Body of Evidence: Workshop

Examine the linked clippings, a collection I assembled several years ago when this was a course centered in the 1950s. It contains every mention of the word “motorcycle” in the pages of Life from 1947-1962.

Sources like these aren’t rich enough to sustain analysis when examined one at a time. But amassing a bunch of minor sources allows you to make claims about cultural tendencies. By bundling ads or articles together as a “body of evidence,” you create a composite source of significant complexity and richness. Because this is an exhaustive collection, you can use the relative abundance or absence of motorcycle references in a given year as a rough gauge of cultural interest in motorcycles.

For class Download, print and fill out this notepad.

Post in the Comments a collection of fragments from the period 1960-69. Your collection should be coherent, clustered around a search term or news event. Taken individually, at least some of your fragments should be curious, odd. Taken together, your fragments should offer insight into 1960s attitudes, beliefs, lifestyles.

Minimum 3, but aim for 5 or 6. After posting your first, post later fragments as “replies” to your first post.