Artifact Assignment

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Artifact Assignment

• LSJ 332
• Fall 2007
• M. Morris

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Assignment Guidelines

• Turn in 3 essays (Oct 25, Nov 15, and Dec 6)
• Identify 1 artifact for each paper and address
  the following items
• Who produced the item and for what audience?
• Where was it produced, where was it found?
• What message about disability does it convey?
• How does it fit into one (or more) of the models
  of disability?

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What is an Artifact

• Anything in society that portrays disability in
  some way
• Examples
• Movies
• TV shows
• Articles
• Books
• Signs
• Comics
• Songs
• Jokes

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Example of an Artifact

• Movie 300

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About the Artifact

• What is the artifact
• 300
• Who produced
• Frank Miller novel produced by Warner Brothers
• Where is it found
• Any video store near you
• Who is the audience
• General public

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Movie Synopses

• Spartans are born warriors
• Infants are examined at birth and if they are
  found to be undesirable, then they are cast off a
  cliff
• Children are taught from a young age to be
  physically fit and to fight

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• King Xerxes of the Persians comes and threatens
  King Leonidas and the Spartans
• King Leonidas refuses to submit and seeks
  religious approval from the Ephors and the
  Oracle to go fight the Persians
• They do not give a blessing but King Leonidas
  takes off w/ 300 of the finest men

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• King Leonidas and the soldiers march to meet the
  Persians and camp out at a cliff
• A man who has a hunchback follows them and asks
  to join the army

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• Battle bloody and gory
• The Persians brought in monsters to fight
• King Xerxes brings in the man who has a hunchback
  and coaxes him to give up the Spartans by
  offering him women, money and power
• The man who has a hunchback gives up the Spartans
  and all 300 die

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• 300 white guys from a militarist eugenist sexist
  child-abusing society valiantly defend the narrow
  pass of Thermopylae against the progressive,
  racially, ethnically, ability and sexually
  diverse (albeit power-hungry) Persians in this
  gorgeously-filmed action-packed bloodfest.
• John on http//www.mindonfire.com/?p568

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• Portrayal of people with disabilities
• Eugenics
• Ephors are viewed as greedy, dishonest, and
  perverse
• Man with a hunchback is viewed as weak physically
  (cant fight in battle) and weak morally (tempted
  by the enemy with women, money, and power)
• His weakness is what led to the defeat of the
  Spartans
• Any Persian with any physical difference is
  viewed as a monster that needs to be contained
  unless fighting against an enemy

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Message of the Artifact

• Message?
• Note Think about who the potential audiences are
  ie general public, teens, adults, persons with
  disabilities

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• People w/ disabilities are
• weak and do not have a place in society
• unable to contribute constructively to society
• morally corrupt
• easily tempted by evil
• can ruin a society

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Application of Models

• How does this fit into the models of disability
  discussed in class....?
• Remember the models
• Social
• Personal tragedy
• Moral
• Medical

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• Moral
• Medical

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About the Assignment

• Two pages double spaced or one single spaced
• Remember your grammar!
• Place ALL of the required pieces into the essay

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About the Assignment (cont)

• Use at least 3 of the models discussed in class
  across your 3 essays
• You do not need to use all of the models, just
  the ones that apply to your artifact
• Think about the models in terms of the message(s)
  of the artifact
• There are PLENTY of artifacts out there
• You must choose 3 different mediums (movie,
  article, etc.) for your 3 essays

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Grading Criteria

• Grammar 1 pt
• Who produced/who was the audience 2 pt
• Where was it produced/found 1 pt
• What message is being conveyed about disability
  3 pt
• How does it fit into one or more models of
  disability 3 pt
• Total 10 pt