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ANTHROPOLOGY 460
Anthropological Theory
Professor Paul E. Brodwin
Dept. of Anthropology, UW-Milwaukee
Office hours: Mondays, 1-3, and by appointment
Spring, 2013 Bolton B56
Sabin Hall #180
Phone: 229-4734
Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language. (Raymond Williams)
The nice thing about culture is that everyone has it. (Marilyn Strathern)
This course examines the anthropological discussion about culture across the past 120 years, roughly since the
beginning of the discipline. We will explore some basic theoretical debates which still inspire empirical research: How do
cultural symbols shape human subjectivity? What accounts for cultural creativity and invention? How do tradition and
“common-sense” become so convincing? What are the sources of political and ideological authority as well as resistance
and critique? What happens to traditional religious and ritual practices in modern Western societies and in new global
formations? What, if anything, separates the “modern West” from “traditional” cultures? How can we use anthropological
knowledge to comprehend and criticize contemporary society?
We begin with Enlightenment thinkers and then move to two pillars of classic European social theory: Emile
Durkheim and Max Weber. We will examine their viewpoints about traditional and modern societies, religion, and the
source of social order. The course next takes up symbolic anthropology of the mid-20th century through the work of Victor
Turner, Clifford Geertz, and others. Their theories continue to influence both ethnographic methods and the truth-claims
that anthropologists make about cultures. Finally, we will examine the self-criticism of anthropology over the past twenty
years, new thinking about culture and subjectivity, and recent accounts of power and resistance.
Anthropological theory is a huge topic, and this course will sacrifice breadth for depth. We will read and discuss a
handful of the most central and oft-cited texts in the discipline. The goal is to learn the major unsettled arguments as well
as the conceptual tool-kit which makes anthropology a distinctive and productive field. This course focuses on the close
reading of texts. Please complete the assigned readings before class and come with questions and insights about
the authors’ arguments.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Prerequisites: Senior standing. This is the “capstone” course, required of all anthropology majors.
2. Attendance: Attendance in class is required. Although formal attendance is not taken, the lectures, discussion and the
weekly in-class writing exercises will help you understand the assigned readings. They will thoroughly prepare you for the
three take-home essays.
3. Readings: Readings assigned for each day must be completed by the start of class. Books are for sale at the Panther
Bookstore (3132 N. Downer Ave., 967-1111). The course sourcebook, containing all required articles, is for sale at Clark
Graphics (2915 N. Oakland, 962-4633). Request it by the course number and my name. Most of the books are also on
reserve at the library, and the sourcebook is on "honor reserve" in cultural anthro. lounge, Sabin Hall 315.
Books: Richad HADDEN:
Victor TURNER:
Max WEBER:
Sociological Theory
ISBN 1-55111-095-4
The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure ISBN 0-202-01190-9
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ISBN 0-415-08434-2
4. Graded Exercises
Undergraduates: Each student will complete three take-home essay assignments. You should use only the
course readings in answering these essays. Do not use materials from other courses or the web. The first two will be
reviewed and critiqued in class by other students and myself, and then revised and resubmitted. The third take-home
essay constitutes the final examination. NOTE: You must hand in hard copies of all papers. E-mailed papers will not be
accepted
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Graduate students: Students will complete the first two take-home assignments as above, and then write a
substantial research paper for the final exam. This paper must be at least 20 pages long, and it should address the course
themes in a creative, original way. You must consult with me about your topic by April 1, 2013. Research papers are due
at 5:30 pm on May 14. No late papers will be accepted – No exceptions.
5. Grading:
Undergraduates:
Graduate students:
1st and 2nd take-home essays
3rd take-home essay
1st and 2nd take-home essays
Research paper
30% each
40%
30% each
40%
Your letter grade is based on your numeric grade (out of a possible 100 points): 70 to 73.3 = C-, 73.4 to 76.6 = C,
76.7 to 79.9 = C+, There is no pre-set percentage for class participation. However, active and informed discussion will
usually raise your grade.
