Anth 2 - Final Paper Guidelines

The instructions for the final paper can be found on the course website on the class web page at http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/dcrawford/paper.html

As stated in the instructions, you are required to explore two books - Veiled Sentiments and Unequal Times - using ideas learned during the course. You also need to develop an original thesis. The following are guidelines which you should read concurrently with the general instructions that are available on the course website.

By now, you are aware of the major theoretical approaches used in cultural anthropology (such as structural functionalism, interpretevism etc.) , the major themes that are central to the discipline (such as gender, power, history etc.) and different methodological strategies that have been used in collecting and analyzing field data. You are also by now explicitly aware of the necessity to view cultural differences on their own terms rather than using our perspectives of what counts as normal, or morally justifiable.

The final paper is an opportunity for you to critically evaluate the two works using this knowledge. The paper should be comparative – that is, you should compare AND contrast the similarities and differences in how the two authors approach their work, the major theoretical/methodological approaches they use, the major themes they see as important, and the strategies they use to collect and analyze their data. A critical analysis includes not merely identifying these major themes, but also examining such things as what has been left out of the analysis, what could have been improved, why the work is significant etc.

In order to fulfil the above requirements you will obviously have to have clear grasp of what the works' main arguments are, what evidence is presented to support these arguments, and the effectiveness of the analysis in furthering the arguments.

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