The acclaimed international magazine The Daily Globe hosts an annual essay writing contest and this year’s topic is cultural appropriation. The aim is to discuss the complex issues concerning the adaption to or mimicry of customs or practices from various cultures. The Daily Globe has distributed a background material - short stories written by the best-selling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and a selection of articles from international magazines - to be read by contestants before submitting their work.
After reading the short stories and articles, decide on ideas, claims, statements, examples or arguments that you wish to discuss in your essay. You are allowed to summarise these into 200 words which you may bring with you when writing the essay.
Title: Where is the line between cultural appropriation and appreciation?
Word count: 400-800
Time: 160 minutes
Style: Formal - ensure that you have checked what you have written with regard to appropriateness of language, content and structure
Essay checklist:
Introduce the thesis question, e.g., by describing cultural appropriation and apprecation
Refer to at least 2 examples from the background material to support your thesis
Expand upon these examples by clarifying and motivating your personal opinions and the thesis question from several perspectives, comparing when necessary
Clarify your position concerning the thesis question and come to a conclusion
As inspiration, you may want to consider the following questions:
What cultural customs are acceptable or unaccetable to mimic?
What differences does it make that the person borrowing is white, coloured, or in a position of obvious power?
How far should one attempt to fit in when in new cultures without losing one’s original culture or identity?
In what ways can adapting or mimicking lead to cultural appropriation?
How is a person’s identity affected by adaptation, mimicry and cultural appropriation?