All take-home examinations must be handed in by the date stated in the syllabus. Make-ups and extensions will
be granted only for documented emergency situations and must be arranged prior to the stated date of the exam or due
date. Any person not making prior arrangements will automatically be given a failing grade (zero points). Any extension
must be negotiated personally with the professor, at least one week before the due date. Academic misconduct -including plagiarism -- will not be tolerated. If instances of academic misconduct are detected or suspected, action will be
taken in accordance with written university policies. Plagiarism will warrant a grade of zero points for the entire
essay. For further rights and responsibilities as a student, please consult
www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/SyllabusLinks.pdf
Please turn off all electronic devices in class (cell phones, Blackberries, ipods, etc.). You may not receive or send
text messages during class. Personal computers are allowed only for taking notes. People using computers must sit in
the back row of class, to prevent distracting other students. The professor reserves the right to alter this syllabus via
class announcements or email to students.
DISCUSSION TOPICS AND READINGS
28 Jan
Introduction to course; the Enlightenment background to anthropological theory
Handouts: Great Chain of Being; Definitions of culture
Section I: Classic European social theory
4 Feb
Enlightenment and conservative voices: 18th Century origins of anthropological theory
A. READINGS Hadden: Preface, Introduction, and Chapter 1
Kant: What is Enlightenment? (sourcebook)
Voltaire: Providence, Superstition, and Impiety (sourcebook)
B. READINGS: Garner (ed.): Section 2: The Enlightenment and Conservative
Reactions, and Section 3: Edmund Burke (sourcebook)
11 Feb
Emile Durkheim (I): Religion and “collective consciousness”
A. READINGS: Durkheim: Intro. to Elementary Forms ... (sourcebook)
Durkheim: Chap. 11, “Religion and ritual” (sourcebook)
Hadden: Chapter 3
Emil Durkheim (II) Religion and modernity
B. READINGS: Durkheim Chap. 12 “Secularisation...” (sourcebook)
18 Feb.
Emile Durkheim (III): Social structure and subjectivity in modern society
A. READINGS: Durkheim: Chap. 5 “Forms of social solidarity” (sourcebook)
(Read only pp. 123-135, and 138-140, on mechanical vs. organic solidarity)
Durkheim: Chap. 6 “The division of labor...” (sourcebook)
and Chap. 8 “Anomie...” (sourcebook)
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18 Feb (cont)
Max Weber: (I): Basic questions about religion and social change
B. READINGS: Weber: Protestant Ethic
Author’s Introduction (NOTE: also in Sourcebook)
Chap. 1: Religious affiliation and social stratification
Chap 2. The spirit of capitalism
Hadden: Chapter 4
25 Feb.
Max Weber (II): European Protestantism as a case study
A. READINGS: Weber: Protestant Ethic
Chap. 3: Luther’s conception of the calling
Chap. 4: Intro., section A, and final 2 pages of chapter
Chap. 5: Asceticism
B. Discussion: Comparison of Enlightenment thinkers, Durkheim and Weber
Instructions on standard 5-page essay
1st take-home essay handed out (due 4 March)
Section II: Cultural anthropology: symbolic interpretation of social life
4 Mar
In-class peer critique of take-home essay
A. Bring hard copy of 1st take-home essay.
Theoretical foundations of symbolic analysis
B. READINGS: Turner: The Ritual Process, chap. 3
Moore: Chap 18: Victor Turner, Symbols, Pilgrims & Drama
11 Mar
Final version of 1st take-home essay due at start of class
Symbolic analysis: field research and case studies
A. READINGS: Turner: The Ritual Process, chap. 4 and 5
B. READINGS: Geertz: Thick description (soucebook) (begin reading).
18 Mar
SPRING VACATION
25 Mar
Symbolic anthropology: classic and contemporary approaches
A. READINGS: Geertz: Thick description (finish)
Moore: Chap. 19: Clifford Geertz, An Interpretive Anthropology
B. READINGS: Abu-Lughod: Interpretation of cultures after television
1 April
Epistemological critique of symbolic anthropology: how fieldworkers construct knowledge
A. READINGS: Rosaldo: Grief and Headhunter’s Rage (sourcebook)
Ethical critique of symbolic anthropology: the fieldworker’s ethical responsibility
B. READINGS: Scheper-Hughes: The Primacy of the Ethical
2nd take-home essay handed out (due 8 April)
Section III: Recent directions in anthropological theory: power, resistance and practice
8 April
In-class peer critique of take-home essay
A. Bring hard copy of 2nd take-home essay.
Rethinking culture and power in a globalized world
B. READINGS Appadurai: Disjuncture & Difference … (sourcebook)
15 April
Final version of 2nd take-home essay due at start of class
The new emphasis of “power” in anthropological theory
A. READINGS: Said: Introduction to Orientalism,
B. READINGS: Ortner: Thick Resistance
22 April
Michel Foucault’s theory of social power: the impossibility of resistance?
