Analytical Essay Rough Draft

Posted: January 19th, 2023

Description
Prompt:
In your previous work, you have examined the ways in which systems of power determine how we see the world and live our individual lives. While Foer investigates the “emotional and psychological power possessed by Facebook” (113), Tolentino expands upon the lack of power of women in “an economy defined by precarity” (68) that traps them between patriarchy and capitalism. While David Treuer also affirms the powers exercised through these systems especially those of colonial oppression endured by indigenous peoples of United States, he proposes sites of empowerment and resistance that can “heal the wound of inflicted upon the bodies of previous generations.” (412) Referring to the diverse forms of political and cultural practices including the Standing Rock protests as examples of such empowerment, Treuer asserts that “when we situate ourselves in a position of powerlessness, we make ourselves subaltern” (439). For your second analytical essay, please ponder upon those moment where Treuer imagines new ways of activism as ways to become more powerful. In what ways empowerment may help subvert oppressive systems that Tolentino, Treuer and Foer examine and “undo the violence of the ages” (Treuer 439)?
Follow-Up Questions:
Tolentino specifically refers to the exercise culture as a way to discipline one’s body according to the capitalist and patriarchal norms.
How do cases of Sarah and Chelsey adhere to or subvert these systems ?
in David Treuer’s exposition, all the instances of indigenous resistance including personal examples, use technology including Facebook to form meaningful relations of empowerment.
How can we rethink Facebook’s effects in terms of these empowering kinds of usage?
How can be expand the concept of “Digital Indian” that Treuer refers to other realms? What does the “Digital Indian” achieve in the realm of politics that can secure empowerment against colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism, and algorithms?
BIG QUESTION TO JUST THINK ABOUT: is individual empowerment enough to create justice in a system like capitalism or patriarchy that may be be said to be designed to create inequalities by definition?
Read the texts and respond to the prompt, as well as answering the questions. ANALYZE THE TEXT, DO NOT SUMMARIZE.