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Nicole Smith, Fall 2000
Ted Halstead and James C. Scott: Official
Stories and Hidden Transcripts
In James C. Scott's "Selections from: Domination and the
Arts of Resistance," we are introduced to the concepts of "official
stories" and "public and hidden transcripts." For this
writing assignment, I would like you to examine how "A Politics for
Generation X" functions as an "official story." Does Halstead's
essay suggest a public or a hidden transcript? Think of the public transcript
apparent in the excerpt of Orwell's essay, "Shooting an Elephant."
Are similar expectations of performing the public transcript apparent
in Halstead's essay?
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Domination and the Arts of Gender Performance
James C. Scott argues that social actions are actually signs of power
that are translated into performances. For this writing assignment, I
would like you to consider the performance of gender roles as they appear
in Susan Faludi's, "The Naked Citadel." In other words, does
masculinity become a public or hidden transcript at the Citadel? Does
masculinity affect femininity or vice versa? Finally, how does Shannon
Faulkner's disengagement of gender politics create, or play into, a public
or a hidden transcript?
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Stories, Sex, and Stereotypes: Is Freedom a Possibility?
Scott, Faludi, and Cornell all deal with, in some way or another,
the issue of freedom in their essays. Judging from your readings of all
three essays, I would like you to write an essay in which you consider
whether "freedom" is a real possibility or not. If it is not
a real possibility, then why do people continue to act as though it might
be real-is it just a public transcript? If freedom is a possibility,
then what major obstacles to its achievement do the authors help us to
recognize and deal with?
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