(Subject of study: History of the British Empire since 1790)
The essay involves a study of imperial ideologies as found in British popular culture, namely the Rider Haggard novel, King Solomon’s Mines (1885) and the film, Sanders of the River (1938).
How are imperial ideologies reflected in popular culture?
To answer this question, analyze Rider Haggard’s juvenile adventure novel, King Solomon’s Mines (1885) and the film Sanders of the River (1935). Think about how the British perceived and justified their Empire. How did they characterize the colonizers and the colonized? You are being asked to analyze two historical (or primary) sources. Produced respectively during a period of aggressive expansion in the 1880s and during the British Empire at its height in 1935, the two sources draw upon and reflect common British assumptions about the character and relationship between the British, the people of Africa and the nature of the British Empire. Your task is to identify those assumptions, characterizations and relationships by looking for broad patterns in the ideology or outlook of the sources.
In searching for those patterns, it may be useful to compare and contrast the two sources. As you study the sources, think about British ideologies of race, class, gender and empire. Once you have identified the broad patterns in the ideologies, construct a series of arguments that clearly define the ideas, perceptions and beliefs that inform British perceptions of empire and imperialism as found in popular culture. Use specific examples from the sources to support each argument.
ORGANIZING AND WRITING
Your papers should be clearly organized, with an introduction, body and conclusion.
INTRODUCTION: Introduce your topic, provide any necessary background (be brief and to the point), identify your research question and preview your main arguments answering that question.
BODY: Clearly state and support each of your arguments in the body of the paper. Each paragraph should focus on a single argument or assertion. Make sure each argument directly addresses the research question in some way. Arguments should be clearly defined towards the beginning of the paragraph and then supported with specific reference to the evidence (you may bold them). Make sure the connection between argument and evidence is clear. If not, provide a sentence or two of
explanation.
CONCLUSION: Restate your topic, research question and review the main points/arguments of your paper. The paper should focus on the primary sources.
In supporting each argument, you should refer to specific material in the readings through paraphrase (summarizing or restating the material in your own words) and quotation (lifting the exact language from the document within quotation marks). Paraphrases are used to summarize or convey information from a source. Only quote a source if there is something compelling or meaningful about the original language itself. Quotations more than a sentence or two should be used sparingly and written as a block quotation (indented and single spaced). Both paraphrases and quotations should always be cited.
