. 13:21:37 tichure : Hey there Ranin… hows the paper coming along 13:22:03 tichure : an questions about you resources or the crits you want to apply 13:23:19 Ranin : Hi! and good I need to edit it now, paper 1 13:23:40 Ranin : I do have a question on cultural criticism 13:24:10 tichure : please go ahead 13:25:03 Ranin : so far I did historical, Marxist. one of the 2 I'm looking to add is cultural, can I do that if I did historical? 13:25:18 Ranin : I'm doing Dear Mama 13:26:23 tichure : in short, yes 13:26:30 tichure : which culture 13:26:35 Ranin : Also, for cultural do I talk about the African American culture and how it influenced its people 13:26:38 tichure : Cultural criticism is not a description of the culture 13:26:44 tichure : no that’s not cultural criticism 13:26:55 tichure : cultural criticism is a discussion as to how a specific culture that you identify would translate the work 13:27:05 tichure : if you were to translate this from African-American culture, that is too broad 13:27:13 tichure : because there are African-Americans who are raised in the environment described here 13:27:21 tichure : and those who were not raised in that environment and do not share the same beliefs as the speaker 13:27:43 tichure : cultural criticism is going to force you to narrow down that cultural viewpoint in order to discuss whether or not they agree with the claim made in the song that the woman who is described is a good mother 13:27:48 tichure : and this has to do with religious belief 13:27:54 tichure : socioeconomic status 13:27:56 tichure : etc. 13:28:34 tichure : so if you were to translate this from a middle-class conservatively religious African-American culture, are they going to agree that a woman who has sex and children out of wedlock with different men, suffers from a drug problem, and raises a convicted felon as a child is a good mother? 13:28:51 tichure : Because they do not live in the world that the narrator is exploring and explaining 13:29:00 Ranin : true no 13:29:15 tichure : if you’re simply going to explain the realities of living in the world that is described in the song, that is not cultural criticism. That description of the cultural experience is historical criticism 13:29:45 tichure : statistical information that identifies the rates of poverty and drug use and incarceration and single parenthood is historical criticism. 13:29:55 tichure : Cultural criticism is an OPINION expressed about the work by the culture that you’ve identified 13:30:09 tichure : and you use their belief systems as expressed by them to then extrapolate how they would feel about what the song claims 13:30:12 tichure : do you see the difference 13:30:20 Ranin : So can I talk about low class-single African American mothers 13:30:28 tichure : that is a culture 13:30:33 tichure : would respond to the song 13:31:04 tichure : somebody who was raised in poverty understands the necessity for doing things in order to survive, including breaking the law 13:31:19 tichure : certainly they have a different viewpoint on survival compared to those who have not experienced that kind of desperation 13:31:39 Ranin : and I would find research to support it? like people who have dealt with a similar life 13:31:41 tichure : were also that you are required to have an analysis that it DISAGREES with the editorial of the song 13:31:43 tichure : that is correct 13:32:13 tichure : and therefore you would likely find a culture that is to be fundamentally different from that of the culture described in the song in order to show how they would disagree with what the song claims 13:32:18 Ranin : would that be one of the 4 perspectives? 13:32:33 tichure : can you think of a group, identified either by culture, religion or occupation that would say that the woman here is actually a bad mother 13:32:35 tichure : that is correct 13:33:17 tichure : that is why I don’t allow people to do a cultural criticism from impoverished African-Americans and Marxist criticism on the first paper. Those two translations are actually quite similar although they use different secondary sources. The Marxist criticism uses resources concerning the author’s opinions. The cultural criticism uses resources that express the opinions of an entire group of people, not the author 13:33:18 Ranin : umm like a middle class white woman 13:33:38 tichure : but on the final paper, yes you can do both the cultural response from people who live in that environment, who are likely going to largely agree with what the author says, and a Marxist criticism which is explaining exactly what the author says 13:33:46 tichure : more specific than that 13:33:57 tichure : many women would understand the experience of being abandoned by the man who fathered their children 13:34:15 tichure : you’re looking for a cultural identity that has clear and defined rules that are easy for you to find 13:34:21 tichure : that’s why I encourage people to choose religions 13:34:28 tichure : because they clarify their points 13:34:31 tichure : as to what is okay and not okay 13:35:01 tichure : think of a particular job in which people who perform that job have to deal with the results of the lifestyle that is described here 13:35:10 tichure : and they see the damage that results from this particular lifestyle 13:35:26 tichure : and their job is to address it on behalf of society 13:36:00 tichure : so for your example, you would choose middle-class white women who believe… What 13:36:26 tichure : and when you narrow it down a bit more, you will have a clear idea as to what they think about drug use, drug sales, extramarital sex, raising children with only one parent, welfare etc. 13:36:39 tichure : political parties are also good for this 13:36:49 tichure : Republicans have a very clear view on all of these issues 13:36:52 tichure : as do Democrats. 