and correct writing and citation practice. You only need a bibliography if you use outside sources. However, you must cite direct quotes from Fadiman’s text with in-text citations (see below for instructions). (10 points)

Include your name and question number answered in the essay.

• Type your paper in double-spaced 12 point Times New Roman or a similar font.
• Include page numbers and 1 inch margins.
• Include in-text citations when quoting specific passages in the text.

If the author’s last name is in the sentence, you just need to give the page number, for example: As Fadiman states, “Lia Lee’s parents came to the US twenty years ago” (3).

If the author’s name is not in the sentence, include the name along with the page number, for example: Doctor Klein stated, “The Hmong are a refugee community from Laos” (Fadiman, 4).

Cite material from my lectures in the following manner: (Davis, in lecture).

Cite the textbook in the following manner: (S & L, 56).

Question 1:

How does the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down exemplify the techniques of ethnographic research that we have studied in this class? Are there ways in which Fadiman could have improved her methods to be a better anthropologist? (Note: you have to discuss the specific ethnographic methods we studied in class).

In the answering of your question consider: What is Fadiman’s professional background (consult the back of the book or the internet and then cite the source). What specific methods and techniques did she utilize? Where did she conduct her fieldwork (i.e. hospital, homes, etc.)? How and why might we consider her project ethnographic fieldwork? Are there weaknesses in her approach (if so what are they)? Draw on two additional terms, ideas, or examples from other parts of our course and use them in your answer.

Question 2:

“Anne Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down has been described in terms of a “collision of two cultures.” What might be meant by “collision of two cultures” and why might such a “collision” have occurred?

As you answer this question, draw on specific incidents and examples from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down as well as two terms, ideas, or examples from other parts of our course. Note: It is not important to describe everything that might be meant by “the collision of two cultures.” Your emphasis should be on exploring and explaining Fadiman’s work.

Essay Writing Guide for Anthropology 110

Introduction (1-2 paragraphs)

A.Introduction to the Topic: Introduce and explain the question (1-5) you will be answering in you essay.

“In this essay I will consider the question of…”

B.Material to Cover: Explain what you intend to cover in this essay (such as the evidence you will consider).

“I will look at”

C.Thesis Statement: Your thesis statement lays out (in 1-3 sentences) the main point you are trying to make.

Body of the Paper (5-7 paragraphs)

A well-structured essay should consist of a series of paragraphs which progress logically through the series of points that you intend to cover. Obviously, the difficult part is working out what that order should be. In essence, an essay is an argument, so your structure should be based on what your argument is.

Conclusion (1 paragraph)

Your essay should have a definite ending, in the form of a conclusion.Here, you should summarize what it is that you have said in your essay, stating what your answer to the question is and why. Often, there is no simple answer (which is why you are writing an essay, and not a two-mark answer on a class test), so you should state what the complexities of the issue are. You may feel that you are repeating yourself, as the body of your essay should have made your argument clear already, but the reader will appreciate a good summary.

If you have space, the last few sentences of your essay can also pose additional questions or topics for further inquiry.

BOOK: The spirit catches you and you fall down. By Anne Fadiman