A. READINGS: Foucault: Chap 1: The body of the condemned (sourcebook)
B. READINGS: Foucault, Chap. 3: Panopticism (sourcebook)
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29 April
James Scott’s theory of social power: overt and covert resistance
A. READINGS: Scott: Chap. 1: Behind the official story (sourcebook)
Chap. 2: Domination, acting and fantasy (sourcebook)
B. READINGS: Scott: Chap. 4: False consciousness (sourcebook)
6 May
Practice theory: the micro-politics of everyday life
A. READINGS: Ortner: Theory in Anthropology Since the Sixties (sourcebook)
B. READINGS: Berlinerblau: Toward a sociology of heresy, orthodoxy, and doxa (sourcebook)
3rd take-home essay question handed out.
Final take-home essay due on Monday, 13 May,
by 5:30 pm, under door of Sabin Hall 180.
You may turn in essays early at any time;
please place under door of Sabin Hall 180.
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Anthropology 460 UW-Milwaukee Professor Paul Brodwin
Anthropological Theory
Discussion questions for selected readings
Definitions of “theory”
Hadden (p.11): “An entire set of assumptions about how the world basically operates and about what
knowledge is.”
Einstein: “The supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as
possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.”
On the Method of Theoretical Physics. Philosophy of Science 1934, Vol. 1, pp. 168-169; quoted in
JAMA, January 26 2005, Vol. 293, no. 4, p. 491.
Einstein: “It is the theory that decides what can be observed.”
From Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations, Arnold J. Pomerans,
trans. (New York: Harper, 1971), p. 63.
Kant: What is Enlightenment?
1. What is Kant’s definition of Enlightenment?
2. How does Kant define the “public use of reason”?
- How should one combine one’s customary duties in a social role with one’s independent reason?
3. For Kant, what are the chief “rights of mankind?” What is the major “crime against humanity”?
4. Is Kant anti-religious?
Voltaire: Providence, Superstition, and Impiety
1. Does Voltaire hold religious beliefs? If so, are they consistent with the human faculty of reason?
2. What are the social implications of “superstition,” according to Voltaire?
Hadden: Chapter 1.
1. For the Philosophes, liberal individualism (the freely reasoning, independent, autonomous individual) is a
core human trait. What is Goldmann’s counter-argument? How does he criticize the Enlightenment emphasis
on autonomy and individualism?
2. What was Comte’s ideal human society? Do you think it could exist?
3. Describe the conservative reaction against the enlightenment
4. What are the evolutionist models of Comte and Spencer? How do they differ from today’s anthropological
understanding of social change?
Garner: Sections 1 and 2
1. Contrast the main tenets of the Enlightenment and the conservative reaction
2. What is the proper role of religion, according to conservative thinkers?
3. How is the individual related to society, according to both Enlightenment and conservative thinkers?
4. Hadden claims that social theory draws equally from both Enlightenment and conservative thought. What
does he mean?
Durkheim: Intro to Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
1. Durkheim says that “fundamentally… there are no religious that are false” (p. 2). What does he mean? What
viewpoints is he rejecting?
2. How does Durkheim justify basing his general theory of religion on the study of Australian aborigines (a
people living, he claims, in “the simplest social state known at present”)? (see pp. 4-5)
3. Durkheim claims that basic categories of understanding, like time and space, are “collective
representations.” They have an essential social character. What examples does he use? Do you find them
convincing?
4. How does the authority of society over the individual make itself felt? Why is this authority necessary?
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Durkheim: Chap. 11, Religion and ritual
1. What is the fundamental social sentiment that gives rise to religion?
- How does it differ from everyday consciousness?
- Give examples of the way religious organizations periodically revive it.
2. How does Durkheim connect the notion of mana (“abstract powers, anonymous forces”) to the sentiments
generated by collective social life? (see pp. 227-231)
3. There is a paradox in Durkheim’s views on the relation between the individual and society. On the one
hand, human beings are absolutely dependent upon society, and since religion is society writ large, humans
are absolutely dependent upon their religion. On the other hand, he writes that the existence of gods depends
on human thoughts. What does he mean, and how can we resolve this paradox?
