What exactly are a “society” and a “culture”?

For the second book analysis, pick a book from the list at the end of this introduction about a culture other than your own. If you want to read a book not on the list, you should have it approved in advance with the Instructor. This paper should provide a brief critical analysis of the book. This is not a book review, but a short analysis of one or two cultural aspects described or implied in the book that you found interesting and significant and why. Be specific.

The paper should be one or one-and-a-half pages in length, double-spaced typed. It is more difficult to write a good book analysis in only one or one-and-a-half pages than in a paper twice that length. Forcing yourself to stay within that short limit will focus your thinking and tighten up your writing by eliminating superfluous words and redundancies.

It may stimulate your thinking to look at the list below of possible cultural aspects that may be found in your book, but this is not a requirement and you do not have to refer to them in your paper. You will be graded on how well the paper is written (e.g., spelling, punctuation, flow, clarity of expression, word choice) as well as content (e.g. evidence of original thinking, interest to the reader). Remember to focus on the CULTURAL aspects of the book and not just give a summary of the story line. Such a summary, if you choose to give one, should occupy not more than one-quarter of the paper (i.e. about one paragraph). Cite your information sources. This is an INDIVIDUAL assignment.

Submit through the Turnitin function in Canvas.

QUESTIONS:

Is this book about a society, a culture or both? What exactly are a “society” and a “culture”?
Why is this book important to you and to others in your culture/society?
What cultural insights does the book give you about the culture of the people being described? E.g.
economic systems
marriage and family systems
educational systems
social control systems
supernatural belief systems
How is this similar or different from your own culture? How do they perform similar functions? What insights does this give you about human nature in general?
What are some of the potential consequences of not understanding this culture/society and making ethnocentric judgments without realizing they are ethnocentric?
Are there questions you would like answered about the people/culture that do not appear in the book?
Was this book interesting to you? Why or why not?
Has the book had an impact on the perception of the people being described, as reflected in popular opinion and governmental policy?
Remember:

You will be graded on how well the paper is written as well as the content. Beware of:
Typos
Redundancy
Grammar
Passive vs. active voice
Word choice
Flow
Persuasiveness
Use the APA style in your paper

Suggested Culture-Oriented Book List

AMERICAN

DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1835), Alexis de Tocqueville
PIONEERS (1913); MY ANTONIA (1918), Willa Cather
THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), John Steinbeck
THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY (1958), John Kenneth Galbriath
STREET CORNER SOCIETY (1943), William Foote Whyte
THE FIRE NEXT TIME (1963), James Baldwin
MORMON COUNTRY (1942), Wallace Stegner
GREAT BUSINESS DISASTERS (1973), Isadore Barmach
HUNGER OF MEMORY (1981), Brown
BROWN: THE LAST DISCOVERY OF AMERICA (2001), Richard Rodriquiz
ENCOUNTERS WITH THE ARCHDRUID (1971), John McPhee
MY NAME IS ASHER LEV (1972), Chaim Potok
AFRICAN

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE (1998), Barbra Kingsolver
CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY (1948), Alan Paton
THINGS FALL APART (1959), Chinua Achebe
KAFFIR BOY (1986), Mark Mathabane
HEART OF DARKNESS (1902), Joseph Conrad
POLYNESIAN

COMING OF AGE IN SAMOA (1928), Margaret Mead
MEXICAN

FIVE FAMILIES (1959); CHILDREN OF SANCHEZ (1961), Oscar Lewis
LABYRINTH OF SOLITUDE (1961), Ocavio Paz
NATIVE AMERICAN

I HEARD THE OWL CALL MY NAME (1967), Margaret Craven
HOUSE MADE OF DAWN (1968), Scott Momaday
THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE (1976), Forrest Carter
DANCING GODS (1931), Erna Fergusson
THE EARTH SHALL WEEP: A HISTORYOF NATIVE AMERICA (1999), James Wilson
IRISH

HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION (1995), Thomas Cahill
IRELAND-A NOVEL (2005), Frank Delaney
AFGHANI

