Archiving Using the Chosen Keywords
Specific instructions can be found in the "Instruction" document.
I have specifically listed the requirements. What I required is only to find few citations from readings I provide, no need to read them all
Part One: Archive (500 words)
For the first portion of the project, you will archive usages of a particular keyword of your choice. (It basically asks you to find possible citations for writing the essay) The keyword you archive should be one that is not included in the Keywords for American Cultural Studies book, but is a term that you think should be included in the text. Archiving can involve simply copying or typing out every sentence you read that uses your keyword. The archive need not be completely textual; it can also involve images and sound, conversations overheard on the street, or exchanges on a bus. Your archive should include citations when possible. This archive is essentially a collection of found objects for which you are being asked to keep a usage log in which you’ll record the textual, audible, visual, spatial, and/or temporal location of a specific use of the term.
Your archive should include “found objects” from ten sources (with author, page number, title of piece referenced when possible):
1. Connections to three sources found in the Supplemental Readings. For these sources, ask yourself if the source provides important information about the definition or uses of your keyword and how.
2. Connections to three assigned readings in the course. This may include the documentaries 13th, I Am Not Your Negro.
3. Connections to two Keyword essays found in the table of contents of Keywords for American Cultural Studies to your chosen keyword.
4. Connections to two encounters outside of class that remind you of your keyword. This may include any other materials from other courses you’re taking, portions of conversations that you have encountered on or off-campus or via social media, in movies, tv shows, podcasts, etc. (a screenshot is acceptable).
Your archive should also include small portions of reflection on those sources that essentially annotate them to draw explicit connections to your chosen keyword. Basically, you’re making sure that when you return to those found objects you know why you’ve included them. Connect each source to your keyword (50 words each); these connections can include:
a. Examples,
b. Brief analyses that address the “so what” of the source (why is it significant?),
c. Or, simply a short reflection on why/how it connects.
(Since you need to copy texts or add screenshot to create archive, this part will exceed two page lengths, but you only need to write about 500 words so I paid for 2 pages price)
Part Two: Essay (4 full pages)
Once you have constructed this archive of usages, you should draw on that archive to tell a story about your chosen keyword. You should use the essays we’ve read in the text Keywords for American Cultural Studies as examples. From reading essays in Keywords for American Cultural Studies, you should already know that it is rarely possible to produce a linear narrative about a complex term; so, don’t feel pressured to create a genealogy of the term. Instead, using skills you’ve developed in and outside of class, centering your chosen keyword, you will be asked to demonstrate what you’ve learned during the semester in this course and in the making of your keyword archive. In a 4 pages double spaced essay, you should attempt to make sense of the array of materials that use different vocabularies and methodologies, which you have already collected in your archive. The effort to bring together the varying usages of a single keyword should make the content of your archive and any connections you draw to the knowledge you learned in this course clearer and more coherent. Use the following questions to guide your reflection, summary, and analysis of the works in your archive to create a definition essay for your chosen keyword:
a. What are the definitions and usages of your keyword? Where and how have you encountered this keyword?
b. What are the critical genealogies of the term, and how do these genealogies affect its use today? How can you trace these historical usages?
c. What kinds of critical projects does your keyword enable? What critical conversations can you connect to this keyword and why?
d. Are there ways of thinking that are occluded or obstructed by the use of this term? How so?
e. What other keywords constellate around it? How, when, and why are those connections made clear?
f. Why would we take time to study or discuss your chosen keyword in a course like ours? What conversations would your keyword add and why?
This paper should include the following components:
- Topic focus: identification and articulation of your chosen keyword and a clear thesis statement/main argument about why the term is significant to American Studies;
- Depth of Discussion and Analysis: a brief analysis of your chosen keyword informed by your research by answering the question “why is it significant?” and the questions above.
- Integration of Knowledge and Cohesiveness: Provide clear, specific, and relevant descriptions of related engagement with the sources referenced in your archive (at least five should be referenced).
- Correct Works Cited/Bibliography/Reference Page of at least five sources.
Part Three: Direct reflection (2 pages)
Write 2 pages reflection in response to three questions that ask you to consider the research and writing process, and your learning processes throughout this course. This short reflection will provide you an opportunity to present your argument for what grade you have earned on this project and why, using concrete evidence. Answer each question with a 170-200 word short answer response:
1. This course explores the construction of “America” as a social, cultural, political, economic, and geographic process fraught in both past and present with complications, contradictions, and contestations. We have discussed how such experiences continue to shape present thinking and future possibilities and have navigated stories of “American” land and people by considering and analyzing the many ways in which the American landscape and identity converge and intersect. Reflecting on your writing and learning process for the capstone project portfolio, how did your close reading, synthesis, and analysis of your primary source, and your related research questions/topic, draw connections between geography, people, and power? Why do these stories and histories continue to be important topics to consider?