Durkheim: Chap. 12, Secularisation and rationality
1. In the first few pages, Durkheim sketches out an evolutionary development
from highly ritualized religion of “primitive society” to modern European Protestantism. What drives the loss of
ritual and “tradition”?
2. Given Durkheim’s notion that religion symbolizes and helps to unite society, what will happen if religoin
becomes “a smaller and smaller sector of social life”?
- What will happen to morality?
3. According to Durkheim, what is the relation between more “modern” thought and “primitive” thought?
Durkheim: Chap. 5, Forms of social solidarity
1. How does the study of crime and punishment illuminate Durkheim’s general theory of society?
2. How does the evolution of punishment parallel the evolution of religion?
- What changes in society underlie the development of both institutions?
3. (Key point:) Define the categories of mechanical and organic solidarity
Durkheim: Chap. 6, The division of labor …
1. What is the relation between the “collective consciousness” and individualism? How does it change over the
course of social evolution (from “primitive” to “modern” societies)?
2. Can there be a religion of individualism?
- What would be its main features?
- Is this the dominant religion of our society
Durkheim: Chap. 8, Anomie and the moral structure of industry
1. What is anomie?
2. Why is this a danger particularly for modern societies held together by organic solidarity?
Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
1. How does Weber define capitalism?
- How does it differ from ordinary self-interest?
- How does it differ from “traditional economic activity”?
2. According to Weber, how does Protestantism differ from Catholicism?
3. How does the conception of the calling arise in Protestantism?
4. What was the goal of Calvinist religion?
5. What was the doctrine of predestination?
- How does this doctrine affect people’s orientation to labor?
6. In Europe, how did the accumulation of wealth acquire moral and religious significance?
7. What is “worldly asceticism”?
8. What happened to the Protestant ethic after people became wealthy?
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Turner: Ritual Process, chap. 3
1. What is a rite of passage? Describe van Gennep’s 3-stage model
2. How does Turner compare and contrast liminality and structure?
- Why (and when) is liminality necessary?
- Give examples of liminal episodes in contemporary USA society.
3. How do Turner’s view on social structure resemble and differ from those of Durkheim?
Turner: Ritual Process, chaps. 4
1. What are the different types of communitas?
2. What happens when people attempt to live out the ideal of communitas?
3. What do rituals of reversal accomplish? Do they oppose or strengthen social structure?
Turner: Ritual Process, chaps. 5
1. Describe the two kinds of liminality found in rituals of status elevation and status reversal.
2. Why do rituals of status elevation so often involve abasement and humility?
3. some rituals of reversal undermine the dominant structures of society, while others support those
structures. Discuss this contrast.
4. How would Turner analyze societies with blatant conflict and tension? (see p. 190)
Geertz: Thick description
1. What are the differences between thin and thick description?
2. What does Geertz mean by saying that culture is public?
- What conception of culture is arguing against?
3. Given this view of culture, what is the unique contribution of anthropological fieldwork?
Abu-Lughod: The interpretation of culture(s) after television
1. Is it possible to carry out a “thick description” of television as a cultural object?
- Why or why not?
- To attempt this, how must we change the ethnographic method?
2. What general discoveries about Egyptian society does Abu-Lughod make via her ethnography of television?
3. What are Abu-Lughod’s political critiques of Geertzian anthropology?
Rosaldo: Grief and a headhunter’s rage
1. In what ways are anthropologists always “positioned subjects”?
- How does one’s position affect the authority of anthropological description and
theories?
2. What are the classic anthropological approaches to death rituals and why does Rosaldo criticize them?
3.How does Rosaldo describe the force of cultural meanings and rituals?
- How does consideration of the force or intensity of cultural meanings change
our view of culture?
Of the goals of anthropology?
Scheper-Hughes: “The Primacy of the Ethical … “
1. What is her critique of cultural relativism?
2. How does she criticize the usual stance of the anthropologist?
- Is she criticizing objectivity in social science?
- What alternative stance does she propose? How does it relate to the “positioned knowledge”
discussed by Rosaldo?
3. How would anthropologists discern the ethically correct path of action or advocacy?
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Appadurai: Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy
1. What does Appadurai mean when he claims that imagination is a social practice?
- How does a “social practice” differ from … a fantasy, an escape, and elite pastime?
- Provide examples of the “new condition of neighborliness” that characterizes cultural life in today’s
world. .
2. What older model of culture is Appadurai trying to transcend, with his 5 dimensions of cultural flow?
- Define and illustrate the 5 dimensions
-What does he mean when he claims that these 5 flows are “non-isomorphic”?
3. Is the world become more homogenized? (Americanized? MacDonaldized?) Or will forms of ethnic,
religious, and political difference remain important (or even become more pronounced)?
Said: Introduction to Orientalism
1. What are the three definitions of orientalism?
2. Define “civil society” and “hegemony” (and “discourse”)
3. What is the conventional distinction between pure and political knowledge?
How does Said criticize this distinction? According to him, is pure knowledge possible?
Ortner: Thick resistance…
1. What are Ortner’s political critiques of Geertzian anthropology?
2. What are the core religious conceptions (especially the conceptions of “agency”) among the Sherpas?
3. How does Ortner bring together considerations of power and meaning in her analysis?
Foucault: Discipline and Punish (excerpts)
Chapter One : The Body of the Condemned
1. Describe the transformation in punishment that took place bewteeen 1760 and 1840 in Europe and North
America. Discuss the changes in the techniques of punishment, the visibility of punishment, and the object of
punishment. Then, connect these changes to the notions of “power of the sovereign” and “disciplinary
power”.
2. What does Foucault mean when he says, “The expiation that once rained down upon the body must be
replace by a punishment that acts in depth on the heart, the thoughts, the will, the inclincations”? (p. 16)
3. What are the main characteristics of social power that Foucault discusses near the end of this chapter?
How does a particular technology of power symbolically “produce” the person?
Chapter Three: Panopticism
1. Draw a diagram of the panopticon and explain how it functions as a “disciplinary mechanism.”
2. Foucault says that the principle of the panopticon is used “to reform prisoners, to treat patients, to instruct
school children, to confine the insane, to supervise workers [and] to put beggars and idlers to work” (p. 205).
Describe some arenas of the contemporary US that function according to this principle. Supply concrete
details of this disciplinary mechanism in action.
3. Foucault claims that we live in a society of surveillance. He says that this social order operates in ways that
are often invisible and arouse little resistance. Do you agree? Can you think of instances of resistance to
disciplinary power? Are they likely to succeed?
Scott: Domination and the Arts of Resistance
Chap. One:
1. Define the terms public transcript and hidden transcript. What is the difference between personal
protest/rage and a hidden transcript?
2. Why do subordinate groups elaborate a hidden transcript? Why do dominating groups elaborate one?
3. What are the possible consequences when hidden transcripts become openly expressed?
4. Discuss the relationship between Foucault's account of capillary power and Scott's theoretical model. What
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are the specific differences and areas of overlap? (see also pp. 20-21 of chapter 2)
Chap. Two
1. What are the four varieties of political discourse amng subordinate groups cited by Scott?
2. What are the different degrees of hidden or open political discourse among subordinate groups? Why are
their "command performances" a poor guide to the operation of power in social life?
3. Describe some of the (verbal and non-verbal) registers in which people perfomr the public transcript, and
illustrate with examples from contemporary US society.
4. How do fantasies of revenge and destruction lay the groundwork for the hidden transcript?
Chap. Three:
1. Define the terms ideology, hegemony and false consciousness. How do these phenomena reproduce
structures of inequality? What does Scott mean by the "thick" and "thin" versions of the concept of false
consciousness?
2. What is Scott's basic critique of the hegemonic thesis? What evidence does he use to support his critique?
3. What are some of the methodological problems in the social science study of resistance to domination?
4. Explain Scott's argument that "[m]ost acts of power from below, even when they are protests... will largely
observe the 'rules' even if their objective is to undermine them." (p. 93). That is, explain this
paradox: accepting the self-image of the dominant class tends to produce the most effective (and potentially
revolutionary) critiques of the social order.
Ortner: Theory in Anthropology Since the Sixties
1. What are the various ways that anthropologists, beginning the 1980s, defined “practice”? The turn towards
practices argues against what other trends in anthropological theory?
