Reading Response Essay Assignment: Borderlands/La Frontera
In Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Gloria Andaldúa examines gender, sexuality,
identity, race, and oppression through the lens of the Chicana/o and Latina/o culture. Building
on her own experiences, Anzaldúa argues for a new culture that understands various forms
of oppression, resists physical borders as well as the limitations we place upon ourselves
and others, and honors the multiple ways people express culture.
Assignment: You are required to write an 1,000 to 1,250 word reading response essay on
Borderlands/La Frontera. For this essay, you should not provide a mere summary of the book.
Rather, you are required to provide your critical analysis by answering reading response
essay questions in five paragraphs. An effective reading response essay demonstrates that you
have a deep understanding of the reading and have substantiated your critical analysis by
providing quotes and details from the book. You can only use the book to answer the
questions below. Any use of outside sources will result in a zero.
Your essay should be in Times New Roman, 12 point font, double-spaced, and 1” margins. You
do not need a cover page. Your first page would have your name, the date, and the title of the
assignment at the top left corner. All quotes should be cited using MLA, or parenthetical
references: (Anzaldúa 19).
Purpose: This assignment relates to the Student Learning Outcomes of articulate an informed
personal response and critically analyze the works by Mexican Americans/Chicanas/os in the arts
and humanities; describe the impact of discrimination on the everyday life of Mexican
Americans/Chicanas/os in the context of social, political, and economic circumstances; analyze
minority group interactions in the United States focusing on immigration and migration patterns,
assimilation, and adjustments to American life; and formulate an understanding of the shifting
definitions of Mexican American cultural identities.
Essay Structure:
To effectively answer the questions for each paragraph below, provide details from the
book as well as two to three quotes from the book that you analyze to support your
responses to the questions. You should not merely provide quotes, but rather, tell me how these
quotes answer the questions for each paragraph. In total, you will have five paragraphs (a
paragraph for #1, a paragraph for #2, a paragraph for #3, a paragraph for #4, and a
paragraph for #5). You do not need an introduction nor a conclusion.
1. According to Anzaldúa, what oppression did Chicanas/os experience in Texas in the
1800s and the 1900s? Also, how has the undocumented Mexican community experienced
oppression?
2. How has Anzaldúa resisted oppressive cultural gender expectations as a queer Chicana?
Also, what is la facultdad and how is it beneficial?
3. According to Anzaldúa, how is writing an ancient tradition for Chicanas/os? Also, what
is the power of writing for Chicanas/os?
4. According to Anzaldúa, what are core aspects of the new consciousness (look at the bold
headings in the chapter on new consciousness)? Also, is this new consciousness
important to Chicanas/os and Latinas/os today? If so, explain why. If not, explain why
not.
5. What parts of the book did you like the most, and why? In your response, you should
provide and analyze two to three quotes as you have in the previous paragraphs.
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