Additional questions for discussion/possible talkback paper topics

• What is the “ideal culture” of NTHS?  What lessons come from the football rituals, the “real culture” of NTHS; i.e the game itself, politics, race, gender...?

• Why did Trujillo quit coaching and leave Northtown? What does this tell us about race and power in Northtown?

• What does Foley believe to be the “cultural significance” of “rituals of inversion” (p.49) like the powder-puff football game?  Are there parallels in other societies we’ve studied, at LHS?

• What is the relationship between inversion rituals and power hierarchies?

• How did “impression management” play out at NTHS? “Those youths who aspired to be socially prominent had to master this cultural contradiction.  In response, they learned to live dual public and private….” (p.62) How does it play out at LHS?

• Foley states“...schools are a site of popular culture practices that stage social inequality.” (p.27)  How does football prove this thesis?

• Other key issues, questions, ideas or themes that come out of “The Great American Football Ritual”?

The goal of a talkback paper is to take an issue and fully explore it - using material from LCC, Not Just a Game, your own experiences, etc.  It’s not a long or overly formal paper; the key is a critical perspective and a willingness to ask questions:  what do I think, why do I think that way, what evidence do I have?  

Look over (as in skim, jump around, read selections that intrigue you closely) the introduction and chapter 1:  from this and the information gleaned in the connections activity:

IN ONE PARAGRAPH: what is the ethnographic present, the time period, location political and ethnic context, of Learning Capitalist Culture? 

from "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" by Jean Anyon

From the role play: select one question and respond:

• who do you think “won” in real life?  think about your own school, or schools you’ve attended - whose vision of schooling prevailed?
• critique the superintendent’s position - or the position of one of the groups, including your own
• remain in character and write about your children’s future in Central City Schools

From the reading, “...the Hidden Curriculum of Work”:  read and annotate:

• what are the basic differences between the schools?
• are there connections between the role play and this article, where?
• where would you place Lincoln?  
• is this true for all courses or does the teaching style vary (by grade, or by course, etc)?
• have you had additional educational experiences that either support or negate Anyon’s study; when, where?

Remember, our test is on Thursday. You may use your works cited sheet, and remember the paper commentary we discussed in class.

• what's the question asking:  what's going on?
• What aspects of culture connect to the question?
• What groups have we studied that exemplify the question?
• What sources show this?
• Which (the sources) have an ethnographic present of...?
• +/- of source 

Iraq in Fragments Director's commentary and questions for discussion on Tuesday, February 9.

The Invention of Marriage