Show and Tell 4

Important: If you already used your Free Pass for a Show and Tell, you’ll need to do all remaining ones (including this one) to meet the requirements of the course!

Include in submission comments on Canvas a self-assessment and suggested grade. (More details below)

Table of Contents

Details: what, when, where, how

WHEN: due by Fri, April 21, 11.59pm

WHAT: showcase something you learned / researched about Chinese history for the time period 1949-1976, i.e. course content for weeks 10,11,12 (From the founding of the PRC to the end of the Cultural Revolution, incl. Nixon’s visit).

WHY: This gives you a chance to look back and consolidate what you learned so far. Perhaps you now see connections you did not spot initially (maybe as the result of browsing through your classmates’ posts?), or you have changed your opinions, or discovered a new source, or followed up on a question and want to share?

HOW:

  • Create a blog post, and embed the project (use an iframe), or share a link in the post. (If it’s a text-based Show and Tell, you can of course submit it as the blog post.)
  • Use the words “Show and Tell 4:” in the title of the post; you can further customize the title by adding a title that will draw the reader in.
  • Add the post to the category hst271.
  • Submit your link in the Canvas assignment
  • Most importantly: add a brief self-assessment in the submission comments:
    • What did you do well? What do you want to improve on in a rewrite, or in the next assignment?
      • The Rubric (found below) is a soulless check list, so in the submission comments you get a chance to wax lyrical about what you put into the project, and what you hope the reader gets out of it. If need be, I can help you get that out even more in a “rewrite & resubmit” (–> that is a real thing professional academics do, join the club!)
    • Suggest a grade out of 20 points.

Topics

Here’s a suggested list of topics, but please ping me a message on Discord or talk with me if you have a cool idea and are not sure if it will fit. I’ll do my best to help you make it work!

  • Land reform campaigns
  • Korean War
  • Economic development of the PRC
  • The A-bomb in China
  • Great Leap Forward (and/or the great famine)
  • Cultural Revolution
  • Nixon’s visit
  • What’s happening in Hong Kong or Taiwan at this time?
  • …
  • (See also list of Primary Sources below for more suggestions)

Suggestions for formats

  • An analytical blog post: you analyze a set of materials drawn from the course materials, looking for connections, changes, continuities within the section covered and (once we are beyond the first Show and Tell) across more than one section.
    • 800 words (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography)
    • It’s not a summary.
    • I encourage you to bring in additional scholarly materials. Otherwise you have to do a very deep analysis of what we covered in class/readings.
    • You bring a new insight through a focused look at a particular aspect of the course materials covered so far: this post is more than the sum of its parts.
    • OPTION: You can also do this as a voiced-over power point slide deck, voice-thread, or other video/spoken assignment.
  • An encyclopedia entry (as blog post): you explain in detail an aspect of this part of Chinese history that you found fascinating, but we did not explore in great detail in class.
    • You add at least two sources that were not in the class readings yet. (Note: you can use the Optional Extras/background)
    • You introduce new information and new details on something connected to the history of China (1600-1800).
  • A small digital humanities project, for instance:
    • A detailed timeline (TimelineJS) [e.g. a specific event instead of covering the years 1600-1800]
    • A Storymap
    • A Twine-story
    • A Twitter-thread (series of tweets on a single topic)
    • An short audio podcast episode (± 5min, scripted)
    • A brief video documentary (± 2-3 min)
  • Current event in historical context: China is in the news all the time, and many of the topics have a much longer and complex historical background than journalists explain in their pieces. Use a current news topic as a jumping off point, and dive deeper into the historical connection.
    • 800 words (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography)
  • Primary source analysis
    • Do a deeper dive into a longer source and explore it as a historian would: how does the document/cultural artifact help you understand the history? OR
    • Use two or more primary sources and put them in dialogue, and show how a historian can use these to deepen our understanding of Chinese history. You can trace a genre or topic in time, or you can put two sources from the same time period in dialogue.
    • 800 words (± 10%;  excl. footnotes and bibliography)
    • You can find a list below
  • Examples of creative projects from previous editions of the course:
    • informative click bait, review of a scholarly article, a twitter thread,…
    • a talkshow with impersonations of historical figures
    • Google slide presentations with voice over or presenter notes
    • Prezi presentation
    • script for a play
    • art work, with guided notes explaining the connection to history.
  • Other ideas? Let me know! We can discuss what would work.

