Doc Analysis

Here are my Source Document Analysis Worksheets. I printed them off but I forgot to post them online as well.

Source Document Analysis Worksheet

Brady, Benjamin				Fall, 2008
Author’s name (last, first)				Publication date
Identity and Authenticity: Cultural and Ethnic Implications of Preserving a Tibetan Identity in India
Title
The Journal of Inquiry		Volume 4, pp 3-24
Book series OR Journal		Location and publisher OR volume, issue, pages

1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?

The author divides his main argument into three sections. The first is an argument that Tibetan youth who are born and raised in India are ethnically Tibetan. The second is that situation of these youth in question (being “diasporic”) has contributed to the hybridization of their culture and cultural identity. The third and last part of his argument is that this hybridization leads to a sense of authenticity in this particular group, being those who are Tibetans raised in India, and that these are the “true” Tibetans.

2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?

The author provides support to his main argument by giving a detailed outline of Tibetan history, including their struggle for identity against China. He puts a heavy emphasis on what identity is, and how identity differences, specifically “true and more real” Tibetans vs. non-authentic Tibetans are divided socially in McLeod Ganj. The organization of his paper is affected through his dedication to outline Tibetan history. The evidences used to support his main argument, aside from history, is personal interviews, observations, and other qualitative research approaches.

3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?

The audience consists of BYU students, specifically those who have or will be participating in Cross-Cultural Field Research, as well as the staff involved. The author doesn’t leave much up to the imagination, as he provides a detailed history and lays out his argument well enough to be understood, suggesting that he doesn’t assume the audience knows much on the topic.

 

The author used personal interviews, observations, and other qualitative research approaches. I think that these methods were appropriate because his working with the people is the only way to obtain the answers he was looking for to support his argument, because it is an observational project rather than an experimental, so his research should be applicable to qualitative information rather than quantitative.

5. To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).

• Cornell and Hartmann 2006; Nagel 1994, Aydyngun and Aydyngun 2007 - (pg. 4, 9, 15)
• The author uses these sources to site what ethnicity and identity mean, and relates those meanings to findings he came across in the field through interviews throughout the paper
• Smith 2003:207 – “I would argue that the essence of the Tibet issue is the identity of the Tibetan people. If Tibetans lose their national identity then there is no more issue of Tibet. Tibetans would then be simply minority nationality Chinese and the history of Tibet as a distinct nation would come to an end. Chinese policy is clearly directed towards that goal.” (pg. 7)
• The author states that the Tibet issue is a question of identification, and if they could no longer identify themselves as Tibetans, then they would no longer be Tibetans.
• Benedict Anderson 1991 – “Nationalism is not the awakening of nations to self-consciousness: it invents nations where they do not exist” (pg. 9)
• The author uses this to back up his statement that “In exile, the dislocated Tibetan populous is not simply rebuilding what once existed in Tibet”

6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different? 

This source has a very direct and strong connection with my project because the author studied in the same area in which I will be studying, namely McLeod Ganj, India. This source’s approach is very helpful to my own because I also hope to do a qualitative study as my project. It is useful also because it sheds light on my project by helping me understand the importance of culture and ethnicity incorporated in the parenting of the Tibetan children, which is what I’ll be studying. Mine is different because I will be focusing on younger children (ages 5-12) and how they are parented. It is new because I would like to study how the culture described in this source has an affect on the parenting in the community.

4. Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)?  In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?

Source Document Analysis Worksheet

Swenson, Robert D.				Fall 2008
Author’s name (last, first)				Publication date
Hiva Usu: Preserving Sacred Choral Music of Tonga
Title
BYU Journal of Inquiry		Vol. 4 pp. 43-56
Book series OR Journal		Location and publisher OR volume, issue, pages

1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?

The main argument of this paper is to illustrate how unique and important Hiva usu (a unique genre of choral music) is to Tongan as well as Protestant Christian missionary cultures, and their historical interaction between one another.

2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?

The author provides a detailed history of this particular kind of music and how this history gives an important look at the development of other genres of Tongan music. He also provides examples of Hiva Usu to illustrate how unique of a genre it is.

3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?

The audience includes BYU students who are interested in Tonga, preparing for a field study, interested in music etc. It also includes staff and others who may wish to study Tongan culture.

 

The author conducted on-site field research in Tonga and obtained audio recordings, written transcription, and firsthand interviews with locals. He also included and analyzed six songs that fit into the Hiva Usu genre. I think that, because of his extensive knowledge in music, this was a good approach. It was also appropriate because he attempted to include a description of Hiva Usu music according to a local Tongan choir director. This helped bring the research to the local level and helped the reader understand the impact of the music in Tonga rather than just to the author.

5. To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).

Swenson uses the examples of “several scholars in the field of Tongan studies” (pg. 44)

·         Dr. Amanaki Havea – describes “usu” to mean “self inspired” or “self expression”

·         Sione Manu “associates [usu] with ‘imagination’”

·         Dr. Richard Moyle, author of Tongan Music and arguably the world’s leading expert on the history of music in Tonga, describes the word ‘usu’ to mean ‘composed by ear,’ ‘happy,’ or ‘stimulating’”

These examples are used to help the author to support his argument that the genre Hiva Usu is an imaginative and inspiring genre of Tongan music and is held culturally important to the Tongan people.

6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different? 

Although this project is very different than mine, it is applicable because the rich Tongan culture in the area affects music, similar to the way that the rich Tibetan culture in McLeod Ganj may affect the parenting styles in the area.

4. Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)?  In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?