Reflective Essay Assignment | Essay Help Services
Essay based off the ” At the Dark End of the Street” book by Danielle Mcguire Write a five paragraph essay answering this question. Question: While the Civil Rights movement led to positive change in America, historians now are investigating the unfortunate misogyny (discrimination of women) within the movement itself. How were Rosa Parks and other female leaders shunted aside by the male leadership? How do we deal with those flaws in our heroes? – Essay should be 2-3 pages, 12 pts Times New Roman font, 1” margins, DOUBLE-SPACED. Essay needs 2-3 direct references from the book in each body paragraph. – Format as a .pdf. – No formal works cited page or external resources are necessary. No cover page necessary
At the Dark End of the Street Reflective Essay
Due to Assignment Folders
Assignment: Write a five paragraph essay answering ONE of these questions. Remember this is not a summary or a re-presentation of McMillen’s book. You are the scholar using your expertise having read the book to make an argument about how history works. For help on five-paragraph answer see https://sites.google.com/a/mercyhsb.com/asc/writing-an-academic-paragraph
Details: Your essay should be 2-3 pages, 12 pts Times New Roman font, 1” margins, DOUBLE-SPACED. A good essay will have 2-3 direct references from the book in each body paragraph. References should be marked with parentheses and page # [example: (82) or (McGuire 82)]. Format as a .pdf.
No formal works cited page or external resources are necessary. No cover page necessary. No hardcopy necessary.
***Bring book to class. Discussion is 10% of your paper grade.
- How does McGuire’s At the Dark End of the Street show the importance of historical interpretation? Why do you think sexual assault and the role of Rosa Parks as a rape investigator has largely been ignored in traditional coverage of the Civil Rights movement? Why do you think it has emerged now?
- While the Civil Rights movement led to positive change in America, historians now are investigating the unfortunate misogyny (discrimination of women) within the movement itself. How were Rosa Parks and other female leaders shunted aside by the male leadership? How do we deal with those flaws in our heroes?
- Psychologists argue that rape is not about sex, but it is about power. Was the availability of black women’s body central to white power in the South? When were public and brutal sexual assaults more frequent? Were these assaults worse in time periods when white southern men felt impotent?
- We have learned in this class that the image of suffering women can be powerful in emotionally moving people. How were Civil Rights leaders strategic in presenting the images of suffering women such as Emmitt Till’s Mother and Rosa Parks? Why were other women not as fitting for the role?
- Not only were black women vulnerable to rape in Southern States, but Black men’s bodies were also vulnerable to sexualized violence, accusations of rape, and lynching? Why was sexuality a central site of terror in the Jim Crow South?
- As seen in the #Blacklivesmatter and #Metoo movements, your generation is particularly sensitive to power (political, economic, police etc.) and the use of that power to abuse of the vulnerable (through violence, corruption, and sexual exploitation etc.). What can we learn today from the black women who resisted, fought back, and spoke up despite possible retribution? What can we learn from this period to empower the vulnerable in our own society? THIS ANSWER STILL MUST FOCUS ON THE BOOK EXENTIVELY AND SHOW MASTERY. THIS ESSAY IS NOT JUST YOUR OPINION OF TODAY.
Essay Checklist
□ For At the Dark End of the Street needs to be in italics.
□ The book is a work of non-fiction. It is NOT a novel. It is a book, work, study, or monograph.
□ Analytical questions are usually posed in a series of questions. This is to help the student to possible bring in multiple angles and be freer in her analysis. DO NOT answer those questions individually. See them as one unit that still needs ONE ARGUMENT.
□ Is your essay DOUBLE-SPACED? 12 pt font TIMES NEW ROMAN?
□ Does your INTRODUCTION have your thesis (answering the question I posed)?
□ Are there 2-3 direct references in each body paragraph of your essay?
□ Do your references have page numbers designated as (23).?
□ Do you use good evidence as quotations? (aka sentences that very specifically represent the argument of the historian or that come directly from primary sources. Do not quote information that is just plain facts which one could find easily on Wikipedia).
□ Your essay should not have “I think,” “I believe,” or “The purpose of this essay is…” I know it is your thoughts. Be a scholar. Make an argument.
□ Read your essay out loud to someone – make sure your sentences make sense even to someone who has not read the book.
□ Check for getting off topic and rambling to fill word count. You get zero points for those efforts. Stay close to the book. Stay on topic!!!!
□Proof-read and run your paper through an online grammar checker!!!!!! This is a 3 page paper with a long period to write it. You MUST proof-read your college papers.
□ Go through the essay and do away with any informal language such as “a lot” or “can’t.”
