Writing Assignments
Short, informal in-class writing assignments will help you stay disciplined about getting the reading done. The major writing for the course will be three essays of about 6-8 pages each, along with a few shorter writing assignments. One of the essays will be a response to one or more of the texts we read, in a form of your choice--imitation, reflection, critical analysis. The other two assignments will be essays related to the material of the course--personal memoir, autobiography, investigation, or other nonfiction narrative or persuasive essay. You are welcome, indeed encouraged, to investigate some issue or topic on your own on which to write--education; interracial dating and relationships; housing segregation; the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality; race in advertising or film; or other topics you are interested in pursuing. With my permission, one of your papers may be a work of fiction, accompanied by a critical commentary addressing the ways your story engages the issues we have read about and discussed in the course. For each essay, you will write a proposal, draft the piece, and then get feedback on your writing from a workshop group in class as well as from me. The responses from other readers in the class and from me will help you revise your paper before submitting the revision. There will also be occasions for you to make one substantial oral presentation to the class and to be responsible for leading class discussions of the reading and films.
Reflections on Racial Identity (PDF)
Joanne Chang (PDF)
Paper 1: Ramón A. Partida (PDF)
Paper 2: Akua Asa-Awuku (PDF)
Paper 3: Ann Punnoose (PDF)
Paper 4: Joanne Chang (PDF)
I also ask that you keep a Reader's Notebook--a place where you will respond informally to the reading as we go along. The notebook is the place for you to read critically, to explore connections between the reading and class discussion and your own past and present experience, to record and test insights, to react as you feel moved to do, to draw connections among the various texts we will investigate as well as with other things you have read, films you have seen, places you've been; to raise questions, record observations, and test and challenge assumptions. For additional information on my expectations for your notebook writing, I will give you a handout on the Reader's Notebook.
At the end of the semester, you will prepare a portfolio of all the writing you have done in the course, including your essays and the reader's notebook, so that I can review your work in order to give you a grade for the course. In deciding on semester grades, I will consider the quality of your writing, the degree and consistency of your effort throughout the semester, the success you demonstrate in revising your written work, how actively you participated in class discussion and workshops and the quality of your classroom contributions. I am of course happy to talk with you at any time about your work and your progress in the course.
Preparing your Portfolio for Submission (PDF)