1301/English III Racial Identity Essay
“Yeah, I love being famous. It's almost like being white, y'know?”
― Chris Rock
Write an essay in response to the following question:
Drawing on at least four of the texts we have read this semester, explain how racial identity
influences the development of a person’s self-image, the way they are perceived by others and
their perception of the world around them. One of the texts you use must be A Raisin in the Sun.
Your essay should be at least three full pages, typed, double-spaced. An “A” paper will meet the
following criteria:
1. Addresses the prompt
2. Strong, clear thesis statement
3. Strong, clear topic sentences
4. Assertions are supported by relevant quotes
5. Quotes are taken from at least four sources
6. Quotes are embedded
7. Page #s are included after quotes
8. Organization is logical and easy to follow
9. Paper is free from grammar and spelling errors as well as typos
10. Includes a works cited page correctly formatted in MLA style
1302/English III Social Class Essay Prompt
20th century Historian James Truslow Adams popularized the phrase "American Dream"
in his 1931 book Epic of America. He defined this dream as:
…that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for
every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. It is
a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too
many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of
motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man
and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are
innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the
fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.
And later he wrote:
The American dream, which has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores
in the past century, has not been a dream of merely material plenty, though that
has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been much more than that. It has been a
dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman,
unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older
civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of
classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class.
Prompt
Drawing on Death of a Salesman and at least three other texts we have read or
viewed for this unit discuss how these texts represent social class and the
opportunities available for social advancement that might lead to the attainment of
the “American Dream.” How are America’s social system and class divisions
viewed in these texts as either creating barriers or providing opportunities for this
advancement?
The texts we have read for this unit are as follows:
“Life in the Iron Mills” Rebecca Harding Davis
“The Laboring Classes” Orestes Brownson
“Good Poor, Bad Poor” Timothy Egan
“Show Me the Money” Walter Mosley
“Serving in Florida” Barbara Ehrenreich
The One Percent Jamie Johnson
1302/English III Gender Essay Prompt
At the end of her essay, Deborah Tannen states that “some days you just want to get dressed and
go about your business. But if you’re a woman, you can’t, because there is no unmarked
woman.”
Drawing on at least three of the texts we have read for this unit, discuss the various ways in
which genders are “marked.” Do you agree with Tannen or do you feel that contemporary
women have more freedom than Tannen suggests? Do you feel that men are marked as well or
just women? Support your position with specific examples from readings, your own experience
and popular culture.
You must use at least one text from each of the following lists in your essay:
List A :
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
List B: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman
“A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” by Mary Wollstonecraft
“Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
List C:“There Is No Unmarked Woman” by Deborah Tannen
“Being a Man” Paul Theroux
“Lost in the Kitchen” Dave Barry
“Sex, Lies and Advertising” by Gloria Steinem
Miss Representation directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom