MIDTERM ESSAY!

English IV Midterm 2016-17
 
Prompt: How do people navigate the conflict between their personal identity and society’s expectations of them?
 
Requirements:

• Minimum of 7 pages, double spaced, MLA format, and a Works Cited page.
• Minimum of 4 sources: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz, and at least one outside source from a reputable publication.
  • New York Times, CNN, well-known/reputable sources, a scholarly source such as a college or university official publication.
  • Sources like reddit or Wikipedia will not count.
  • Outside sources should add perspective and information to help back up your arguments and ideas regarding identity conflicts and navigating societal expectations.

 
Outline Due: In class, Friday, December 9th, 2016

• Thesis statement, outside sources, and quotes should be finalized by this date.
• It’s okay if they end up changing slightly during your writing process, but you should have something to work with by this time.

 
Rough Draft Due: In class, Tuesday, December 20th, 2016

• At least 4 pages and the works cited page should be completed by this date.
• Remember that you can use ideas and evidence you brought up in your previous essay, but you must expand and revise it for the final draft.

 
Final Draft Due to Turnitin.com: Midnight, Friday, January 6th, 2017

• Title your document FirstInitialLastName_Midterm
  • Example: for Joe Smith à JSmith_Midterm

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Ways to think about the prompt:

• Evaluate how Janie and Yunior deal with gender roles.
  
• Analyze how Janie and Yunior’s role models (Nanny and Rafa or Papi) influenced how they behaved in relationships.
  
• Analyze how Janie and Yunior express their gender roles throughout various relationships.
  
• Analyze how racial identity affects Janie and Yunior’s gender roles/expectations, and whether or not they accept or reject those expectations.
  
  
• What do Janie and Yunior’s societies expect of them because of their gender roles? How do they deal with their gender roles?
  
• How did role models like Nanny, Rafa, or Papi influence Janie and Yunior to become the woman/man they became? Did they fulfill those roles or not?
  
• What does society tell Janie and mixed-race woman should be like? What does she do about that? What does society tell Yunior what a Dominican man should be like? What does he do about that?
  

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OUTLINE EXAMPLE:

What do Janie and Yunior’s societies expect of them because of their gender roles? How do they deal with their gender roles?

1. Intro: Hook about gender roles
   1. Intro books, authors, and main characters (Janie and Yunior)
   2. Thesis: Janie ends up doing a better job going against society’s expectations for her as a woman, while Yunior is still left struggling to fight against the expectations he keeps meeting.
2. Body Paragraph 1
   1. Claim: Society tells women to be _______
   2. Ex: Who/how Janie is told to be _____
3. Body Paragraph 2
   1. Claim: Janie fights this role society puts on her by….
   2. Ex: How Janie defies society/is different
4. Body Paragraph 3
   1. Claim: Society tells men to be ______
   2. Ex: Who/how Yunior is told to be _____
5. Body Paragraph 4
   1. Claim: Yunior demonstrates this role by…
   2. Ex: How Yunior continues this role
   3. Ex: Another example of Yunior in this role
6. Body Paragraph 5
   1. Comparing Janie’s and Yunior’s societal expectations and roles
7. Body Paragraph 6
   1. Contrasting Janie’s and Yunior’s reactions to and expressions of their gender roles.
8. Body Paragraph 7
   1. Why Janie could break free from her gender roles and Yunior couldn’t
9. Conclusion
   1. Why it matters that Janie defied expectations and Yunior didn’t (the take-away/lesson from their experiences)

***There are many different ways to think about, answer, and organize this essay. This is just ONE example. Feel free to use it, modify it, or do something else!