When instructors assign a writing project, they usually give you specific information, or a writing prompt. Students usually analyze this prompt to know what they are required to do. Watch this video on Dissecting Writing Prompts here. Links to an external site.
Also, How to Dissect a Writing Prompt website Links to an external site. has useful steps and describes the verbs often found in prompts.
Assignment
Read the following prompt from an actual English 1A course. After you read the prompt, you will need to 1) summarize in your own words what you are being asked to do and 2) what questions you would ask the instructor or a tutor.
Example Prompt
Essay 3: Research-Based Essay
Examining the Power of Stories
Using Art/Stories to Empower, Humanize, and Fight Bias
This semester we have read about the power of language and have written about our own experiences with language. We have also discussed libraries as more than just “houses for books” to examine their varied roles in a democratic society.
In this third paper, I want you to examine the ways in which stories can be used to counter oppressive narratives (stereotypes). Investigate the question: in what ways do stories empower? In her TedTalk “the Danger of a Single Story,” Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes, “Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”
Use research to locate a “story” that is written or performed by a member of a group that faces bias/stereotyping from others. The “story” should empower, humanize, and/or repair the broken dignity of the group being represented, or serve as a way to confront and fight injustice/bias. You have a lot of flexibility – you can choose the group that you want to focus on, and you can choose music, video, poetry, comedy, fiction, performance art, or dance …the form of the art/story is flexible. Here are some ideas to get you started (links on Canvas: Week 10).
Please note that you cannot use movies or speeches, and you should pick something that is current.
IDEAS:
Jamila Lyiscott’s spoken word poem: “3 Ways To Speak English” https://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english?language=en Links to an external site.
Carlos Andrés Gómez’s spoken word poem about Latino identity http://carloslive.com/poems/
Olivia Gatwood’s feminist poem “Ode to My Bitch Face”
Olivia Gatwood – “Ode To My Bitch Face” Links to an external site.
Olivia Gatwood – “Ode To My Bitch Face”
“Prologue” to There, There by Tommy Orange (document available in Week 10 module)
Syrian rapper / poet, Omar Offedum’s Links to an external site. songs about Arab American identity: https://offendum.bandcamp.com/ Links to an external site.
Mexican artist Barbara Carrasco’s mural depicting the history of Los Angeles http://muralesrebeldes.org/la-history/ Links to an external site.
Joyner Lucas’s video “I’m Not Racist.”
Joyner Lucas – I’m Not Racist Links to an external site.
Joyner Lucas – I’m Not Racist
Cannupa Hanska Luger who is a multidisciplinary artist. Look at his “Exhibition: Stereotype: Misconceptions of the Native American” http://www.cannupahanska.com/stereotype-misconceptions-of-the-native-american Links to an external site.
Alessia Cara video “Scars to Your Beautiful”
Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful (Official Video) Links to an external site.
Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful (Official Video)
PROMPT: In your essay, analyze how this work of art offers an alternative to the disempowering and biased stories that are often told about this group.
Some Questions to Think About and Research…
What do you think is empowering about this art/story? How is it different from the “single stories” that are often told? Does it “humanize” the group represented – if so, how? (For research, you might include references to examples of de-humanizing single stories, as a contrast to what you’re presenting.)
What was the artist trying to do with this piece? Who is the intended audience and what did the artist hope to achieve with that audience? Use your research to find out about the artist’s intention (e.g., interviews, statements the artist made, things the artist wrote).
What social issues is the artist’s work connected to? Use you research to connect this piece of art to the issues faced by this group in society (e.g,. bias, mass incarceration, police brutality, sexual abuse/harassment, the silencing of women, restrictive norms for gender or sexuality).
How can art be used to help address social injustice? Do you think the work you chose is an effective/powerful way to fight bias/injustice? Why or why not?
Requirements
1,500 words in MLA format—your essay should be typed, in 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, no extra space between paragraphs
A minimum of 5 sources not including the actual “story/text” you wish to write about. (at least 3 from research sources (there can be more). With that, you will have 2 “other sources.”
A works cited page and an Annotated Works Cited page for your sources.
Think about your audience. I will not be familiar with your sources, so you need to make sure you give context. For example, if you are talking about a song/video, you will have to give relevant lyrics and you will probably talk about the video too and how that helps to get the message across.
