Taking a brief and broken break from our immersion in corporate culture we have recently begun examining our "folk culture" to understand the sources of our ideas about how to live a good and meaningful life.
The holidays - a particularly accessible target of analysis since they keep happening each year - emphasize certain values and qualities to our culture. A deeper understanding of what our culture advpcates as the good and meaningful life can be assembled from the various mixed messages of our motley holiday seasons. For this assignment you have been asked to;
1. Pick a holiday that you find particularly interesting that is practiced by the majority of people in the U.S.
2. Analyze the messages of the holiday in regards to the valuable and meaningful aspects of life.
3. Consider dress codes, participants, music, activities, food, etc to offer a deeper analysis than merely the "official message" of the holiday.
4. Explore contradictory messages within the holiday.
5. Identify aspects of our culture's emphases on "the good and meaningful life" that receive support or challenge from the holiday you've selected.
Post the above as an insightful mini-essay on your blog. For better results print it out, read it out loud, correct and clarify writing, and add some more ideas - then post it again. Please consider taking a second line of attack by contrasting this holiday with what it is not - with a holiday from another culture, earlier versions of the holiday, or an imaginary revisioning of the holiday. Consider "feast" or "fast" and whether the holiday encourages reflection, theorizing, or merely distraction. Enjoy.
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