Reflection 08: Trending Now—Yahoo! Around the Globe

Yahoo! is currently the fourth most popular website in the world (and the second most popular for homepages). In the United States, it remains the go-to page for what the country is talking about. In addition to roundups of national and international news, sports, and business, Yahoo! prominently features a variety of water cooler topics, such as celebrity gossip and human interest stories. And as many of the top items trending on Yahoo! quickly make their way onto Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, etc., it is an interesting way to track what Americans are talking about at any given moment. For this reflection, you will visit at least three international Yahoo! sites to assess their national discussions. For example, what stories are most prominently featured? How do they balance hard news with lighter fare? How do they compare to what we would (or wouldn't) see in America?

Choose from three of the following Yahoo! sites:
Russia
Germany
Mexico
UK & Ireland 
Singapore
Greece
China
Argentina
Italy
Australia
Japan
India
The Netherlands
Vietnam
Brazil
France
Spain 
Canada: English / Quebec 
Sweden
Philippines

Clearly, not all these pages are in English. So, follow the directions below for your browser of coice:
Internet Explorer
Safari
Mozilla
Chrome automatically provides translation options.

Requirements:

• MLA Style
• Two full pages in length

Due: Th 04. 18

World News 04.10.13

• UNITED KINGDOM: "Dong Dong! The Witch is Dead" poised to hit number one on charts following Margaret Thatcher's death (Independent) 
• CUBA: Did Beyoncé and Jay-Z break US law by traveling to Cuba? (USA Today)
• JAPAN: Obama Administration poised to select Caroline Kennedy as ambassador, the first female for the position (Bloomberg) 
• NEW ZEALAND: "Wellywood" reaped $3 billion in 2012 (New Zealand Herald)
• CHINA: McNugget prices plummet amid a new bird flu outbreak (International Business Times)
• CHILE: New documentary claims to include footage of a genuine humanoid alien (Huffington Post)

Comparative Analysis Essay: How the French Invented Love

In How the French Invented Love, Marliyn Yalom examines nearly a millennium of Franco concepts of love and sex. As Yalom points out, "For hundreds of years, the French have championed themselves as guides to the art of love through their literature, painting, songs, and cinema." Indeed, French culture has so embraced sensuality that it is solidly embedded in their national identity. But, can American culture be similarly characterized? Are we Americans as comfortable with sensuality as the French? For example, are there celebrated American equivalents to Abélard and Héloïse, or even Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre? In a concise comparative analysis essay, examine the similarities and difference between the two cultures' concepts of love and sex. Where do the two cultures align on these issues and where do they deviate? Cite from How the French Invented Love to support your thesis.

Requirements:

• MLA Style, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum
• Include a works cited page

The best papers:

• Have a title that articulates the essay's point of view
• Stay within the parameters of the subject matter
• Have a concise thesis which clearly illustrates the contrast between the two cultures' views on love and sex
• Clearly support their thesis with evidence from How the French Invented Love
• Conclude with a summation of the argument
• Properly cite evidence using MLA's parenthetical citation method
• Are in compliance with MLA Style

Due: Tu 04.16

Reflection 07: La Préservation de la Liberté?—France and the Politics of the "Burqa Ban"

Largely unbeknownst to Americans, a fierce battle has been raging in France over what must or mustn't cover their heads of French Muslim women. The implementation of a 2011 law that banned Islamic headwear, from the hijab to the shalya to the burqa, has sent shock waves across Europe and the Middle East alike. Officially, the French law does not name Islamic practices per se. In fact, it is so broad that all religious imagery is banned in certain French public spaces, such as schools. Still, no one is under any illusion that the motivation for the law was the Islamic practice of female head coverings, as well as the growing Arab immigrant presence in French society. From the French perspective, the practice of religious scarves on women is said to be incongruent with the country's values of "liberté," "égalité," and "fraternité"—though it is believed that less than three thousand of the country's five million Muslims actually wear traditional head coverings. Meanwhile, French Muslims feel the ban is nothing short of a government-sactionioned persecution of their faith. (It  also bears mentioning that the Qur'an does not officially require women to cover their heads and/or faces.) Should France ban Islamic headwear for women? Does France have a right to infringe on the religious freedoms of an immigrant culture if it finds some of their values do not align with their own? Does the headwear ban protect, even liberate, Islamic women or might it violate their basic human rights? Finally, could such a ban ever happen in the United States? Why or why not?

Include at least three of the following pieces in your discussion:

• "In Graphics: Muslim Veils" (BBC News)
• "Notes on France’s Ban-the-Burqa Debate" (Reuters)
• "The French, the Veil, and the Look" (New York Times)
• "Opinion: France's Burqa Ban: A Brave Step that We Muslims Should Welcome" (Christian Science Monitor)
• "US Report Criticises French Islamic Veil Ban" (France24)
• "Muslims Worry About Broader France Headscarf Ban" (Associated Press)

Requirements:

• MLA Style
• Two full pages in length
• Works cited page

Due: Th 04.11

BREAKING: Margaret Thatcher, first female prime minister of Great Britain, dead at 87

• "Margaret Thatcher, 'Iron Lady' of British politics, dies" (PBS News) 
• "Margaret Thatcher, who remade Britain, dies at 87" (New York Times) 
• "Margaret Thatcher vs. Pop Culture" (Slate)  

WEEK 12: JAPAN

WEEK 12: JAPAN

Read: FRENCH—“11: Love Between Men ­- Verlaine, Rimbaud, Wilde, and Gide,” “13: Lesbian Love ­- Colette, Gertrude Stein, and Violette Leduc” – “14: Existentialists in Love ­- Simone de Beauvoir and Jean­Paul Sartre,” “16: “Love in the Twenty­first Century” – Epilogue

Tu 04.09
Reading discussion; Presentations

Th 04.11
Reading discussion; Presentations
Due: REFLECTION 07  

Upcoming:

WEEK 13: AUSTRALIA

Read: GOOD—pg. 1 – 125

Tu 04.16
Reading discussion; Presentations
Due: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ESSAY

Th 04. 18
Reading discussion; Presentations
Due: REFLECTION 08