2. What are some of the Marxist influences upon practice theory.
3. Ortner says that the perspective of practice theory represents the middle-ground between two extreme
views of social action: (a) action as the re-enactment of rules vs. (b) action as purely voluntary, individualist,
and heroic. What does she mean by this statement?
Bourdieu: Outline of a Theory of Practice, Chap. 4 (Key: Azal = noon, Return of the azal = start of the
dry season, eddoha = mid-morning, Eddohor = midday prayer)
1. What are some of the collective rhythms in the Algerian village described by Bourdieu? What do they
accomplish, in Durkheimian terms?
2. Define Bourdieu’s notions of “the misrecognition of the arbitrary” (p. 164) and “doxa.”
- Elaborate the contrasts between doxa, orthodoxy, and heterodoxy. Contrast doxa to opinion
3. What must happen for people to question doxa (& awaken to political consciousness)? Give examples.
Berlinerblau: Toward a Sociology of Heresy, Orthodoxy and Doxa
1. What is the definition of heresy? Discus the mutual dependence of heresy and orthodoxy.
2. Why is the heretic more dangerous to the established order than the non-believer?
3. According to Durkheim, what is the social function of the persecution of the heretics?
4. Review the definition of “doxa” from Bourdieu. Describe the heretic and his/her actions in terms of
Bourdieu’s theory.
5. Can the heretic actually question the entire realm of the doxic? What are the limits of social critique carried
out by heretics?
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Instructions for Writing Five-page Take Home Essay
Paul Brodwin, Department of Anthropology, UW-Milwaukee
I. Assemble your notes
After choosing a particular question, make a list of relevant sources you will use in your answer.
Review your syllabus and notes to determine which lectures and readings address the question. Write down all
the relevant sources, and list them in order of priority.
As you re-read the sources, jot down relevant ideas, arguments, and evidence on 3x5 inch file cards.
Copy particular quotations that capture the gist of an author’s argument, and include page numbers for future
reference. Write down your ideas as soon as they develop. The kernel of your answer may start to appear at this
stage, before you have even finished reading all the relevant sources.
II. Organize your paper: start from the middle
Your paper should have three distinct parts: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Start
by organizing the middle section or the body of your paper. In this section, you plunge into the details of the
authors’ arguments and evidence.
With all your file cards in front of you, start to organize your answer. Place the file cards in separate
stacks, each containing the ideas, quotations, and pieces of evidence that support the emerging answer to the
essay question. As you compile these stacks, return to the books, articles, or lecture notes for more information
as needed. The most intense thinking takes place at this stage. You must experiment with different ways to
organize your answer, and using file cards will help. You may need to revise your answer as you consider
different points of view and weigh the supporting evidence.
The organization should follow a strict outline.
A. Major point
1. Subsidiary point
a. Supporting evidence
b. supporting evidence
c. …
2. Subsidiary point
a. Supporting evidence
b. supporting evidence
c. …
B. Major point.
1. Subsidiary point
a. Supporting evidence
b. supporting evidence , etc.
Ideally, the first paragraph of the paper’s body begins with a one-sentence summary of the first
major point, and then moves to a subsidiary point and then supporting evidence. Later paragraphs begin either
with the next major point, or with continuing subsidiary points. (You should also include transitional statements
at the end of the paragraph in order to remind your reader of the big picture. For example, “So far, I have
reviewed the place of women in Nuer society. I will now turn to the links between gender and ecology.”)
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Sticking to this strict outline will help you organize your thoughts. It forces you to state your
main points clearly and succinctly. You will also quickly see if you can actually support your argument.
Outlines reveal where more conceptual development is needed. For example, you may need to break down your
argument into smaller pieces (2 or 3 subsidiary points) in order to make it convincing. Using an outline also
makes the writing process less intimidating. You can accomplish some solid work in a single sitting, and then
come back later to tackle another section.
III. Write the introduction
Write the introduction after you have finished the body of the paper. The introduction
accomplishes several main tasks. It must contain a thesis statement that (a) answers the original question and
(b) orients the reader to everything that follows. It must engage the reader and make them want to know more.
The introduction must also contain a “road map” that lays out the overall shape of your argument.
Examples of road map statements include “In this paper, I will first summarize the claims of Foucault about the
modern prison. Then I will apply these notions to contemporary hospitals. I will explore the strengths but also
the limits of Foucault’s theory.” The thesis statement sometimes fits into a single sentence. But you might also
need to develop it further, in order to structure the rest of your argument.
