In addition to the specific group tasks, among the general readings and links you should consult for a deeper understanding of material culture are:
In anthropology, the work of Daniel Miller, notably his books Stuff and The Comfort of Things; Ian Hodder's book Entangled, and the work of Tim Ingold offer suggestive examples of the kind of orientation to the world that might stimulate your thinking about essays.
The social life of things and the idea of exploring things biographically is expressed in Appadurai, A. (Ed.) (1986) The Social Life of Things, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, and a later version of the essay can be found in Appadurai, A. (2013) The Future as Cultural Past, London: Verso.
In philosophy, the ontological turn to an enhanced appreciation of materiality is evident in Bennett, J. (2010) Vibrant Matter, Durham: Duke University Press, and
Coole, D. and Frost, S. (Eds) (2010) New Materialisms, Durham: Duke University Press. In cultural studies the exploration of everyday life has produced much work on the significance of objects and things for routine cultural practices and ongoing senses of identity formation, see for example:
Highmore, B. (2011) Ordinary Lives, Abingdon: Routledge.
On material culture itself, aside from Daniel Miller, texts such as Woodward, I. Understanding Material Culture and Dant, T. Materiality and Society would be helpful, as would books on particular materials such as Sheller, M. (2014) Aluminium Dreams.
