Papers

Essay1-Drafts (Friday, 9/2) **NOTE: you do not have to post your whole paper. Just posting a paragraph will help us see what everyone is thinking about. Please click in to the linked pages.Thanks!**

media type="custom" key="10363420" Essay3-Drafts

Essay2-Conclusions (10/21-10/28)

Topic ideas for papers See below for a list of broad themes for your 3 page papers, and we will do a brainstorming exercise in class to narrow these down. Please add your results from that exercise below this list. (MLS) Also, for proper citation formatting and writing bibliographies, please see Diana Hacker's expert advice here. [|Diana Hacker online]

For sharing full drafts online you could try Google docs, [|Google Docs] or you could also use our discussion board on this page. Even though we will be doing LOTS of collaboration this semester, all of your writing in your individual papers must be your own, aka original, i.e. NO plagiarism. We will be using SafeAssign for checking for plagiarism which is on Blackboard.

Broad themes to explore: 1) Identity and self 2) Growth, maturity, spiritual growth 3) Community, unity (also Black Power) 4) Culture & tradition 5) Family ties, generational differences 6) History, historical consciousness 7) Gender issues/Gender roles 8) Power & inequality 9) Racism, race relations, White folks 10) Critiques of the U.S., esp. slavery and segregation 11) Friendship 12) Progress & change 13) Self-discovery, self-love 14) Color/colorism 15) Images of Nature/Land 16) Africa & African ties 17) Love & nurturing 18) Division or competition 19) Exploitation, violence and/or oppression 20) Success 21) Endurance and strength 22) Autonomy and independence 23) Loss and grief 24) Healing/letting go of the past 25) Incarceration/the criminal justice system and African American experience 26) Style, voice, technique 27) Diversity & difference 28) Class differences/Class struggle 29) Education and writing 30) Storytelling and the oral tradition