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ECB101 Assignments

This document outlines the course requirements for ECB101 – Culture of English-Speaking Countries. It includes 5 assignments: 1) group presentations on chapters from the course text; 2) discussions on topics relating to American and British culture; 3) another set of group presentations on additional chapters; 4) more discussions involving research; and 5) a large group project analyzing how local culture has been influenced by American culture or comparing cultural festivals between countries.

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Tran Ngoc Minh Chau (K17 CT)

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

48 views

ECB101 Assignments

Uploaded by

Tran Ngoc Minh Chau (K17 CT)

Available Formats

Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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ECB101 – CULTURE OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

Students are required to complete the following assignments as part of the course completion:

1. Assignment 1 (15%): Group Presentation

Topic 1: Prepare and present “Chapter 1: New beginnings: American culture and identity.”

Topic 2: Prepare and present “Chapter 2: Ethnicity and immigration: between many worlds.”

Topic 3: Prepare and present “Chapter 4: In God we trust? Religion in American life.”

Topic 4: Prepare and present “Chapter 7: Gender and sexuality: To break the old circuits.”

Topic 5: Prepare and present “Chapter 10: The transmission of American culture.”

2. Assignment 2 (15%): Discussion

Topic 1: Some have argued that hybridity represents the best hope for America as a diverse culture.
Discuss the arguments for and against this position, using a range of examples. Use
Chapter 2 as well.

Links for references:

1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116905/

2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075654/

Topic 2: Mexican-Americans are a major immigrant group in the USA; examine how the
experience of border crossing and migrant life is dealt with in Rubén Martinez’s Crossing
Over, Luis-Alberto Urrea’s The Devil’s Highway, T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain, the
ﬁlms of Gregory Nava - El Norteand East LA, or in the film Alambrista.

Links for reference:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085482/

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Topic 3: There is an argument that religion is becoming less important in the United States, and
that increasing numbers of the young, in particular, are losing any clear religious
affiliation? What might this do for the place of Christianity in America?

Links for reference:

https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/

Topic 4: How are masculinity and femininity examined in a popular action ﬁlm such as Die Hard?
To what extent does the ﬁlm represent the idea of the ‘new man’ and ‘liberated woman’
while, at the same time, resorting to fairly conventional gender codes?

Links for reference:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/

3. Assignment 3 (15%): Group Presentation

Topic 1: Prepare and present “Chapter 1: Social and Culture context.”

Topic 2: Prepare and present “Chapter 2: Language in Culture.”

Topic 3: Prepare and present “Chapter 4: Newspapers, magazines and journalism.”

Topic 4: Prepare and present “Chapter 10: Popular music and Fashion.”

Topic 5: Prepare and present “Chapter 12: Cultural Heritage.”

4. Assignment 4 (15%): Discussion

Topic 1: Begin researching other areas of cultural and artistic interest such as film, television and
popular music, to build up a complete cultural portrait of Britain in that year. Don’t just
describe what happened, but aim to explain why the events you mention were significant.
Organise the information into an essay format, or give a short presentation, incorporating
images and information gathered online.

Links for reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGLN1kREJ2Q&spfreload=10

(The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953)

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Topic 2: How has the Vietnamese language been affected by English in recent years? Is diversity
and change good for a language? What are the possible advantages and disadvantages?

Topic 3: Has the popular music in Vietnam been influenced by British and American pop? If so, to
what extent? Do you think this influence has been a positive one?

Topic 4: Research an example of a British festival or event. Compare and contrast it with one from
Vietnam, identifying possible reasons for the similarities and differences.

Suggestions for Topic 4

The history of Glastonbury Festival (2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2bXzuB7sZw

British Museum channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/britishmuseum

Buckingham Palace (2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUH8hL3i_kM

5. Group project (40%): Student groups of 5 will conduct a small project which will be replaced for
their final exam, and present the project in class. Students will randomly choose one
of the topics for their project as follows:

Project 1:

Using your local environment as a resource, go out with a digital camera and record how
the cultural landscape has been Americanized. Examine leisure, retail, fast food outlets,
supermarkets, billboards and fashion. All these are sources of imagery and ideas that can
then be analyzed in the light of readings and debates suggested in this chapter. Produce a
photographic essay with analysis on the themes of local Americanization.

Project 2:

Research an example of a British festival or event. Compare and contrast it with one from
another country, identifying possible reasons for the similarities and differences.