Write an essay on one of the topics listed below

Assignment Overview
For this assignment, you will write an essay on one of the topics listed below. Your essay should be 4-5 pages long, and must include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Your first paragraph (the introduction) should sum up the main points, and state the central idea of your paper. The next several paragraphs (the body) should lay out your arguments and address the questions asked below under “Detailed Instructions.” Your conclusion should briefly recap the central points of your essay.
Keep in mind the overall project of your research paper, remembering that a research essay is more than a series of factual statements about a certain topic. A good research paper explores and explains the significance of the topic of choice and has a thesis statement that reflects what you have concluded about the topic under consideration. It is based on the critical analysis and interpretation that you developed when you read the sources for your paper. You cannot develop a good thesis statement without critically reading your sources. You are trying to present the reader of your paper with a convincing argument, so remember that the thesis is the central point to which all the information in the paper relates.
Some things to keep in mind for your opening paragraph:
Don’t open with a global statement, such as “From the beginning of time, women and men have always……”, or “Identity is personal…”. These kinds of statements are huge generalizations, and so broad that they are meaningless.
Remember that your thesis statement is the heart of your paper and of your opening paragraph—it is best to keep your introduction short (1 paragraph), and to state your thesis clearly.
For this essay, you may use MLA or APA citation style. You must use a style guide to correctly format all in-text (parenthetical) citations as well as your reference list.
Topic #2: Race and Gender
Throughout the course we have been taking an intersectional approach to issues related to race and gender. How does race intersect with gender to create the “Other”? In your answer provide examples drawn from the work of the authors you have researched, which demonstrate the impact of gender and race on males and females.
Some key concepts to include in your assignments include:
Impact of systemic or institutional racism in Canadian culture and popular culture more generally; reasons for classifying people by “race”; government policies and embedded structures that influence race and gender;
The relationships between men/women and their bodies; differences between “white” and “racialized” bodies; historicizing bodies; how have the authors theorized these relationships?;
How have Black rappers or artists like Beyoncé, subverted hegemonic ideas of masculinity and femininity? How do racialized people navigate the challenges of a “white” society?
How is “whiteness” a construction of Canadian nationalism? In what ways does it signal belonging, community, acceptance, rights and status? What is the experience of immigrant girls from Vietnamese and Chinese backgrounds?
Required articles:
Gonick, Marnina. 2000. “Canadian=Blond, English, White: Theorizing Race, Language, and Nation”. Atlantis 24(2), 93-104
Kohlman, Marla H., “Beyoncé as Intersectional Icon? Interrogating the Politics of Respectability” pp. 27-39 in A.M Trier-Bieniek, The Beyoncć Effect: Essays on Sexuality, Race and Feminism: Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland
Randolph, Antonia. “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful”: Black Masculinity and Alternative Embodiment in Rap Music”. Race, Gender & Class Journal Vol 13. No. 3/4, 2006, pp. 200-217.

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