So far we have started with a general interpretation and then considered specific evidence that might support or weaken it. Today we will move the other direction, beginning with a particular text or image from our period and then working to place it in a larger context.
Go through the material on today's web site and pick an artifact
(i.e. an image, idea, or short quote) that you find particularly interesting and that you think
is a particularly good place to start thinking about the issues your team
is working on today.
In your presentation
1) Present a thesis that
places the text, idea, or image in the broader context of late 19th
century Parisian culture.
2) Describe the item
that you are focusing on and explain
how it would be useful in making the crucial points in your
thesis.
3) Provide an outline of
the hypothetical paper with an indication of what kind of evidence
(from this and from previous days) that you would use to support
each point.
4) Compose the first paragraph of hypothetical paper,
including a reference to your central item.
Focus #1
The sense of decline associated
with the term "Fin de Siècle"
|
Focus #2
The role of science in late 19th
century French views of race and inequality
|
Focus #3
The role of colonialism in late
nineteenth Parisian culture |
Focus #4
The increased role of mysticism
and decadence in Parisian culture in the late 19th century
|