Make sure your essay is edited. Essays with a lot of grammar mistakes will receive a lower grade. Please see the rubric for additional details.When instructors assign a writing project, they usually give you specific information, or a writing prompt. Students usually analyze this prompt to know what they are required to do. Watch this video on Dissecting Writing Prompts here. Links to an external site.
Also, How to Dissect a Writing Prompt website Links to an external site. has useful steps and describes the verbs often found in prompts.
Assignment
Read the following prompt from an actual English 1A course. After you read the prompt, you will need to 1) summarize in your own words what you are being asked to do and 2) what questions you would ask the instructor or a tutor.
Example Prompt
Essay 3: Research-Based Essay
Examining the Power of Stories
Using Art/Stories to Empower, Humanize, and Fight Bias
This semester we have read about the power of language and have written about our own experiences with language. We have also discussed libraries as more than just “houses for books” to examine their varied roles in a democratic society.
In this third paper, I want you to examine the ways in which stories can be used to counter oppressive narratives (stereotypes). Investigate the question: in what ways do stories empower? In her TedTalk “the Danger of a Single Story,” Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes, “Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”
Use research to locate a “story” that is written or performed by a member of a group that faces bias/stereotyping from others. The “story” should empower, humanize, and/or repair the broken dignity of the group being represented, or serve as a way to confront and fight injustice/bias. You have a lot of flexibility – you can choose the group that you want to focus on, and you can choose music, video, poetry, comedy, fiction, performance art, or dance …the form of the art/story is flexible. Here are some ideas to get you started (links on Canvas: Week 10).
Please note that you cannot use movies or speeches, and you should pick something that is current.
IDEAS:
Jamila Lyiscott’s spoken word poem: “3 Ways To Speak English” https://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english?language=en Links to an external site.
Carlos Andrés Gómez’s spoken word poem about Latino identity http://carloslive.com/poems/
Olivia Gatwood’s feminist poem “Ode to My Bitch Face”
Olivia Gatwood – “Ode To My Bitch Face” Links to an external site.
Olivia Gatwood – “Ode To My Bitch Face”
“Prologue” to There, There by Tommy Orange (document available in Week 10 module)
Syrian rapper / poet, Omar Offedum’s Links to an external site. songs about Arab American identity: https://offendum.bandcamp.com/ Links to an external site.
Mexican artist Barbara Carrasco’s mural depicting the history of Los Angeles http://muralesrebeldes.org/la-history/ Links to an external site.
Joyner Lucas’s video “I’m Not Racist.”
Joyner Lucas – I’m Not Racist Links to an external site.
Joyner Lucas – I’m Not Racist
Cannupa Hanska Luger who is a multidisciplinary artist. Look at his “Exhibition: Stereotype: Misconceptions of the Native American” http://www.cannupahanska.com/stereotype-misconceptions-of-the-native-american Links to an external site.
Alessia Cara video “Scars to Your Beautiful”
Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful (Official Video) Links to an external site.
Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful (Official Video)
PROMPT: In your essay, analyze how this work of art offers an alternative to the disempowering and biased stories that are often told about this group.
Some Questions to Think About and Research…
What do you think is empowering about this art/story? How is it different from the “single stories” that are often told? Does it “humanize” the group represented – if so, how? (For research, you might include references to examples of de-humanizing single stories, as a contrast to what you’re presenting.)
What was the artist trying to do with this piece? Who is the intended audience and what did the artist hope to achieve with that audience? Use your research to find out about the artist’s intention (e.g., interviews, statements the artist made, things the artist wrote).
What social issues is the artist’s work connected to? Use you research to connect this piece of art to the issues faced by this group in society (e.g,. bias, mass incarceration, police brutality, sexual abuse/harassment, the silencing of women, restrictive norms for gender or sexuality).
How can art be used to help address social injustice? Do you think the work you chose is an effective/powerful way to fight bias/injustice? Why or why not?
Requirements
1,500 words in MLA format—your essay should be typed, in 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, no extra space between paragraphs
A minimum of 5 sources not including the actual “story/text” you wish to write about. (at least 3 from research sources (there can be more). With that, you will have 2 “other sources.”
A works cited page and an Annotated Works Cited page for your sources.
Think about your audience. I will not be familiar with your sources, so you need to make sure you give context. For example, if you are talking about a song/video, you will have to give relevant lyrics and you will probably talk about the video too and how that helps to get the message across.
Make sure your essay is edited. Essays with a lot of grammar mistakes will receive a lower grade. Please see the rubric for additional details.
Last Completed Projects
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