Comparing Wolf's Short Story and Journal Article in A Thrice Told Tale

Comparing the Short Story and Journal Article

For this course in which we explore how anthropologists differently represent and understand various human cultures, we have begun with a unit centered around Margery Wolf’s A Thrice Told Tale: Feminism, Postmodernism and Ethnographic Responsibility, a highly reflexive consideration of her research on and writing about rural Taiwan.

In A Thrice Told Tale, Wolf juxtaposes a short story, an academic article, and her previously unpublished fieldnotes to reflect upon how she has variously depicted and engaged with the plight of a woman in mid century rural Taiwan as she battles a personal crisis and unsuccessfully attempted to be recognized as a tang ki, or shaman. As an introduction to the discipline of anthropology, the issue of representation, and the nature of social analysis, this work allows for us to strongly focus upon how anthropologist write culture while strongly controlling the range of events being discussed.

In a brief essay of no more than five double-spaced pages, please compare and contrast Wolf’s short story and her journal article, as presented and discussed in A Thrice Told Tale, and consider both what one or the other form of writing allows Wolf to do (or to do better) and why that particular undertaking is significant, interesting, or valuable. In composing essays, make sure that they have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction should frame your paper, clearly present a thesis statement, and provide a roadmap of the essay’s body. The body should consist of several paragraphs that develop and substantiate the thesis statement by presenting supporting evidence drawn from course readings. The conclusion should reassert the paper’s main argument and offer some reflection on its significance.

Place name and submission date in a header on each page and page number in a footer.

Place a title at the top of page one, and include a reference list at the end the document.

These lines do not count towards the page limit, and they need not be placed on separate pages.

For the reference list, refer to American Anthropological Association Style Guide

Use either of the standard fonts Times or Times New Roman; double-space all material except for block quotes; and maintain one inch margins on all sides.

Use a system of parenthetical citation when paraphrasing, quoting, or referring to the work of others.

Refer to American Anthropological Association Style Guide

Write for an imagined audience that is interested in this topic but may not be familiar with the materials addressed in class. Do not assume the reader’s knowledge of particular ethnographic facts about Tawian and the tang-ki, instead present that information in support of your argument.

To facilitate stronger thesis statements and the use of more active language, feel free to write from a first person position, i.e., “In this paper, I argue that. I demonstrate this by examining/addressing/considering. I believe that this is significant because.

Convert all essays to a pdf format and upload to Canvas