cultural and historical/Bernard Lewis book What went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, Oxford University Press, 2001
Analyze.
Due to serious and relevant world events, and the general lack of knowledge of the cultural and historical issues involved, I would like every student to read the Bernard Lewis book What went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, Oxford University Press, 2001 (available through UVU Library in both hard copy and ebook) or What went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East, Harper Collins, 2002. It will be read as the 1st Book Analysis.
The main difference between the two appears to be that The Clash Between Islam… contains a new afterword that addresses September 11th and its aftermath,
Paperback copies of both books should be available for purchase through sources such as Amazon.
For the other 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.
POTENTIAL 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.
o economic systems
o marriage and family systems
o educational systems
o social control systems
o supernatural belief systems
o 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?
o What are some of the potential consequences of not understanding this culture/society and making ethnocentric judgments without realizing they are ethnocentric?
o Are there questions you would like answered about the people/culture that do not appear in the book?
o Was this book interesting to you? Why or why not?
o 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:
o Typos
o Redundancy
o Grammar
o Passive vs. active voice
o Word choice
o Flow
o Persuasiveness
o Use the APA style in your paper
REQUIRED BOOK FOR BOOK ANALYSIS #1 (You will be able to choose a book from a list for your second book analysis)
ISLAMIC WORLD
• Bernard Lewis book What went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, Oxford University Press, 2001 (available through UVU Library in both hard copy and ebook)or What went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East, Harper Collins, 2002
Suggested Culture-Oriented Book List FOR BOOK ANALYSIS #2 (There will be a separate assignment for Book Analysis #2 given later in the course).
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), IsadoreBarmach
• 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), ChaimPotok
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), AsneSeierstad
• THE KITE RUNNER (2005), A THOUSAND SPLENDED SUNS (2008), KhledHosseini
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), RachidMimouni
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), RohintonMistry
• SHANTARAM (2003), Gregory David Roberts
IRANIAN
• READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN (2003), AzarNafisi
• 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), JacoboTimerman
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), AlpayKabacali
• CLASSIC FAIRY TALES FROM ANCIENT PALESTINE AND JORDAN (1995), Hikmat Ben Odeh
• FAIRY TALES (1950), E. E. Cummings