Racial and Ethnic Minorities Oppression and Gender Discrimination against Women

Essay Instructions:

Essay 3
This is a high-stakes, scaffolded research assignment. This paper requires you to perform the rhetorical tasks of research, analysis, and synthesis. The paper should be 1,500-1,750 words in length.
This semester, we have explored readings that focused on the relationship between lived experience and creativity: Often, the things that individuals create reflect their cultural background or lived experiences. On the other hand, sometimes creativity provides a way to transcend the limitations of one’s background or lived experience. In each of our course texts—March: Book 1, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Spare Parts—we have seen how creativity—in the form of an invention, or art, or the telling of a story—provides a way to resist difficult circumstances, policies, or places created by the cruelty of others.
In preparation for your third essay, you will engage with the online exhibit of the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, The Concentration Camps: Inside the Nazi System of Incarceration and Genocide, as well as other archival materials within the KHC’s online collection. The Nazi concentration camps are among the worst things that the human race has created. While the Nazi system of incarceration and genocide no longer exist, ignorance, fear, and hatred for difference still do. Creativity in various forms provides a way to resist.
Task
You will write an essay focusing on injustice and creative resistance focusing on a group or population that currently experiences oppression.
In the first part of your essay, you will present an extended definition of either creativity or resistance, based on a synthesis of the course texts. One source MUST be from the KHC online exhibition. You must include at least two additional sources from the KHC or course readings. You should not use additional outside sources in this part of your essay. Do NOT incorporate a dictionary definition of either of these terms.
Then, using research that you have located using the strategies you learned about in the course folders, you will inform your readers about the injustice or oppression currently experiences by the group or population you have chosen to focus on. Possible choices include (but are not limited to) LGBTQ+ community, BIPOC community, undocumented immigrants, women, people with disabilities, Asian Americans (targeted after COVID), political or religious dissidents, etc. In this part of your essay, you should identify the group, define the kind and scope of oppression/injustice that they are experiencing, and explain what could be or needs to be done to eliminate this oppression/injustice. Please keep in mind that depending on the group that you choose, you may need to narrow your topic to be specific enough for this assignment, as many of these groups experience MULTIPLE kinds of oppression/injustice. For example, members of the LGBTQ+ community experience discrimination in adoption, are the object of violent attacks/hate crimes, may be refused services by businesses, may not be allowed to marry in certain religious organizations, experience discrimination in the workplace, experience discrimination in the military, etc. In this paper, you should focus on a specific kind of injustice (e.g., discrimination in adoption). While there is not a specific requirement for the number of sources that should be included in this part of the paper, at least two sources (located through research, in addition to course readings) is a good starting point.
Your essay will be evaluated on the following criteria:
Development of Ideas
• Does the essay respond fully to the prompt?
• Does the essay fully develop a central argument?
• Are supporting points fully explained and supported with evidence and reasoning?
Use of Evidence
• Are sources effectively used in the essay to support the essay’s claims?
• Are sources fully explained?
• Are connections between sources and the claims they are supporting clear?
• Are sources properly cited in MLA format?
• Organization
• Does the essay have a clear thesis statement?
• Are paragraphs organized in support of a single idea?
• Is there a clear connection between each paragraph and the thesis statement?
• Is there a logical pattern of development in support of the thesis?
Mechanics and Usage
• Does the essay use a variety of sentence lengths and structures to create sentence fluency?
• Does the essay use effective diction?
• Does the essay avoid errors in grammar and syntax (particularly those we have covered in class)?
• Is the essay formatted in MLA format, using appropriate paragraphing and typeface?

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Name:
Professor’s Name:
Course:
Due Date:
The Oppression of Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Resistance
The simplest definition of resistance is an opposing force. This force usually appears to be going against the grain. One crucial thing that needs to be noted here is that for the force to be considered resistance, it must exert a significant amount of pressure on the status quo. At the workplace, for example, when the management wants to bring about change, employees can refuse the change and stage a resistance. While this resistance may not be loud or outspoken, it can still stifle the proposed change initiatives. The other form of resistance entails the fight against the status quo. While the status quo might seem favorable to a significant percentage of people, it could be damning to others. Therefore, the latter lot can decide to stage resistance and oust the status quo. Such resistance is often loud and outspoken. A good example of such resistance is captured by the actions of the African Americans as they were trying to fight against racism and equality. African Americans were resisting what they considered unfair policies that structurally designed an America that deemed them inferior to their white counterparts. What this meant was that white Americans would get the best jobs, have their children go to the best schools, and simply have more opportunities than African Americans.
However, in their bid to force their way into the picture, African Americans rose against unfair treatment and staged a resistance. This resistance is captured by Lewis, Aydin, and Powell (7-8) who showcase a group of African Americans refusing to listen to the police and choosing to kneel. Their refusal to comply came at a cost since most of them were beaten and had teargas thrown at them. This scenario captures the best picture of how resistance works. Whenever there is resistance, an equal and opposing force usually meets the resistance, and this particular instance represents or captures the opposing force, which in this case was quite strong and was able to crush the resistance. In a statement made in the book, Lewis, Aydin, and Powell (103) wrote “we wanted to change America. To make it something different, something better.” This statement captures the essence of resistance. Resistance seeks to shift or move something from one thing to another. However, as has been indicated, it is never easy, and Lewis, Aydin, and Powell (103) showcase through the arrests that happened during their quest.
In the story, the resistance that Lewis, Aydin, and Powell captures was met with a much powerful opposing force. However, resistance can also meet a much less powerful or empowered force. When that happens, change is instant, and this is captured through the life of Junior or Arnold Spirit in the book titled ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.’ After Junior transfers to another school, he is bullied and called names. Alexie (74) notes that Junior let the other kids led by Roger call him names. However, as Junior narrates, “it might have continued that way if Roger the Giant hadn’t taken it too far” (74). At one point, Roger insults Junior saying “did you know that Indians are l...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Racial and Ethnic Minorities Oppression and Gender Discrimination against Women

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