THREE CUPS OF TEA (2006), Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL (2003), Asne Seierstad
THE KITE RUNNER (2005), A THOUSAND SPLENDED SUNS (2008), Khled Hosseini
CHINESE

LIFE AND DEATH IN SHANGHAI (1987), Nien Cheng
THE GOOD EARTH (1931), Pearl Buck
THE JOY LUCK CLUB (1989); THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER (2001), Amy Tan
WILD SWANS (1991), Jung Chang
SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN (2005), Lisa See
THE SILK ROAD (1990), Jeanne Larsen
SHANGHAI GIRLS (2009), Lisa See
JAPANESE

JAPANESE SOCIETY, Chie Nakane
POLICE AND COMMUNITY IN JAPAN, Walter Ames
THE ANATOMY OF DEPENDANCE, Takeo Doi
THE JAPANESE COMPANY (1981), Rodney Clark
SNOW COUNTRY (1956); THOUSAND CRANES (1958), Yasunari Kawabata
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (2005), Arthur Golden
TSUKIJI: THE FISH MARKET AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, Theodore Bestor
ARAB

A BORDER PASSAGE (FROM CAIRO TO AMERICA-A WOMAN’S
JOURNEY) (1999), Leila Ahmed
RESPECTED SIR (1975), Naquib Mahfouz
TRAVELS WITH A TANGERINE (2001), Tim Mackintosh-Smith
PRINCESS (1992); DAUGHTERS OF ARABIA (1994); PRINCESS SULTANA’S CIRCLE (2002), Jean Sasson (Saudi)
THE HONOR OF THE TRIBE (1989), Rachid Mimouni
GREEK

THE GREEK WAY (1930), Edith Hamilton
INDIAN

A PASSAGE TO INDIA (1924), E. M. Forster
A GOOD INDIAN WIFE (2008), Anne Cherian
A FINE BALANCE (1996), Rohinton Mistry
SHANTARAM (2003), Gregory David Roberts
IRANIAN

READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN (2003), Azar Nafisi
BALKIN STATES
BALKIN GHOSTS (1993), Robert Kaplan
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR: A STORY OF WAR (1996), Peter Maass
ISRAELI AND PALeSTINIAN

YELLOW WIND (2002); SLEEPING ON A WIRE (2003), David Grossman
BLOOD BROTHERS (1984), Elias Chacour
THE AVENGERS-A JEWISH WAR STORY (2000), Rich Cohen
CHILDREN OF BETHANY (1988), Said Aburish
MY PEOPLE (1968), Abba Eban
PALESTINIAN WALKS: NOTES ON A VANISHING LANDSCAPE (2008), Raja Shadadeh
NIGHT (1960), Elie Wiesel (Jewish Holocaust)
MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING (1959), Viktor E. Frankl (Holocaust)
SOUTH AMERICAN

NO ONE WRITES TO THE COLONEL (1968); ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF
SOLITUDE (1970), Gabriel Garcia Marquez
PRISONER WITHOUT A NAME, CELL WITHOUT A NUMBER (1981), Jacobo Timerman
VIETNAMESE

THE QUIET AMERICAN (1956), Graham Greene
CHILDREN’S STORIES

NELSON MANDELA’S FAVORITE AFRICAN FOLK TALES (2002)
JAPANESE CHILDREN’S FAVORITE STORIES (1953), Florence Sakade (ed)
FABLES OF AESOP
BALINESE CHILDREN’S FAVORITE STORIES (2001), retold by Victor Mason with Gillian Beal
THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE (1993), Holly L. Eubanks
READ-ALOUD CELTIC MYTHS AND LEGENDS (2000), Joan c. Verniero
NAVAJO COYOTE TALES (1988), Collected by William Morgan
HAWK, I’M YOUR BROTHER (1976), Byrd Baylor
TALES FROM ANCIENT EGYPT (1994), retold by George Hart
FOLK TALES OF EGYPT (1993), retold by Denys Johnson-Davies
NASREDDIN HODJA (1992), Alpay Kabacali
CLASSIC FAIRY TALES FROM ANCIENT PALESTINE AND JORDAN (1995), Hikmat Ben Odeh
FAIRY TALES (1950), E. E. Cummings