The Accidental Ethnographer: Midterm Assignment (Spring 2015)

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Assignments"

[a] Great Guile RF

On this day in Round and Square History 
2 March 2014—China's Lunar Calendar: 2014 03-02
2 March 2014—Ponder College: Introduction
2 March 2013—China's Lunar Calendar: 2013 03-02

2 March 2012—Displays of Authenticity: 100 Points

 
The Accidental Ethnography

History 293/Anthropology 375
Spring 2015

"International Geil...and Ethnographic Guile"

The Assignment
Read James Peacock's The Anthropological Lens, think about the primary and secondary materials you have read this far (including Barzun, Booth, and Hexter), and write a 3,000 word review essay assessing William Edgar Geil as international traveler, speak, and scholar. If you are an anthropology student, I encourage you to assess Geil's place in early "ethnography" (very broadly defined). If you are a history student, consider Geil as an interpreter of international affairs in his era. 

Use skills you have developed from your reading of the New York Review of Books, and engage both Peacock's work and Geil's writings. On top of it all, use the primary record (the sources you study every Friday and your own "second record," as we discussed from Hexter's The History Primer.

[b] Studious Guile RF

Due in MI 111 by 10:00 p.m. on Friday, March 20.

Reading the Sources 
This assignment is for an analysis of James Peacock's The Anthropological Lens from the perspective of a Geil scholar (and that is what you are now. Use the other readings for Week 9 (Frazer, Boas, Malinowski, and others) for contrast, if you wish, but you will be spending the bulk of your paper examining Geil's work through the "lens" that Peacock creates in his book. We'll discuss these matters in detail in class on Wednesday, March 18.


Writing the Paper
Audience, audience, audience.  As you begin to write your paper, have a clear audience in mind. In this case, you should imagine your audience as historians and anthropologists who know their fields very well, but might well find William Edgar Geil to be something new. You should assume that your audience has watched the film we have seen, and maybe heard a lecture about his life. That's all they know, though. Your job is to explain to them how he engages international topics. In other words, they know their fields well, AND have heard of Geil. They know more than your letter audience, in other words...but you know much, much more.

 Learning to write for different audiences is key to success in anything you do in the future. This is meant to hone those skills.

Don't let this go too long. You could choose your sources right now, and finish a first draft a week before the paper is due. Don't delay!

[c] Taking time RF