Intimate Selving in Arab Families. Gender, Self, and Identity

Read all the chapters of the Suad Joseph edited book, Intimate Selving in Arab Families. Gender, Self, and Identity. We will read several chapters together in lecture. Select two chapters that you will focus on. These two chapters must be different from the chapters assigned for course reading. Identify a key question about these two chapters which interests you and on which you can compare the two chapters.
A. Begin the essay with an introductory paragraph, introducing your question and argument, following the guideline to essay writing provided on Smart Site.
B. Briefly summarize the key point of each of these chapters.
C. Discuss and compare in what ways the authors use “categorical thinking” in discussing the “self” or how they critique “categorical” thinking about the self.
D. Discuss how the chapters you chose shed light on understanding the category of “self” in third chapter (that we have NOT read together for the course) of the other book chapters.
E. Conclude the paper by restating your argument and discussing why you think it is important to understand the category of the “self” and how the Joseph book as a whole (including the 4 chapters we read together) offers an alternative to framing “selfhood.”
F. The paper should be 6 pages (1,500 words maximum).
FORMATTING: The paper must be typed, 12point font, Times New Roman, 1″ margins. Use Endnotes not Footnotes. Put your name and the name of your TA on the top right hand of the first page. Put the Title in the next line, centered. Paginate at the bottom, center.