Penn Professors on Writing in Anthropology

Dr. Deborah Thomas

About the Professor

Deborah Thomas is a cultural anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on globalization, race, violence and diaspora. She has authored Exceptional Violence: Embodied Citizenship in Transnational Jamaica and is an editor of the anthology Globalization and Race: Transformations in the Cultural Production of Blackness.


Personal Writing Tips

How to Write a "Think Sheet"

The following are guidelines for how Dr. Thomas prefers her students would approach the reading materials in her class. She also suggests it may be helpful for students to keep a notebook of their readings, jotting down points as they go.

  1. What is the author's main point/argument?
  2. What data does the author use to make this point (e.g., historical sources, statistics, events, people's statements and actions, etc.)?
  3. How did the author collect this data or what was the author's methodology (e.g., participant observation fieldwork, extended interviews, genealogical interviews, archival research, etc.)?
  4. Do you think the author's data support his or her point/argument? Why or why not?
  5. What do you think the author "got right"?
  6. What do you think the author "got wrong"? That is, what are your critiques of the author's work? Remember, it's hard to write a book, so it's always best to assimilate what you thought was interesting or what made you think about something in a different way, and then dismiss briefly.
  7. How do you think this reading relates to other course materials?


Important Criteria for Student Writing

In the ordered list below, there is a break between two sets of criteria. Is it important to note that Dr. Thomas places far more importance on the first set than the second.

  1. Reasoning and evidence
  2. Demonstrating mastery of others' ideas
  3. Having original ideas
  4. Organization

  5. Following the assignment instructions
  6. Grammar and mechanics
  7. Style
  8. Following the discipline's citation practices
  9. Proper formatting (font, margins, etc.)


Links

Back to Writing in the Discipline

Other professors in anthropology: Dr. Philippe Bourgois, Dr. Deborah Olszewski, Dr. Theodore Schurr



© 2013-2014 The University of Pennsylvania