13:36:56 tichure : As do libertarians 13:36:59 tichure : and they’re all different 13:37:21 tichure : and by honing in on the specific cultural viewpoint, it makes it EASIER to find the material you need and of course it makes it a lot easier to identify what they would think about the issues 13:37:42 tichure : and of course the purpose is for you to write a cohesive, logical paper. The more specific you are in your choice of culture, frankly, the easier it is to write the essay 13:37:47 tichure : because you have fewer gray areas 13:38:08 tichure : for example, can you think of a group that might look at this description and say this woman needs to be put in jail and her children need to be taken away from her 13:39:39 Ranin : Tupac was Muslim so I'm going to find a religion that would disagree with his acts 13:40:04 tichure : nothing he talks about is anything to do with his religion. Nothing that he does fits within a religious context. He never mentions religion in the song 13:40:10 tichure : cultural criticism does not take into account who the actual person was 13:40:15 tichure : cultural criticism does not know who the actual person was 13:40:23 Ranin : Yeah I'm a bit confused 13:40:25 tichure : they would not even recognize that this is autobiographical 13:40:43 tichure : instead, you’re looking for information as to what the particular culture believes about the ISSUES that are brought up in the song 13:40:45 tichure : in fact, 13:40:52 tichure : what do conservative Muslims think about women having sex outside of marriage? 13:41:07 tichure : what do conservative Muslims think about drug use 13:41:15 Ranin : against it 13:41:51 tichure : what do conservative Muslims think about drug sales 13:42:00 tichure : what do conservative Muslims think about people who break state laws 13:42:15 tichure : what do conservative Muslims think about women who leave their children alone unattended 13:42:19 Ranin : They think it is a foul act 13:42:32 tichure : so from a conservative Muslim cultural perspective, do they agree or disagree with the song 13:42:38 Ranin : disagree 13:42:44 tichure : what would you use as resources 13:43:10 tichure : you’re not likely to find an essay written from a conservative Muslim perspective about the song specifically 13:43:23 tichure : but you will find essays and articles and presentations from the conservative Muslim perspective about the ISSUES that are in the song 13:43:34 tichure : and you use that information to then tell us what they would think about whether they agree or disagree with what the song says 13:43:39 tichure : they are not going to discuss the author 13:43:53 tichure : they are not going to discuss this guy because they don’t care about this guy and they don’t know who the author is or why he wrote this 13:44:15 tichure : they are simply looking at the document, the song itself, that makes a claim. The claim is that the woman described is a good mother. You then use their belief system to say either they agree or disagree 13:44:18 Ranin : this would all fall under a cultural perspective 13:44:23 tichure : and your resources are going to be material from conservative Muslim websites 13:44:28 tichure : and of course the Koran itself 13:44:30 tichure : yes 13:44:42 tichure : if you were to choose a conservative Christian perspective, you would use conservative Christian websites and the Bible 13:44:51 tichure : and of course it would likely be the same response to the song of the conservative Muslim has 13:45:02 tichure : not really a big surprise since both groups stemmed from the same cultural milieu 13:45:19 tichure : and their stances on sex and drugs and other behaviors are pretty much the same across the board 13:45:32 Ranin : wouldn't this also be a perspective where I'm disagreeing with the song 13:45:32 tichure : they probably would agree that one should have respect for one’s parents 13:45:51 tichure : so they may like the notion that this guy respects his mother, but they may also have a problem with the lack of respect for the father 13:45:53 tichure : yes 13:45:59 tichure : and you can find cultures that would completely agree with the work 13:46:08 tichure : for example,\ 13:46:50 tichure : while Republicans would largely disagree with this because they not only have a problem with illegal drug use and sales, and parents who raise felons, they also do not agree that women should be raising children without a father and they also, depending on how conservative that Republican is, have religious objections to the mother having sex and children outside of marriage 13:47:21 tichure : libertarians, on the other hand, do not think that we should provide for people who cannot provide for themselves. They are against both public schools and welfare 13:47:32 tichure : the Republican is also generally against welfare by the way 13:47:45 tichure : but the libertarian