The Assignment

Embedded stories inform our culture. Told again and again, they become master narratives—blueprints to follow when structuring and telling our own stories. These scripts must evolve as time passes and our environment shifts. The evolution of our stories doesn’t erase what they meant in the past. Instead, new meaning is layered onto an older understanding. The stories we tell draw from those that we’ve heard, and like it or not, we infuse them with memories passed down through generations of story-tellers.

But, our stories do change. More science, attention to different perspectives, greater empathy, and sharper challenges to unconscious beliefs, leads to a critical understanding of ourselves and others.

So…look at a changing story, describe how the story has changed, ask yourself why the story has changed, and think about what might still be there, but unspoken. Consider the way we talk about HIV/AIDS. Most of us have a different understanding of the virus than the one depicted by this 1987 headline. We don’t call it “gay cancer”. We advocate for research, awareness, and prevention. There are walk-a-thons, research teams, fundraisers, and much better treatment options. We express empathy for the afflicted. HIV/AIDS even has its own ribbon (red). But…have we really overcome the fear instilled by the initial depiction? Have we totally shed our conflation of HIV/AIDS and some form of immorality? Is the stigma gone?

You can answer that question yourself (if you don’t know the answer already) with a quick search of key words: “HIV”, “stigma”, and “discrimination.”

Or, consider how in-vitro fertilization was introduced at inception. Is that a sci-fi movie? Nope. It’s Time magazine layering this imagery onto babies conceived in this way. As Justin James writes:

Directly in the center of this image is the human cell colored in orange, floating in a purple-pink liquid in a test tube. The cell is in the foreground with a white halo in its background. This creates foreign and mystical undertones to the cell; it is something that is not of this world. The purple liquid in the test-tube adds to this unnaturalness. … Encompassing the human cell in this color adds to the differences of the cell to the natural world. The relaxed, metallic hands pointing to the cell continue to add to the unnaturalness of this process. Metallic characteristics are not natural to humans. Having these hands, especially without an identity, emphasizes the foreign and alien nature of test-tube babies.”

Images are powerful. Their direct and implied messages are internalized easily (and relatively uniformly) among people with common culture. However, they aren’t the only place to look for shifting narratives. Think about how language has shifted with the inception of disability advocacy groups. Lizzo and Beyonce have both experienced backlash after using the ableist term “spazz” in songs. Other words, like “queer,” have been have been reclaimed by the historically marginalized LGBTQIA+ communities and are now common parlance in a more empowering way.

Hairstyles, beauty standards (male and female), menstruation, hip-hop, political standards, street style, graffiti, art, power dynamics, standardized testing, gender roles, concepts of racial inclusion/exclusion, concepts around acceptance or rejection in biracial identity, the stories we tell about different religions…..every part of our culture is in flux.

Your job is to identify a specific aspect of your culture, consider the previously established cultural narrative, document different versions of the narrative through time, offer a research argument on why the narrative has changed (or has not), and discuss the implications of unresolved issues surrounding the narrative.

A key part of your analysis for this research project is very close reading of artifacts that represent the cultural narrative you’re exploring. The artifacts are sources so you must describe and interpret them for your audience. They can be images, specific instances of speech, literary tropes, songs—but they all must be examples of how the narrative is presented and perpetuated in culture. You’ve been close reading and interpreting text-based, visual, and other media sources in the composition and topic section. We want to see you put those skills to work in this research project.

A Few Notes on Topics

• The topic should have some connection to “health, illness, or embodiment.” It doesn’t necessarily have to be about a specific illness or condition.
• You should try to use your topic to explore the everyday experiences of individuals and communities in some way, so that you can analyze how those stories and the language used in them have changed over time.
• One approach would be to do a comparison of changes in narratives and language over a longer period of time. You could also focus more on the present, comparing recent narratives and identifying challenges and obstacles related to your topic in the present.

Requirements

We will work on the research project gradually, building it up from a series of small assignments. You can find information and due dates for the smaller assignments in the “due dates” section below.

1. The topic must be approved by your topic section instructor.
2. Six source minimum. A minimum of one academic (peer-reviewed journal) source, at least three “artifacts” (examples of the narrative you’re exploring), and a maximum of two sources from your Narrative Medicine reading list. You will create an annotated bibliography using these sources.
3. Part One: What I know/think/believe/have heard/have been taught/have seen about X and what I want to discover about X (200 min/500 max). This section should be narrative and can include anecdotal evidence—first person recommended. You could use informal sources in this section to explain your understanding/perception of the narrative. Who told you? Where did you see it? How is this belief reinforced for you? Is it repeated experience? Is it interactions with people? TikTok? The news? What we believe isn’t necessarily correct, but we have reasons for believing it. Try to identify the/a source.
4. Part 2: What I learned (1500 min/2000 max). This section is traditional research paper; includes a thesis statement, paraphrase, summary, synthesis, comparison etc.)—traditional academic writing/traditionally formatted (MLA 8 including works cited list). However, you are required to incorporate the narrative into this section in some way. You can use your own narrative to react to what you’re finding out through research on the topic. Maybe you had a perception of a narrative that is supported by your research but often, as research happens, the story becomes more complicated than you knew. Even if your perception was on point, you could find out information that explains the process in a way you didn’t know about. (This is the section of the paper that gets submitted to the topic section. It should be formatted as a stand-alone paper (with headings and works cited). Sources should be concentrated in this section). Note: The second part of this project will also provide the content for your final presentation in the topic section class (20% of total grade). You will get more details about this from your topic section instructor closer to the end of the semester.
5. Part 3: What I think about what I learned (or didn’t learn), (250 min/500 max). In this section, you’re encouraged to use your own voice (1st person) to reflect on how the research impacted your understanding of the narrative. Did it change your POV? Affirm what you thought? Give you a different perspective? Complicate the situation? Like the initial narrative, no sources are necessary here. You could revisit some of the information you included in section three to support your line of reasoning.

Formatting and Works Cited page

Use MLA guidelines

Example Part Two Drafts

I have uploaded a folder of example Part Two drafts to Google Drive.

Due Dates

Assignment	Length	Due Date
Invention Assignment	Varies	Monday 11/1
Proposal	600–900 words	Monday 11/6
Part 1 (what I know/believe)	200–500 words	Friday 11/10
Informal Assignment: Source Report	N/A	Wednesday 11/15
1-on-1 meeting with instructor	N/A	Sign up on Monday 11/13
First Draft Annotated Bibliography	Six entries, 150–200 words each	Monday 11/20
First Draft of Part 2	1500–2000 words	Monday 11/27
Final Draft of Annotated Bibliography	Six entries, 150–200 words each	Monday 12/4
Final draft of Part 3: Reflection	250–500 words	Monday 12/4
Final Draft of Part 2 Write Up	1500–2000 words	Friday 12/15
Final Draft of Research Project		Friday 12/15