Final Essay History Essay Research Paper Coursework

Read the questions first and find the matching part in reading. there are three readings, only need to choose one to write.
Final Exam Essay
Craft a well-organized essay in response to any ONE of the following essay prompts. Be sure to illustrate your argument with examples from the readings (using proper citations, of course).
Indicate at the top of your essay which option you are selecting (e.g., A, B, or C); failure to do so will result in a five-point (5 pt) penalty.
Option A:
Cadres & Kin explores the making of a “village community” in rural Sichuan over the course of the twentieth century. This essay has three parts. First, explain how local residents conceived of their communities prior to the communist revolution – what social structures, ritual focal points, and patterns of exchange provided the bases or foundations for various local communities? Second, assess the extent to which Maoist collectivism altered, undermined, or destroyed traditional communities of exchange – how did the communist revolution redefine the ways in which local inhabitants conceived of their identity and solidarity with neighbors? Finally, analyze how local leaders in the “post-Mao” reform period drew upon ideas and institutions of both ‘traditional’ and ‘revolutionary’ Chinese culture to develop a community of interests around the new village corporation.
Option B:
Chopsticks Only Work in Pairs explores gender equality among the Lahu, an ethnic minority group living in the border highlands of China’s Yunnan province. This essay has three parts. First, explain Du’s argument regarding gender equality in Lahu culture and society – what is it based upon? what contributes to it? how is it manifest or expressed in different aspects of thought and practice? Second, assess the strength or weakness of Du’s argument – do you find the specific evidence she presents persuasive or compelling? do you agree or disagree with the characterization of Lahu culture as ‘gender egalitarian?’ (explain). Finally, reflect on the significance of Du’s ethnography within the context of broader debates over gender equality in human society -- what lessons, if any, may be drawn from this study? what relevance, if any, might it offer for modern life in a globalized society?

Option C:
Love’s Uncertainty explores the dilemmas of middle-class parenting in contemporary China, particularly the moral imperative to secure for one’s child a good life in the face of intense social competition. This essay has three parts. First, outline Kuan’s theoretical framework of biopolitics, especially the relationship between ‘governmentality’ and human ‘agency’ in contemporary China – how do child-rearing practices relate to state efforts to engineer the modernization of the Chinese nation? how does this relate to improving suzhi, or human quality? Second, explain the ethical focus of parents on trying to create tiaojian, or ‘conditions’ under which children can flourish – how does manipulating or arranging things in a strategic way to balance the constraints upon, and agency of, their children constitute an ethical issue of ‘trying’? Finally, evaluate Kuan’s claim that Chinese parents today are less focused on following their own ambitions or on investing in their child’s future, but instead keenly focused on preparing their children with the personal efficacy to make choices that reconcile conflicting moral values.