Assignment

Write a 5-7 page cultural analysis about the culture or subculture addressing the information in the prompt above. You must use APA format for this paper.

Support your analysis with quoted or paraphrased examples and details from the book as well as your additional relevant research about this cultural group

Cultural Analysis

PROMPT: Conduct an analysis of the culture represented in the book you selected at the beginning of the semester. Support your analysis with quoted or paraphrased examples and details from the book as well as your additional relevant research about this cultural group. Your analysis should include the following subtopics:

1. Cultural Aspects: Define cultural and/or subcultural differences including, but not limited to, those of class, gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, nationality, ability, age, language, appearance, and exception. Clearly describe the culture you are analyzing, including cultural norms and traditions.

2. Cultural Styles: Identify differences in cultural styles, communication, decision making, problem solving and distress responses the group may experience.

3. Privilege: Identify instances of cultural privilege the culture experiences. Analyze the impact of privilege in U.S. multicultural relationships (i.e., group membership rewards, cultural advantages and disadvantages). Discuss gender differences (i.e., roles and expectations, communication and behavior patterns, impact on esteem, gender resources and assets). Identify cultural experiences of limitation (i.e., devaluation, invisibility, discrimination and marginalization).

4. Power: Analyze the effects of privilege, power, and limitation on the relationships and achievements of individuals and cultures in the United States society (i.e., access and control of resources, interactions across lines of power, assessing needs across diverse cultural and subcultural groups, creating openness to diverse perspectives). Identify mutually satisfying resolutions the cultural group strives to accomplish (commitment to common goal, giving and sharing of privilege and power, empowerment).

FORMAT:

1. Write a 5-7 page cultural analysis about the culture or subculture addressing the information in the prompt above. You must use APA format for this paper.

2. Use direct examples from the book to help illustrate your conclusions. Follow APA citation guidelines. APA guides can be found at the SCC Writing Center and CPD 160 Library Research Guide websites found under the Class Resources module.

3. Include an APA style references page; however, you do not have to include an abstract in your paper.

4. Research two other sources to provide further evidence of your findings or to address concepts not found in your book. Use the CPD 150 Library Research Guide and Gayle Virtual Reference Library found under the Class Resources module.

ASSESSMENT: See the Cultural Analysis Rubric for scoring criteria and point values. Here are some helpful tips to ensure your success on this paper:

• Use your rubric as a checklist before you submit your final paper.

• Re-read this assignment handout several times throughout your writing process to make sure you are writing to the prompt.

• Use OWL at Purdue to help you with your APA formatting and to view sample APA-formatted papers.

• Have a tutor in the SCC Writing Center review your paper before you turn it in.

• Submit your almost-finished draft to turnitin.com to check your similarity index well before you submit your final paper. You can check your "similarity index" to make sure you haven't accidently lifted material you didn't write and/or filled your paper with too many quotations and not enough analysis.

RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS:

• Review the concepts and terms in the CPD 160 Outline listed below competencies in this handout. These are the concepts that must be reflected in your paper and can be effective categories to help you organize your research notes.

• Use the SCC Writing Center, CPD 160 Library Research Guide and OWL websites to assist you. This information can be found under the Writing Assignments and Tutoring and Doing Research links under the Class Resources Module. Sample APA papers are also provided under the Class Resources Module.

• You are required to post your paper to turnitin.com to check for plagiarism of your paper. If your similarity index is too high (over 15%), make adjustments by paraphrasing more and cutting the length of your direct quotes from the book and your research. A paper this length should contain no more than two longer quotes (three or four lines, for example). Longer quotes require long quote formatting.

2. Describe and analyze, in writing, personal thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors regarding cultural diversity in the United States. (I, II)

3. Assess personal values, issues, experiences, and environmental influences related to multiculturalism. (I, II)

4. Identify instances of cultural privilege and power, and write an analysis of their effects on the relationships and achievements of individual and cultures in United States society. (II)

Course Outline Concepts Reflected in Course Competencies 2, 3, and 4: These are the concepts that you should embed or be reflected in your cultural analysis of your specific group or subgroup.

I. Multicultural Awareness

• Visible and invisible cultural elements
• Cultural patters of thought behavior, assumptions, values, orientations, and adaptations
• Differences in cultural styles, communication decision making, problem solving and distress response
• Diversity within diversity
• Conditioned responses
• Psychological dimensions
• Bias and perspective
• Cultural and subcultural influence on behavior
• Cultural differences in norms and expectations
• Identifying personal responses
• Personal values regarding cultural diversity
• Ethnocentrism of cultural comparisons

II. Impact of Privilege and Power in U.S. Multicultural Relationships

1. Gender differences (including roles and expectations, communication and behavior patterns, aspects of privilege, aspects of power, impact on esteem, gender resources and assets)

2. Cultural experiences of limitation (detecting devaluation, invisibility, discrimination, marginalization)

3. Privilege (group rewards; cultural and subcultural advantages and disadvantages)

4. Power (access and control of resources, interactions across lines of power, assessing needs across diverse cultural and subcultural groups, creating openness to diverse perspectives)

5. Mutually satisfying resolutions (commitment to common goal, giving and sharing of privilege and power, empowerment).