HIST 482B Response Questions

HIST 482B Spring 2011 General Instructions on the Response Assignments
** Unless the instructions say otherwise, please answer all the questions for any given response assignment in this class. A good answer will consist of about 5-7 thoughtful sentences per question and will draw specific examples from the assigned readings. Whenever possible, write down specific page numbers in parentheses. This will help you later with class discussion and with the essays. Responses may be typed or hand-written, and they must be ready by the start of class on the date due.

History 482B Spring 2011 Response One (based on Levine and Kasson)

1. What does Levine mean when he argues that popular culture audiences are not “passive”? If audiences are not passive, what are they doing? Identify two specific, interesting examples in Levine’s article that illustrate his argument about active audiences.

2. Apply Levine’s argument to Kasson’s evidence. To what extent does Kasson’s evidence on Coney Island support Levine’s argument about the active role of audiences in popular culture? To what extent does Kasson’s evidence perhaps contradict Levine?

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Two (based on Kasson)

1. In how many different ways did the old genteel culture associated with the White City and Central Park differ from the new mass culture of Coney Island?

2. What were the main critiques of Coney Island, as voiced by critical observers such as Huneker, Bliven, Addams, and Gorky? Which of these critiques do you find most compelling or persuasive? Which do you find least compelling?

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Three (based on Rubin/Melnick)

1. In their book’s introduction, why are Rubin and Melnick so interested in the concept of masks and masking? How does the idea of masking appear in their argument for Chapter 1? In particular, what do they argue about secrets and “gangster masquerade”?

2. In what ways did early gangster movies represent a rejection of mainstream “American” values? In what ways did they embrace American values and the process of immigrants assimilating into the mainstream?

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Four (based on Butsch, and Adorno/Horkheimer))

1. According to Butsch, how did audiences exercise their own aesthetic and political views while attending movies in the 1920s and 1930s? When audiences became more passive in the 1930s, do you think this shift was a good development, or did it make movie-going more oppressive?

Context for Question 2: In the 1920s and 1930s, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer were both members of the “Frankfurt School,” a Marxist research institute in Frankfurt, Germany. Given their leftist politics and Jewish backgrounds, they both fled Germany upon the rise of the Nazis in 1933. Both spent most of World War II in Los Angeles. When they wrote the essay that we are reading, they were part of a sizable group of anti-Nazi German exiles centered around Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. Their writing can be difficult. If you do not understand a sentence after a second reading, I suggest that you move on to the next sentence. Don’t give up! You’ll figure out their overall meaning if you keep at it.

2. According to Adorno and Horkheimer, how does mass culture and the “culture industry” deprive people of true happiness and liberation? Select and briefly explain one of their ideas or examples that you found to be a particularly persuasive critique of mass culture. Then think of an idea or example (either from their essay or from your own knowledge) that offers a more optimistic view of mass culture. Are you mostly on Adorno and Horkheimer’s side, or do you mostly disagree with them?

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Five (based on Rubin/Melnick Ch2 & Escobedo)

1. Drawing on Rubin/Melnick and Escobedo, how can we use popular culture to better understand the everyday life of American women and men during World War II? Using pop culture as our window into the past, to what extent did the demands of the war influence ordinary Americans’ lives on the home front?

2. To what extent did zoot suit culture and fashion help its youthful Mexican-American practitioners obtain the good life? (How you define the “good life” is up to you.) Draw on both readings, and present ideas on both sides of this debate, while still making clear what your overall view is.

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Six (based on Rubin/Melnick Ch3)

1. In what ways, if any, did West Side Story assist Puerto Ricans seeking the good life in the United States? In what ways, if any, did West Side Story hurt their efforts? On the whole, do you see more good than harm, or more harm than good?

2. Select two different ideas or examples from different parts of Chapter 3 that you found particularly interesting. Explain why you found each of the two sections so interesting. (Use your creativity, but be sure to link each of your two Ch. 3 selections from to one of our core class questions in the syllabus. Also be sure not to repeat an idea that you covered in Question 1.)