2. What were some of the most interesting or impactful topics and/or conversations we engaged in this course throughout the semester, and why? What were the most challenging concepts for you, and how did you navigate your learning of these topics?
3. Reflecting on your thinking, learning, and work in this course, what are you most proud of, or what brought you the most satisfaction, and why? What were the strategies, skills, and procedures you successfully and/or unsuccessfully used in your thinking, learning, and other work in this course? What did you struggle with, or what might you have done differently and why?
Course ID
Instructor
Institution
Keyword Project
Part One: Archive (500 words)
Archive usages of a particular keyword
For archiving purposes, the selected keyword is 'Coalition.'
Keyword Connection to THREE Supplemental readings.
Source 1
Rather than sameness as a foundation for an alliance, Lorde attests, "You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other" (1984, 142). Intersectionality pursues "solidarity through different political formations and of the subject of consciousness" (Vivian para 2 82).
The source underscores the importance of intersectionality in coalition building. It suggests that alliances or coalitions exist through the intersectionality of political ideologies, which provides a fertile ground for political formations that appeal to group consciousness. For example, two parties with divergent political ideologies can enter into a coalition to win an election.
* Connection to TWO Encounters outside Class
1 Throughout political history, there are examples of political coalitions that brought together people with differing views.
2 It also happens in geopolitics, where countries with divergent national, social, political ideologies form coalitions to create formidable military power once such example is NATO.
Source 2
"Mohanty advocates thinking about feminist solidarity in terms of mutuality, account- ability, and the recognition of common interests as the basis for relationships among diverse communities " (Vivian 82).
The source relevance stems from the fact that coalition is underpinned by mutuality, accountability, and recognition of common interests as the foundation for the relationship. Common interests transcend every facet of a coalition. Thus feminism derives its solidarity from the mutuality and common interests of its members. Regardless of their communities, nationality, or location, feminists coalesce in solidarity.
Connection to TWO encounters outside class
1 I have witnessed feminist organizations with conflicting objectives work together for the common interest of promoting the feminist agenda.
2 Given the perception that women are a weaker sex, their solidarity can only be possible through alliances.
Source 3:
"Other projects create and maintain solidarity across racial and ethnic groups and across national boundaries: groups like the Border Workers Regional Support Committee (CAFOR) and the Coalition for…. " (Lisa 181).
Reflection
The source equates coalition to solidarity that transcends racial and ethnic differences. Coalitions are built upon solidarity and a unidirectional approach to common issues. In this case, alliances are formed across socio-ethnic boundaries to advocate for border workers. Their Border Workers union Regional Support Committee (CAFOR) is an example of a coalition. Two examples outside class include Labor Unions and Student Organizations. All labor unions are formed to push for the solidarity of workers. Since they have a common interest, they are labor coalitions, e.g., The nurse unions, Bankers association, and university workers unions. Similarly, student unions are an example of solidarity movements. Collectively, students champion their common interests as a united front.
The source is relevant since it advocates for solidarity which informs the formation of coalitions.
Source 4:
"The too-easy adoption of decolonizing discourse (making decolonization a metaphor) is just one part of that history and it taps into pre-existing tropes that get in the way of more meaningful potential alliances " (Eve 3).
Reflection
Decolonization impedes potential alliances. For profitable partnerships to emerge, there must exist a common desire among the colonized to escape from imperial rule. It's this common desire that drives the need for political freedom. It forms the engine that drives the change movement by forming formidable alliances coalescing around freedom fighting.
Examples:
A coalition is a tool for fighting oppression
Workers form alliances to escape from the rule of colonial masters.
Coalitions champion social justice.
Coalitions have been used the world over in the fight for social space. Citizens of some countries have formed alliances to advocate for freedom of speech and expression.
Source 5:
"I argue that at the foundation of the American racial order is a cross-class alliance between the dominant class and one section of the working class. This alliance confers privileges to its members, in exchange for which they guarantee the social stability necessary for the accumulation of capital" (Introducing the (White Democracy-XXIV).
Reflection
The source is relevant as it underscores the importance of the cross-class alliance to create an environment conducive to capital accumulation. The cross-class alliance brings together the dominant class and the working-class with a common objective of wealth accumulation to subjugate the lower class. Example-Apartheid movement in South Africa is an alliance formed to fight the coalition of the dominant and working class.
Source 6:
"A second issue in building relationships and coalitions essential for social change concerns knowing the real reasons for coalition. Just what brings people together is one powerful catalyst fostering group solidarity is the presence of a common enemy " (Patricia 77).
