Global Issues and American Culture

SPECIFIC Essay Your essay should include the following: 1. A description of the archival item you have chosen—e.g. a speech given on a specific day with a specific purpose by a specific person 2. The point of view of the person who created the item—is the creator critical or celebratory? Is the creator an advocate for a proposition or a detractor of a position? And what aspects of the archival item have convinced you of the creator¡¯s point of view? 3. The social position of the creator—class, race, ethnicity, gender, rural/urban, region. Discuss how the social position influenced the point of view. 4. A discussion of what this archival item provides evidence for in the period in which it was produced. Try to enter the social and cultural period—what have you learned from reading course assignments and listening to lectures about that period that will help you write about this text? We have provided the acronym SPECIFIC to guide you through your analysis. S = social context P = political context E = economic conditions C = cultural values of the particular moment I = ideas that were circulating F = Feminine (or Masculine)—in other words, think about gender I = identity—race, ethnicity, religion, region C = critical perspective of the creator of the text you are studying Each letter stands for a factor that can be taken into account, and the word itself reminds us that historians are most persuasive when they point to specific information as they analyze material. Also, each item in the archives relates in some way to the theme of that part of the course, so your essay should explain how the texts in Part III the impact of global issues on American culture. *New Yorker cover: the Obamas- this cover appeared in July 2008, in the midst of the presidential campaign season. Critiques of the cover lamented its lack of respect for candidate Barak Obama and his wife and for the implied accusation that the couple had hidden agenda involving Islam, the ongoinf war in Iraq, and terrorist networks. Defenders of the cover argued that it was meant to be humorous. the New Yorker is an established periodical that features political commentary, original fiction, poetry, and cartoons, as well as reviews of various cultural forms. it has been known for provocative covers and original artwork on the covers for decades.