does not believe there should be laws against drugs either 13:48:04 tichure : which means they would not have a problem with this guy selling drugs in order to survive. They would rather that he sold drugs then take welfare 13:48:42 tichure : whatever culture you decide to translate this from, you have to keep in mind that you are focusing on the issues 13:48:44 tichure : not the guy 13:48:50 tichure : because no cultural criticism discusses the author personally 13:48:57 tichure : it discusses whether or not they like the song 13:49:02 tichure : and the claims made in the song 13:49:05 tichure : does that make sense 13:49:30 tichure : you can have a cultural translation in one paragraph that fully disagrees with the song 13:49:38 tichure : you can have a different cultural translation in a different paragraph that agrees with the song 13:49:49 Ranin : okay yes it does 13:49:53 tichure : which means, going back to your first example, you could choose two different African-American groups as two different cultural translations 13:50:09 tichure : the difference would be is that one African-American group, raised in poverty, living the life that is described here, might completely understand and be okay with what the narrator says 13:50:27 Ranin : But it would still be counted as 1 or 2 perspectives? Because I know we need 4 and I have 2 already 13:50:30 tichure : and you would find another African-American group, raised in a very strongly conservative religious environment, one that does not live in that urban environment, that would completely disagree with much of what is said 13:50:56 tichure : each cultural perspective is a different translation 13:51:01 tichure : because you’re coming from a different cultural viewpoint 13:51:12 tichure : theoretically, your paper could be four different cultural translations 13:51:21 tichure : as long as they are all different, they are all separate translations 13:51:35 tichure : so yes, your two remaining critical perspectives could both be cultural perspectives 13:51:40 tichure : the police are a culture 13:51:42 Ranin : ohhhh ok 13:51:53 tichure : Department of Social Services as a culture 13:52:04 tichure : gangs are a culture 13:52:12 tichure : criminals or culture 13:52:15 tichure : criminals are a culture 13:52:33 tichure : a culture is simply defined as a group of individuals who are United under a BELIEF system 13:52:48 tichure : you identify the culture 13:52:54 tichure : you find what THEY think about these issues 13:53:03 tichure : and then you translate the work using those beliefs as the guidelines 13:53:13 tichure : if you cannot find the material about what the group believes, don’t use that culture as an analysis 13:53:23 tichure : do you see how that works 13:54:01 tichure : by the way, there is a culture of hip-hop artists who speak specifically about this song and its impact on how they feel about themselves and how they feel about the authors message 13:54:32 Ranin : yes I'm slowly but surely getting it now lol 13:54:39 tichure : one of the translations will be in opposition to the point made by the song, but you can choose a culture that would completely or at least partially agree with the song As well 13:55:57 tichure : but just to clarify the point, a white kid that is raised in poverty by a single mother and who drops out of school and resorts to crime in order to survive in an environment that offers few options for survival has more in common with the narrator of the song than an upper-middle-class African-American who is a conservative Muslim or Christian 13:56:56 tichure : so start either with the notion you’re going to find a culture that agrees with the song or a culture that disagrees with the song and try to find resources from that group that talk about the issues depicted here in the song and you will have the material you need for a cultural perspective 13:57:12 tichure : do them one at a time so that you are focused on either being critical of the song or being supportive of the song in that cultural translation 13:58:03 Ranin : Okay, thank you professor 13:58:23 tichure : you got it. Once you start doing some research, and you have landed on the cultural identity, we can then talk about it in order to help you clarify your points 13:58:31 tichure : so do some research. 13:58:45 tichure : Obviously, you can run with some of the ideas in terms of culture that we’ve talked about here or you may come up with some on your own 13:59:10 tichure : but the real litmus test is whether or not you can find information about that group’s beliefs on those particular issues. Gang members don’t necessarily do a whole lot of writing or setting up websites that explain their viewpoints. 13:59:23 tichure : Religions and political groups are very commonly presenting their opinions for everyone else to see, which makes them good choices 13:59:41 tichure : but if you get into Ebscohost, there are essays and articles written by and about all kinds of cultural groups that would be helpful here 14:00:00 tichure : so check it out and then we can have a conversation about what you found and how we can make that into your next arguments. 14:00:18 tichure : Anything else I can help you with? 14:00:41 Ranin : sounds good, and nope that's it thank you 14:00:53 tichure : Excellent. Have a lovely day and will talk again 14:01:03 tichure : Poof