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On several occasions during class meetings, we have discussed cultural confluences, those moments when aspects of two or more cultures get synthesized into a practice, belief, or other cultural artifact. Cultural confluence is a major theme of Saints and Citizens.
In this essay, you need to closely examine one of the mission chapels from the list below and describe the cultural confluences that chapel represents.
You should apply the knowledge you have gained from Saints and Citizens regarding the ways indigenous peoples of California synthesized their own cultures with those of Europeans and Mexicans.
The prompt
Write a 600- to 750-word essay in response to this question: In what ways does a particular chapel represent a confluence of the local indigenous culture(s) with Spanish, Mexican mestizo, and/or other cultures, and what do those confluences reveal about the indigenous peoples’ resistance to colonization and/or adaptation to the missions and missionaries?
Specifically, your essay should:
- Make an argument about what these confluences might reveal about the relevant indigenous peoples’ resistance to colonization and/or adaptation to the their missions and missionaries.
- Highlight examples of confluence in your selected chapel to support your argument. Your essay should draw heavily on Haas’s work, as well as the work of art historians and others she cites in Saints and Citizens. For example, you might reference the relationship of geometric forms in mission chapels to indigenous depictions of and beliefs about rattlesnakes, or give an example of how indigenous people synthesized their own beliefs with those of the Catholic missionaries.
Essays must include this addendum:
- On a separate page at the end of your essay, write a paragraph or bulleted list detailing how comments from Noah and/or Dr. Madsen on your first paper influenced your writing and revision of this one.
The chapels
Select only one chapel to analyze.
- Mission San Fernando chapel (edge of Chumash territory)
- Mission San Luis Rey Chapel (Luiseño territory)
- Mission San Juan Bautista church (Ohlone territory
- Mission San Miguel Church (edge of Chumash territory)
You’re welcome to study any photos of these mission chapels that you like. Links to photos are included so you know you’re looking at the correct chapel.
How your essay will be evaluated
Your essay will be evaluated according to this rubric. There will not be an opportunity to rewrite this essay for a higher grade.
Tips for effective and efficient research and writing
- You don’t have a lot of room to waffle in 750 words. Use them wisely.
- State your argument clearly at the end of your first paragraph, then use the rest of the paper to provide evidence (examples from your chapel, information from Saints and Citizens) to support that argument.
- You will of course draw heavily from chapter 3 of Saints and Citizens, but a strong essay will cite information from other parts of the book as well.
- Read the rubric carefully.
- This is a formal essay. Use the third person point of view (i.e., do not use “I” or “you”).
Guidelines
- Your essay should be between 600 and 750 words.
- You can double- or single-space.
- Proofread your essay carefully.
- Submit your essay as a Google doc to your student folder.
- Cite sources in footnotes, using the Chicago Manual of Style.
Due date
Your essay must be uploaded to your Google Drive student folder by 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 8.