Reflection
The source argues that the motive for the coalition is essential for driving socio-political change. Indeed, I concur that these motives inform the solidarity of members in the face of formidable challenges. The common interest is the common enemy without whom there can be no coalition. For example, feminists are united in solidarity to push for a common agenda.
Source 7:
"Concurrently, removal created a legacy of detachment between Cherokees and blacks that Would lessen potential for cross-racial alliances and arrow the possibility of subverting racial hierarchies" (Tiya 45).
Reflection
The source explores cross-racial alliances in pervading racial boundaries that impede cultural integration in America. The common objective of such coalitions is to eliminate racial disparities. Given this shared objective, the Cherokees and blacks must rise above their socio-economic differences. In my observation, cross-racial collaboration is a powerful tool for fighting racial hierarchies since it subverts differences while illuminating similarities. A good example is the ongoing cross-racial involvement in advocacy and activism.
Source 8
‘‘Individuals who are deeply immersed in relationships with extended families may be less likely to get married….To prevent the dilution of their social support networks, some extended families may even discourage their members from getting married or unconsciously sabotage relationships that threaten to pull someone out of the family orbit’’ (Gerstel 12).
Reflection
I should think that the extended family is s clear depiction of a 'coalition' as it brings together blood relatives who have a common interest in nurturing their family bond. However, when the coalition objectives supersede individual objectives, the marriage suffers. The reason being that marriage values contradict coalition objectives, and hence extended family members tend to discourage or even sabotage marriage relationships. Cross-racial marriages can help in toning down racial inequalities.
Source 9
‘‘But when a group of unsuspecting whites interrupts the Cheyenne just as they are about to release Stewart, he is bound and gagged and forced to watch the resulting massacre (Robert 159).
Reflection
The whites represent a unified racial group, which can be thought of as a coalition-their relationship resulting from sharing common physical characteristics and socio-economic and political ideologies. As an alliance of people with converging values, they champion a common objective. In the text, a group of unsuspecting whites stops the Cheyenne moments before stewards' release. Their actions are motivated by their shared desire to fight a common enemy and protect their common interests.
Source 10
‘‘In these cases, racial stigma has been applied to blacks as a group, preventing them from being perceived as qualitatively differentiated individuals’’ (Nikhil Pa 12).
Reflection
Based on the text, the blacks as a coalition are subjected to racial stigmatization. Alliances with divergent views, goals, and objectives have competing interests. Given these competing socio-economic and political interests, the whites have to resort to racial stigmatization to maintain their racial superiority. In this endeavor, they portray their counterparts as qualitatively inferior individuals. The racial supremacy contest depicted is a clear reflection that coalitions can only succeed if members pool in the same direction.
Part Two: Essay (4 full pages)-1100
The keyword 'coalition' defines geopolitical relationships between world military superpowers in their quest for a more formidable global force. The nations have a common objective of demilitarizing the developing world and facing common threats. Likewise, feminists have used the keyword to define the solidarity of their movement in terms of mutuality, accountability, and the pursuit of common interests (Aronson, n.p). Thirdly, it refers to the unity of purpose or ideological commonality that brings together different political actors. It has been used in other contexts to define the amalgamation of disparate groups with a common interest and enemy (Burgett et al. n.p). The common good and enemy is the engine that perpetuates the coalition relationship. It also describes solidarity across racial, ethnic, and cross-national boundaries. It also refers to merging different interest groups to advocate for social justice and socio-political and economic decolonization (Eve 1). Thus it describes alliances formed to fight for social space. Also, the term coalition refers to cross-class associations created to promote capitalism to oppress the economically disenfranchised. In another source, the coalition describes the building of relationships with the motive of pushing for political change (Eckstrand, 195).
Similarly, it refers to a familiar pattern of relationships that exists across differing power structures. For coalitions to work, members must stay focused and committed to a specific cause. Also, it refers to the use of cross-racial alliances in pervading racial boundaries (Tiya 45).
The term ‘coalition’ has a long genealogy that dates back several centuries. Its use in defining political and geopolitical alliances in the 19th century is what generated scholarly interest. The use of the keyword gained popularity during the geopolitical realignments that happened during the I, II, and III world wars. These realignments comprised nations with differing national ideologies but sharing common geopolitical interests. Therefore, it’s predominantly used in political science studies (Lipsitz n.p). While the keyword is used mainly in defining political structures and formations, social science scholars began using the keyword to describe the coming together of like-minded individuals with shared interests and objectives. The keyword has since been adopted into gender studies, where feminists use it to define their collective unity to champion their common interests. These genealogies affect their use today since the underlying principle remains the coming together of different people, groups, or nations with common goals, interests, and objectives (John 721). Its use today is still consistent with its initial meaning in both...