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Seven (based on Douglas, 3-138)

1. Using entirely your own words, write a sentence (or two at most) that gives the thesis of the book. Hint: try to do this just by reading the book’s introduction.

2. On page 9, Douglas describes popular culture as “porous.” What does she mean by this? Drawing on Chapters 1 through 6, identify and explain two specific examples that illustrate what she means?

3. According to Douglas, what is the significance of the Shirelles and the Beatles for U.S. women’s history?

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Eight (based on Douglas, 3-138)

1. What is Douglas’s argument about “perky” and “magical” female characters in Chapters 5 and 6? To what extent does Douglas persuade you on this particular argument?

2. Imagine that you were having a conversation with Douglas about either Levine or Adorno/Horkheimer. What do you think she’d say about them? Try to be as specific as possible and make specific references to the various readings.

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Nine (based on Douglas, 139-307)

1. Based on chapters 7 through 10, why didn’t the media, especially newscasters and TV show creators, offer a more sympathetic take on feminism? How does Douglas answer this question? What do you think of her interpretation?

2. Douglas wrote her book in 1994. Considering both the present day and chapters 11 and 12 and the epilogue, do you think images of women and feminism in the media changed radically in the last seventeen years? Or are Douglas’s last chapters still basically accurate?

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Ten (based on Douglas, 139-307)

1. On page 260, Douglas wrote, “one of capitalism’s greatest strengths—perhaps its greatest—is its ability to co-opt and domesticate opposition, to transubstantiate criticism into a host of new, marketable products.” How do the concepts of co-optation and appropriation appear in the second half of her book? Are you persuaded by her critique of the media’s co-optation and appropriation?

2. How does Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video compare to pop culture examples that Douglas interprets in her book? In what ways is the video similar to examples or ideas that she discusses in the book? Does the video make an interesting contrast to anything that she discusses?
Note: You can find the ten-minute video on YouTube. It features Beyoncé and starts, significantly perhaps, in a women’s prison. Even if you do not write an answer this question, please view the video before class to help with discussion.

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Eleven (based on Rubin/Melnick Ch4)

1. After reading chapter four, to what extent did you admire or identify with the “young white hippies” for their interest in India and the “East”? To what extent did they disturb or disappoint you?

2. Select two different ideas or examples from different parts of Chapter 4 that you found particularly interesting. Explain why you found each of the two sections so interesting. (Use your creativity, but be sure to link each of your two Ch. 4 selections from to one of our core class questions in the syllabus. Also be sure not to repeat an idea that you covered in Question 1.)

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Twelve (based on Rubin/Melnick Ch5)

Note: It’s ok to skip pages 184-196 in Chapter 5.

1. What is “bricolage,” and how is it different from “authenticity” in music? Why did DJ Kool Herc prefer bricolage? If you were a musician, would you prefer working in a bricolage style or in an authentic/traditional style?

2. Select two different ideas or examples from different parts of Chapter 5 that you found particularly interesting. Explain why you found each of the two sections so interesting. (Use your creativity, but be sure to link each of your two Ch. 5 selections from to one of our core class questions in the syllabus. Also be sure not to repeat an idea that you covered in Question 1.)

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Thirteen (based on Watson, Petterson, & Condry)

1. What does Watson mean by “localization”? What was your favorite example of localization in his article? Then turn to Condry's article and identify and explain at least one example of localization in Japanese rap music.

2. According to Petterson, what were the different reasons that the French government passed the Pelchat Amendment? If you were French, would you support or oppose this policy?

History 482B Spring 2011 Response Fourteen (based on R&M 217-47, Kun, & Seago)

1. Are personal computers and high-speed internet services making popular culture more or less capable of bringing people true happiness and liberation? Answer by drawing on Seago, R&M 217-47, and any of your own personal experiences or examples.

2. Select two different ideas or examples from different parts of Kun’s article that you found particularly interesting. Explain why you found each of the two sections so interesting. (Use your creativity, but be sure to link each of your two selections from to one of our core class questions in the syllabus.