Now that you have a first draft of most of the paper, extract the thesis statement and all of the
one-sentence major points from body of the paper. Line them up in a row, and read it from start to finish. Does
it sound like a coherent argument? Does each point follow logically from the previous one, and serve to
advance your main idea? If not, more revisions are needed.
IV. Write the conclusion
The final section should restate your thesis. Ideally, the restatement is richer and contains more
subtleties. After all, you have presented a lot of evidence, and now you can sum up your main points and point
out some interesting relationships between them. The best conclusion also (a) acknowledges the limitations of
the paper and (b) poses one or two unanswered questions. Show your readers that you know the real world is
messier than a five-page academic essay. In return, they will consider you a well-informed and mature thinker.
V. Avoid plagiarism
Plagiarism refers to the deliberate use of someone else’s language or ideas without
acknowledging their source. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your source for all particular phrases
and ideas. Obviously, direct repetitions from readings must be placed in quotation marks and attributed (with
the author’s last name, date of publication, and page number, as “Herdt 2006: 18-19”). Plagiarism is the most
serious offense in an academic setting. Any plagiarism in this class will result in a grade of zero points for that
essay. Any student plagiarizing twice will receive an automatic failing grade in the course.
More information about the UWM policy on plagiarism is available at:
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/OSL/DOS/conduct.html
A useful on-line guide to avoiding plagiarism is available at:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/
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Guidelines for in-class peer critique of essay examinations
I. Editorial comments
Attribution of all direct quotations (any consistent style is acceptable).
Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
II. Organization
A. Is there an introduction? What does it accomplish?
i. Provide a roadmap
ii. State the thesis and main points
B. Is there a logical outline?
i. Does the first sentence of each paragraph advance the argument? Could you reconstruct
the entire argument by reading only the first sentences?
ii. Is each major point supported by several pieces of evidence?
C. Does the author provide “mini-summaries” along the way?
D. Is there a substantial conclusion?
i. Does the author acknowledge loose ends or unanswered questions? Does he/she
anticipate possible objections from the reader?
ii. Is the conclusion more complex and/or more comparative than the introduction?
III. Substantive argument
A. Does the author accurately summarize the relevant texts and concepts?
B. Does the author go beyond summaries, by skillful comparison, contrast and critique? Does
the author shine new light on the topic or provide a mere book report?
C. Does the author find the right balance between direct quotations and his/her interpretations?
D. Is there an actual argument in the essay? Does the author devote enough space to each major
part of the argument?
13
Guideline for revising take-home essay examinations
When learning how to write a short scholarly essay, there is no substitute for constant practice
and revisions. As you revise your essay, try to make it worthy of the “positive comments” and to avoid the
critiques listed below.
I. Positive comments – areas of proven accomplishment and writing skill
1. You show a good use of detail and ability to summarize case studies & ethnographic materials.
2. You have written an effective introduction which clearly states your argument.
3. You present a thoughtful review of the material. You show clearly that you have entered the debate
and conversation carried out by the author(s). This essay has the potential of making an original contribution to
our understanding of the topic.
4. You introduce some interesting new perspectives and offer critical insights on the material.
5. The essay is well-organized. You use a good outline, carefully introduce different stages of the
argument, and handle evidence well.
II. Critiques – areas of improvement for the future
1. Break up your prose into shorter paragraphs; make your main points at the beginning or the end of
each paragraph.
2. State the thesis of your paper as an argument, not just a list of topics that you will cover. Say what
particular points you will make about each topic.
3. You do not fully answer key aspects of the question. Your need to present a clear answer to the
question, and if you cannot, say why the question needs to be re-worded to make sense in light of the material.
4. Your essay is too general. You need to delve more deeply into the authors’ case studies and
ethnographic examples. Show how he builds his major points on the basis of concrete examples.
5. The essay ends too abruptly and/or with too many loose ends. You need to develop your conclusion
more, show how it relates to assigned texts or course themes.
6. Although you adequately summarize the authors’ points, you need to go beyond what the text says.
Look at in a more original or critical way.
7. Pay more careful attention to the author’s core concepts and terms. Your essay misstates some key
points or definitions made in the texts.