1. Artifact Assignment
LSJ 332
M. Morris

2. Assignment Guidelines
Turn in 3 essays
Identify 1 artifact for each paper and address the following items:
Who produced the item and for what audience?
Where was it produced, where was it found?
What message about disability does it convey?
How does it fit into one (or more) of the models of disability?

3. What is an Artifact
Anything in society that portrays disability in some way (think of disability in terms of how we have defined it in class)
Examples:
Movies
TV shows
Articles
Books
Signs
Comics
Songs
Jokes

4. Example of an Artifact
Movie 300

5. About the Artifact What is the artifact… Who produced…
300
Who produced…
Frank Miller novel produced by Warner Brothers
Where is it found…
Any video store near you
Who is the audience…
General public

6. Movie Synopses Spartans are born warriors
Infants are examined at birth and if they are found to be undesirable, then they are cast off a cliff
Children are taught from a young age to be physically fit and to fight

9. King Xerxes of the Persians comes and threatens King Leonidas and the Spartans
King Leonidas refuses to submit and seeks religious approval from the Ephors and the Oracle to go fight the Persians
They do not give a blessing but King Leonidas takes off w/ 300 of the finest men

11. King Leonidas and the soldiers march to meet the Persians and camp out at a cliff
A man who has a hunchback follows them and asks to join the army

13. Battle – bloody and gory
The Persians brought in “monsters” to fight
King Xerxes brings in the man who has a hunchback and coaxes him to give up the Spartans by offering him women, money and power
The man who has a hunchback gives up the Spartans and all 300 die

15. “300 white guys from a militarist eugenist sexist child-abusing society valiantly defend the narrow pass of Thermopylae against the progressive, racially, ethnically, ability and sexually diverse (albeit power-hungry) Persians in this gorgeously-filmed action-packed bloodfest.”
John on

16. Portrayal of people with disabilities
Eugenics
Ephors are viewed as greedy, dishonest, and perverse
Man with a hunchback is viewed as weak physically (can’t fight in battle) and weak morally (tempted by the enemy with women, money, and power)
His weakness is what led to the defeat of the Spartans
Any Persian with any physical difference is viewed as a monster that needs to be contained unless fighting against an enemy

17. Message of the Artifact
Note: Think about who the potential audiences are ie: general public, teens, adults, persons with disabilities…

18. People w/ disabilities are
weak and do not have a place in society
unable to contribute constructively to society
morally corrupt
easily tempted by evil
can ruin a society

19. Application of Models
How does this fit into the models of disability discussed in class....?
Remember the models…
Social
Personal tragedy
Moral
Medical

20. Moral
Medical

21. About the Assignment Two pages double spaced or one single spaced
Remember your grammar!
Place ALL of the required pieces into the essay

22. About the Assignment (cont)
Use at least 3 of the models discussed in class across your 3 essays
You do not need to use all of the models, just the ones that apply to your artifact
Think about the models in terms of the message(s) of the artifact
There are PLENTY of artifacts out there
You must choose 3 different mediums (movie, article, etc.) for your 3 essays

23. Grading Criteria Grammar = 1 pt
Who produced/who was the audience = 2 pt
Where was it produced/found = 1 pt
What message is being conveyed about disability = 3 pt
How does it fit into one or more models of disability = 3 pt
Total = 10 pt