Discussion Board 1: This discussion board has three threaded discussions. Select

Discussion Board 1: This discussion board has three threaded discussions. Select one and write a semi-formal response with a thesis statement, evidence, and significance explained clearly. Then, respond to any instructor feedback and post on two other students’ discussion boards who answered a question different from the one you selected in your initial post. There is no word count as students have different writing styles and but you must demonstrate knowledge of the concepts and readings. All posts must be analytical, not summary, and are required to use and reference required course materials. While additional sources are accepted, they are not required, will not improve your grade, and will not serve as a substitute for demonstrated use of required course materials. Grading: review Discussion Board rubric housed in Student Resources.
Q. 1 – Takaki spends Chapter 1 giving the A Different Mirror reader both a brief run-down of cultural pluralism- and diversity-related issues in the United States over time via various populations’ experiences, as well as a general outline of how contemporary race study has traditionally been conducted in the US.
For this question, consider Takaki’s naming of the book: A Different Mirror and the video America in a Different Mirror with Ronald Takaki. What does the mirror represent? Do a close reading of Chapter 1 and a close viewing of the video; notice how Takaki uses the ‘mirror’ to make observations about racial diversity and perceptions of racial/ethnic identity in the U.S. Select examples, note the page number from the text and specific examples from the video. Discuss, including relevant information you learned from Lectures 1 and 2. Tell us if and why you felt a particular connection to those examples.
Q. 2 – The Myth of the Melting Pot
Early discussions of a multicultural America posited that the various ethnic groups existing in the U.S. would all blend together and become a “melting pot” of cultural backgrounds which together represent a new American culture. Based on relevant information from Lectures 1 and 2, Takaki Chapters 1 and 2, and the documentary The Shadow of Hate, why is the concept of the melting pot a myth? Why has it been important in the telling of U.S. history? In your answer, make sure to use course concepts like assimilation, cultural pluralism, and ethnic identity, and discuss contemporary ideas (and metaphors) offered to replace the concept of the melting pot.
Q. 3 – Master narratives are potent stories, which many people accept without question. Master narratives not only tell us what we should believe; they tell us what to ignore. A master narrative will obfuscate the historical context in which an event occurs, as well as the complex of global relations which shape the immediate site where something happens.
For example, in your first readings Takaki explains that the Irish people suffered terribly under British imperialism. Even before the potato famine, they had been hungry for a long time. The island nation had rich soil and the people produced a wide variety of food, but those who produced this food starved as the produce was shipped off to England to feed others. The master narrative thus obfuscates the role of British imperialism in the emigration of Irish during the 19th century and instead blames the potato famine. Takaki looks at the potato famine historically through the perspectives of the people whose voices are silenced in and by the master narrative. His powerful historical accounting amends history and for example illuminates what might have been seen through the eyes of Irish women in the 19th century.
For this question, consider the following in your answer:
What is revealed when we look at the history of the potato famine historically and through the experiences of many different groups of people?
What is a comparative multicultural approach?
Why is it important to take a comparative multicultural approach to history?
What examples, apart from that of the Irish, stand out in this Week’s Takaki readings and the documentary The Shadow of Hate.
Post an initial response Thursday, by midnight, PST, and two responses to other students’ postings by Sunday, by midnight.