Rubric and self-assessment

How to assess your own work? Let’s agree on the following basics. Your work scores high when it displays characteristics that are the result of a resounding yes to the following statements:

  • I leaned into my curiosity to get to the bottom of a question I had, or a topic I wanted to learn more about – within the timeframe specified for this particular Show and Tell.
  • I made sure my contribution helps my fellow students understand a particular aspect of Chinese history better, and is more than a summary of content we covered in class.
  • I hit the word count (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography) if I follow a model suggested by Dr. D
    • OR
  • I consulted with Dr. D on the suitability and feasibility of a creative or digital project as an equivalent amount of work
  • I added footnotes in Chicago Notes and Bibliography style for all information I used, not only for paraphrases and quotations. [See the FAQ on this webpage, scroll down a bit]
  • I added a list of works consulted (aka a “bibliography) in Chicago Notes and Bibliography style
  • I checked the public-facing presentation of my work (blog post or other) looks professional, and is to the best of my ability free from factual errors, grammar and spelling mistakes.
  • I made sure to add hyperlinks and Alt Text where applicable.

Suggestions for literature and movies

  • Dai, Sijie. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. London: Vintage, 2002.
    • PDF
    • What is it? Dai’s fictional novel is informed by his personal experiences during the Cultural Revolution, when he was “sent down” to the country side. Two young men are sent to a small village near the border with Tibet. One of the other sent-down youths has a suitcase full of Chinese translations of the great nineteenth century novels from the West- obviously forbidden literature at the time…
  • Yang, Jiang. Six Chapters from My Life “Downunder”. Translated by Howard Goldblatt. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988.
    • PDF
    • What is it? Six sketches forming a memoir of Yang Jian’s experiences during the Cultural Revolution. She was an academic, who was sent to the countryside for re-education, together with her husband.
  • Gao, Yuan. Born Red: A Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987.
    • ebook Trexler
    • What is is? A memoir of a middle-school student who was a Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution. Pick any section of about 100 (consecutive) pages, but indicate in your notes which section you read (contains scenes of violence)
  • Farewell, My Concubine. Directed by Chen Kaige. Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 1999.
    • Canvas: “Trexler Library Electronic Reserves” page
    • What is it? This film follows the trials and tribulations of a pair of actors of jingju (known as Beijing opera), with China’s twentieth-century history as the backdrop. The title is taken from the play which made the fame of the two protagonists, who are loosely based on real historical figures from the late third century BCE. The character of Cheng Dieyi (nicknamed Douzi) is very loosely based on the real life jingju star Mei Lanfang. (So loosely his family disavows any connection with the story.)
    • Available through
  • The Last Emperor. Directed by Bernardo Bertoluci. Yanco Films, 1987.
    • Canvas: Media Gallery Page
    • What is it? Epic bio-pic of Puyi, the last of the Manchu emperors, who died a commoner under the Communist regime. (Please note: our DVD is either dubbed in English, or you can pick a subtitled version but none of the sound-tracks respect the multi-lingual nature of the film (Russian, Japanese, Chinese, English), which grates against my sensitivities but it’s the best I can do.)
  • To Live (Huozhe). Directed by Zhang Yimou. MGM Home Entertainment, 2003.
    • Canvas: “Trexler Library Electronic Reserves” page
    • What is it? This fictional story follows the life of Xu Fugui and his family, and how they adapt (or not) to life in constantly changing political circumstances, from life under the Nationalist government to the various campaigns under the Communist Party.
  • Hinton, Carma, Barmé Geremie, Richard Gordon, and Jane Balfour. 八九点钟的太阳: Morning Sun. Long Bow Group, 2005.
    • What is it? A documentary which traces how Mao became the central figure of the people’s revolutionary fervor. Duration: 1h 57′
  • Tuchman, Barbara W. Notes from China. New York, Random House Trade, 2017 (1972 first edition).
    • PDF
    • What is it? Tuchman, a prolific journalist and author, spent six weeks traveling through China in June 1972. She is well aware of her limitations in writing about a country when she does not speak the language, but she is a good observer who is familiar with China’s history. Her notes are an interesting insight in Americans’ re-engagement with China.
  • Adams, John. Nixon in China. Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet, conducted by John Adams. Libretto by Alice Goodman, production by Peter Sellars. Feb. 12, 2011, Metropolitan Opera, New York.
    • Access through Trexler Library
    • “John Adams’s groundbreaking work vividly brings to life President Nixon’s 1972 visit to communist China. … From the pomp of the public displays to the intimacy of the protagonists most private moments, Adams, Sellars, and librettist Alice Goodman reveal the real characters behind the headlines in this landmark American opera.”
    • This is a fascinating piece of music, which shows you how Westerns look back critically at the “week that changed the world”, and put it to music. At the time of composition (1987), Nixon had long resigned over Watergate, and Mao’s China had changed already dramatically in the eleven years since his death. While this is not the runaway success that Hamilton has become, it is interesting to think about how music adds a possibility to explore aspects of the human psyche where no historian can reach with their sources.