Communicating in American Culture(s)

Additional Resources

General resources:

Skimming and Scanning Advice from Leora Freedman of the University of Toronto’s Writing Centre. 

APA Style Guide A site offering guidelines on grammar and style, including guidelines on citation of sources.

Citing a Film (APA Style).

Citing a Film (MLA Style).

Synthesis Writing (PDF) A guide written by Sandra Jamieson of Drew University.

Guide to Reading Social Science (PDF) A handout from an MIT management course taught by Prof. Richard Schmalensee.

Academic Phrasebank: Referring to Sources A useful reference from the University of Manchester (UK).

Recommended supplementary materials by week:

Week 2:

• Olga Khazan (2017). “Why Americans Smile So Much.” The Atlantic, 5/3/2017.
• Guy Deutscher (2010). “Does Your Language Shape How You Think?” The New York Times, 8/29/2010.
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009). “The Danger of a Single Story” (YouTube).  

Week 3: 

• Alina Simone (2014). “The ‘How Are You?’ Culture Clash.” The New York Times, 1/19/2014.

Week 4:

•  Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst (2016). Index of templates in They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. W.W. Norton & Co, pp. 221–235. ISBN: 9780393617443.

Week 5: 

• Joseph Barber (2019). “Why Do We Talk Badly About Ourselves?” Inside Higher Ed, 4/1/2019.
• Mugambi Jouet (2017). “From the American Enlightenment to Anti-Intellectualism” in Exceptional America: What Divides Americans from the World and from Each Other. University of California Press, pp. 43–79. ISBN: 9780520293298.

Week 6: 

• Ifrah Syed (2012). “How to Become President of the United States” (PDF). 

Week 7: 

• Susan Schulten (2018). A History of America in 100 Maps. University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 9780226458618.
• Charles Kaiser (2019). "El Norte Review: An Epic and Timely History of Hispanic North America." The Guardian, 3/16/2019.

Week 9: 

• Claire Cain Miller (2019). “Talk About Bias” in “How to Be More Empathetic.” The New York Times, 5/16/19. 
• Paul Buhle and Mary Jo Buhle (2019). “The Face of American Socialism Before Bernie Sanders? Eugene Debs.” The Guardian, 3/23/2019.

Week 10: 

• Alison Krauss (performer, 2000). “Down to the River to Pray” (YouTube) and lyrics. Mercury Records.
• Noah Feldman (2007). “Orthodox Paradox.” The New York Times Magazine, 7/22/2007.
• Florence Cassen Mayers (1996). “All-American Sestina.” The Atlantic 278(1), p. 86.
• Michael Nicholson (2015). “All-American Sestina by Florence Cassen Mayers” (YouTube).
• Joseph Stiglitz (2019). “Socialist! Capitalist! Economic Systems as Weapons in a War of Words.” The New York Times, 4/19/2019. 
• The Youngbloods (performers, 1967). “Get Together” (YouTube). RCA Victor Records.
• Barack Obama (2008). “A More Perfect Union” (speech) (YouTube). 
• Barack Obama (2017). Farewell Address (YouTube).

Week 11: 

• Chuck Berry (1956). “Roll Over Beethoven” (YouTube). Chess Records.
• Robert Merrill (performer, 1969?). “The Star-Spangled Banner” (YouTube). 
• Jimi Hendrix (performer, 1969). “The Star-Spangled Banner” (YouTube).
• Beyoncé Knowles (performer, 2004). “The Star-Spangled Banner” (YouTube).
• Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore (performers, 1953). “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” (YouTube) from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate.
• Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Natalie Wood, et al. (performers, 1961). “Dance at the Gym / Meeting Scene” (YouTube), “Maria” (YouTube), “America” (YouTube), and “Cool” (YouTube), from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film West Side Story.
• Louise Gold, Julie Legrand, and Anita Louise Combe (performers, 2015). “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” (YouTube), from the London revival of Jule Styne’s and Stephen Sondheim’s musical Gypsy.
• Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson, et al. (performers, 2015). “Guns and Ships” (YouTube) and “History Has Its Eyes on You” (YouTube), from the Broadway cast recording of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton.
• The Marx Brothers (1935). Opening scene (YouTube), contract scene (YouTube), “Alone” (YouTube), and opera scene (YouTube) from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s film A Night at the Opera.
• William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (1947). “The Cat Concerto” Part I (YouTube) and Part II (YouTube) from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Tom and Jerry series of short cartoons.
• Robin Williams interviewed by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in 1991 (YouTube).

Week 12:

• Benjamin Markovits (2010). “Literary Giants on the Playing Fields of America.” The Guardian, 6/5/2010.
• Sport Literature Association website.
• Sports literature reading suggestions (PDF). 
• Samuel G. Freedman (2005). “For Fasting and Football, a Dedicated Game Plan.” The New York Times, 10/26/2005.

Week 13:

• Patience Mthunzi (2015). “Could We Cure HIV with Lasers?” (TED Talk).