Assignment task: Jamaica Kincaid, Warsan Shire, Jillian Weise and Langston Hughes each capture tension in their narrative essays. That tension is responding to the pressures between family or cultural expectations and the rest of the world. Often our families or our individual identities are not accepted or easily absorbed into the broader context of American culture. This often creates a discomfort, but it also reflects on the narrow limits of socially acceptable behavior or identity.
Your Task:
Three to five page narrative that captures a tension associated with your identity. You may choose to write about a tension that takes place within the family (Kincaid and Hughes) or a tension that exists between your cultural or personal identity and the broader society we live in (Shire and Weise). These narratives may be about religion, school, political beliefs or practices, work, etc.