Life of the Late George Vason of Nottingham

The first text is a primary source, written in the 19th century. We’re reading a short excerpt:
George Vason, Life of the Late George Vason of Nottingham: One of the Troop of Missionaries First Sent to the
South Sea Islands by the London Missionary Society, 1796
The second text is a secondary source, written more recently Please read this in entirety, paying particular
attention to both discussion of tapa cloths and consideration of material culture more broadly:
Jenny Newell, “Exotic Possessions: Polynesians and their Eighteenth-Century Collecting,” Journal of Museum
Ethnography (2005).
After reading/viewing all unit materials and reading the two articles above (George Vason’s diary account and
Jenny Newell’s article), and using strategies for critical reading, answer the following questions. You may
answer them as a series of short answer questions or organize your responses into an essay. For either option
you must answer all questions completely and in your own words (no block quoting or paraphrasing). Please
proofread and edit your answers for clarity. Your full essay answering all of the questions should be between
500-700 words for all answers combined (be aware that some questions will require longer responses than
others).
Who is the intended audience for the diary account? How do you know (what clues does the author give)? How
would the observations in this account be told differently from the point of view of a person from the islands he
is visiting? Do you think his assessment of the Tongan people is fair and unbiased? Why or why not?
Who is the audience of Newell’s text? How do you know (what clues does she give)? What perspectives is she
avoiding in her article?
What is Jenny Newell’s main argument? How does she prove this with evidence or in the organization of her
text? Be specific about your examples.
How are trade and collecting described in Newell’s text? How were collections at the time related to individual
taste? Was this the same in both Europe and Polynesia? How does her article help us think about collecting
practices in both Europe and Polynesia? Give specific examples from the article to prove your points.
Do the images (Plates 1-9) in Newell’s text enhance or detract from her argument? Do they clarify her point or
do they bring up additional questions?
How do these two texts add complexity to our understanding of Polynesian material culture? How does it help
to know how tapa were made and looked like, and how objects were used? Why is it important to look carefully
at both primary source material and later interpretive sources when discussing art and culture?