Handout for second essay assignment
Please write a 3-4 page paper (double-spaced, with 12 point font and no more than 1″ margins) on the question below.
The essay should also include a bibliography (a Works Cited page) which is in addition to the 3-4 pages of text you’ll be writing. Please follow the same MLA guidelines for formatting a Works Cited and in-text parenthetical citations as you did in the first essay (go back and refer to the first essay handout, if you need to review the citation guidelines).
Writing Objectives
Please be sure that your essay includes a thesis (a main argument or statement of opinion) in the introductory paragraph. The introduction should also include the main points (at least three!) that you’re going to develop in the body of the essay (so, it has a sort of “road map” of what you’re going to cover). Each of those main points should be supported and developed using quotations or examples from the readings or from observations you’ve made in your own life.
A good way to begin is to make a list of points that you have observed. Derive your thesis or the main point you wish to make from that list. Brainstorm. What other points on the list seem to support the main argument (the thesis) that you have come up with? Then go to the readings and find supporting quotations for these points, and develop these in the body paragraphs. Essays should be a minimum of five paragraphs but your essay can certainly include more body paragraphs.
This essay will be graded on its clarity, its arguments and its organization. As I said above, be sure to include a THESIS in the introductory paragraph and develop good examples and arguments to support that thesis. Each paragraph should include a topic sentence that is the subject of that paragraph. You should also include a strong conclusion that draws on the points you present in the body. The conclusion should be a separate paragraph that restates the thesis and drives your main arguments home.
Be sure to cite ALL of your primary and secondary sources using in-text citations within parentheses, as you did for your first essay. Any time you incorporate a quotation or a specific example, statistic, etc., you should include a citation to show the source where you got that information.
Essay Topic
Most of the readings we’ve completed so far discuss the impact of stereotypes that are rooted in identities of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or class stereotypes (and many readings discussed identities that were rooted in the “intersections” or overlaps between one or more of those identities).
These are the readings you have to use for this paper-
-Race, Class and Gender: Article 37, Tiffany Manuel and Ruth Enid Zambrana, “Exploring the Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Class on Maternity Leave Decisions,” pp.307-313.
-Article 35, “Gender Matters. So Do Race and Class,” Sandra E. Weissinger, pp. 285-293.
-Race, Class and Gender: Article 54, “The Color of Justice,” Michelle Alexander, pp. 419-423.
-Article 13, “Closing the Wealth Gap: A Review of Racial and Ethnic Inequalities in Homeownership.”
In this paper please select at least THREE of the readings and compare and contrast how these stereotypes are created, what they consist of, and the impact that they have, according to the authors of the readings you’ve chosen. You may also include observations from your own experience, but you should be SURE to discuss at least three of the readings for the course, as well. You can discuss more than three, if you want to.
You can choose any three, and if you wanted to, you could compare the creation and impact of stereotypes across categories: that is, you could compare how racial stereotypes operate in conjunction with stereotypes rooted in ideas about gender or how race and sexual orientation intersect in the construction of stereotypes. Or you could discuss how class identities intersect with notions of gender in the creation of particular stereotypes.
OR you could choose three readings that are similar, and which allow you to discuss one particular sort of stereotype in depth. For example, you could look at stereotyping: as it affects men from different racial or ethnic backgrounds; the stereotyping of poor/working class people; the stereotyping women/women’s bodies; or the stereotyping of people with different sexual orientations/identities. Again, these are simply suggestions. Come up with your own–just make sure you look three authors to support your conclusions. This paper is a little trickier than you think so be warned
Think about the idea of “self-fulfilling nature of stereotypes/ internalization of racism/or stereotypes.” What coping mechanisms do people devise to deal with stereotyping? Can you give specific examples from the readings you chose? Do not give me summaries of the readings (we’ve done that!). Instead of summarizing, you should analyze: what authors agree with each other? Which of them disagree? Why? I don’t want book reports but critiques and analysis of the works at hand comparing and contrasting the authors’ key points throughout the paper, along with your own thoughts on these issues.