Essay Assignment: Stereotype Threat
Rationale for Assignment: An important college skill is being able to read and understand other people's ideas. When you write about what you read, you are basically explaining to the reader, "This is what I read and learned; this is what I understand about the topic."
This paper assignment asks you to explain an important idea in one of the articles we have read, and to illustrate that idea with examples. You may also include examples from other sources we reviewed in class to show the author's ideas. Be sure to properly cite all paraphrases and quotations from the readings.
This assignment also asks you to present your own thinking about the author's ideas. You might agree with the author and give new evidence to support the ideas in the reading; you might disagree with the author and give examples to show why the ideas in the reading are not always correct; or you might have different ideas from the author that are supported by examples or evidence.
Assignment: Pick one of the following prompts to write about:
Option 1-Text-to-Self:Can you think of a time when you might have underperformed because of stereotype threat. What happened? What impact did that have on you? What would have helped you overcome stereotype threat in that situation? Please support your analysis using examples from your own experiences as well as any of the texts we reviewed in this unit.
- Your first paragraph (called an introduction) should include a thesis-a concise statement where you answer the questions above and let your reader know what to expect as the paper unfolds.
- Your body paragraphs should provide evidence for your argument, focusing on specific personal educational experiences.
- Stronger papers will also include details-quotes-from Steele's essay or video as support.
Option 2-Text-to-Text: Analyze how stereotype threat impacted another person (pick one: Amy Tan from "Mother Tongue," Jin from the American Born Chinese comic or one/all of the women featured in the movie Hidden Figures). How did stereotype threat restrict (or potentially restricted them) from reaching their full potential? What might have helped them overcome stereotype threat in that situation? Please support your analysis using quotes from the texts we reviewed in this unit.
- Your first paragraph (called an introduction) should include a thesis-a concise statement where you answer the questions above and let your reader know what to expect as the paper unfolds.
- Your body paragraphs should provide evidence for your argument, focusing on specific evidence from the relevant texts you selected.
- Stronger papers will also include details-quotes-from Steele's essay or videos as support.
Over
Format Requirements:
- 3-4 pages in length
- MLA format (1 inch margins, double-spaced, typed in Times New Roman or Calibre font).