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A 10:002 or 10:003 Unit ~ A Sense of the "Other": Perspectives on America's Ethnic Diversity and the Challenge of Multiculturalism
Formal Assignments

Length: 4-5 type written pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font with 1.25” margins, (stapled!)

Due Dates:

Draft Workshop (2 copies, one for your partner, one for me):
Final Draft:
Overview:

This assignment is designed to hone your ability to evaluate warrant, the component that determines the credibility of an argument. Cultural myths about race, ethnicity, and the controversy of how we define what it means to be “American” offer us an opportunity to evaluate warrant in relation to two works that illustrate different ideas of what defines an American– Thomas Jefferson’s “Notes on the State of Virginia” and Ronald Takaki’s piece from “A Different Mirror”. Your job for this next assignment is to write an essay critiquing the warrants these authors use to support their arguments, putting the different texts “in conversation” with one another. In other words, this assignment asks you for a critical comparison of the ideas presented in both of these texts identifying their strengths and weaknesses. You will be responsible for both a comparison and an analysis of the rhetorical strategies employed by these works. Your essay should cover: the rhetorical strategies the authors employ in each work; an evaluation of the evidence they use to make their arguments persuasive; the implicit critiques made across these texts.

To Help Situate Your Analysis:
The cartoon I passed out last week raises questions about how we define the terms “us” and “them” and the social relationships that exist between them. The different interpretations of this rhetorical “text” are reflective of an on going controversy regarding American racial/ethnic relations, an issue addressed in the essays by Jefferson and Takaki. Keeping the different ways one could interpret the cartoon in mind, use the questions below to help orient your analysis of these two works.

Discussion Questions:

  • According to what you have read of Jefferson and Takaki, describe some of the different ways one could use this cartoon as a representation of relationships between America’s different racial/ethnic groups. How might each author respond to the artist’s use of the terms “us” and “them”?
  • What claim does each author present about these relationships? What reasons do they give to support their claims?
  • On what basis does Jefferson justify the separation of blacks and whites? How might Takaki respond to Jefferson’s justifications for his arguments?

What I expect from you:
Same rules apply to this essay as last time: a well-written and organized piece with a clear point of departure (thesis), support for your views with effective and descriptive examples from the text and a conclusion that neatly sums up your analysis. The questions I provide above are a guide to shaping your essay. While I will allow some leeway in your approach to this assignment, I advise you to use these questions to help organize your essays. We will be talking about some of these subjects as a group, but feel free to raise any questions you have about the texts we’re covering during class or in my office hours.

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