Reference book: Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States, Holmes,Seth M.,
University of California Press, 2013, ISBN: 978-0-520-27514-0
Use your previous essay postings to help you in constructing this paper. This is not a book report, it is an
analytical paper. Therefore, you need to provide a demonstration of your understanding of the theoretical
underpinnings of the author’s ethnography and his application of this to his data.
In 5-7 double spaced pages (10-12 point Arial or Times New Roman font), address the following concepts
based on your reading and analysis of Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States.
You should organize your essay in any way that makes logical sense (you do not have to answer the questions
in the order provided, you just need to address them somewhere throughout your paper). You need to provide
a clear introductory paragraph that summarizes your approach to your paper and the focus of your analysis, a
set of body paragraphs with clear transitions of information between them, and a concluding paragraph that
summarizes your previously written topics. You will be graded on 4 categories:
A rubric is provided to you for this assignment (see the Essay Assignments folder) that I use for grading the
essay. Your paper must be your own writing with appropriate citations from the textbook. All papers received
must have at a minimum the book listed as part of the Works Cited page and citations used in the text from
various pages you have read to support what you have written. Additional resources can be used at the
student’s own discretion. All sources used in the paper need to be provided on the Works Cited page. If you
turn in a paper with no citations to support your writing, it will not be graded.
Write a critical evaluation of the book you have been assigned. In your paper, you should provide answers to or
analysis of the following topics/questions.
What is the author’s stated goals in writing this ethnography, how does he collect information to reach these
goals, and does he succeed?
Discuss how the author employs anthropological methods such as participant observation and why the
techniques used are so important in writing a book of this type. How does the author demonstrate throughout
the book his awareness of his own ethnicity and background providing him privileges denied to the migrant
workers he is studying? Does this provide a barrier or an advantage in his overall work?
The author emphasizes structural factors through the book impacting the ways that people are treated and how
they interact with each other. What are the structural hierarchies he identifies and how do they connect with
ethnicity? How does looking at the migrant workers’ experiences support the author’s contention that change
cannot be made by any single person’s decisions as well as explain the suffering of migrant workers as
partially dependent upon these structures?
Why do migrant workers use the phrase “Doctor’s Don’t Know Anything”? Use several examples to
demonstrate how medical professionals participate in a structural process that affects migrant workers health.
What information would be helpful to doctors and nurses when treating migrant farm workers that would
improve the medical outcomes for this group of people? Explain why migrant farm workers are often perceived
of deserving their suffering and poor medical and living conditions. How does the author explain that this is
often invisible to both outsiders as well as migrant farm workers themselves.
The labor that provides fresh fruit from California to New York groceries is subject to working and migration
experiences that are hidden from your average consumer. Tie your consumption of these products (example
strawberries) directly to the structural processes identified by the author.
Anthropologists referenced in the book that may appear in your analysis in addition to the author include (but
aren’t limited to) the following: Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Clifford Geertz, Primo Levy, Philippe Bourgois, Pierre
Boudieu, Michel Foucault, Stefan Hirschauer, Beverly Ann Davenport, and Mary Douglas.