Reading & Questions: Petersen, "How Nashville Became One Big Bachelorette Party" (pp.251-267)

 

NOTE: This is your first reading assignment, and will be due the day you return to class. You can either bring a hard copy of the  questions with you, or e-mail them to me on the day of class. This is the work I want you to do "on-line" when you're not in class on either Tuesday or Thursday (depending on your class).

Tuesday Classes: this will be due next Tuesday in class (or by class if you e-mail it)

Thursday Classes: this will be due next Thursday in class (or by class)

After you read the article, answer TWO of the following questions in a short response--at least a few sentences, and try to avoid answers that sound like this:

"Yes, because she says that it does in that one passage." OR "No, I don't think so."

Give me some thought and try to be as specific as possible; quote from the article when possible, to show me you not only read the article, but to support your ideas (since not everyone will read/understand the essay the same way).

THE QUESTIONS (answer any 2 of the following 4):

Q1: Early in the essay, the writer says that the appeal of Nashville is "the ability to try on a culture while avoiding accusations of appropriation" (253). What do you think she means by this? How do you try on a culture, and what is appropriation? 

Q2: Petersen writes that "at the heart of the bachelorette ethos, after all, is the notion that every space, every restaurant, every service should accommodate you. During your visit, you bend the city to your needs" (261). Do you think this is fair? Should a city have to adapt to the people visiting it--or the reverse? What might be a down side to having a city cater so drastically to its tourists? 

Q3: Quoting an earlier writer, Thorstein Veblen, the author notes that "travel is always, at least in part, about being seen traveling" (262). Why do you think this is true? And why is it especially true in Nashville? 

Q4: In general, do you think Petersen (the author) approves or disapproves of the bachelorette experience? Does she want us to walk away from the essay shaking our heads...or does she want us to understand why they do it (and maybe, somewhat approve)?