The Connection Between Borders and National Identity Essay Essay 1: Border Essay Prompts Directions: This is your first essay assignment known as Essay 1.

The Connection Between Borders and National Identity Essay Essay 1: Border Essay Prompts

Directions: This is your first essay assignment known as Essay 1. You will be tasked with writing an argument about one of the prompts below. Please focus on one prompt only. You will be required to writea three to four page essay, use at least three direct quotes and focus on one reading from Module 2 and 3. You must write a minimum of five paragraphs including an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. In writing this essay, you must use correct MLA standards as shown in Module 3.

Prompts

1. To what extent are borders “historically, socially and culturally fluid” (Patent)? How are borders linked to national identity? Are borders “the cause of national identity, or the result of it” (Patent)? What are some of the powers behind borders that “even in today’s world are surprisingly important and powerful symbols of national identity” (Patent)? Write an argumentative essay of 3-4 pages focusing on the connection between borders and national identity. Provide supporting evidence from at least one reading, but no more than two readings from Modules 2 and 3. Remember to focus on the evidence from quotes to form your argument rather than relying on personal examples.

2. To what extent do “we live in a very bordered world” (Diener and Hagen 1)? Are borders something natural or are borders created by social construction (i.e. man-made)? How do borders exist in our daily lives and why is that important? Write an argumentative essay of 3-4 pages focusing on the concept of “a very bordered world” and why that is important to our understanding of borders (1). Provide supporting evidence from at least one reading, but no more than two readings from Modules 2 and 3. Remember to focus on the evidence from quotes to form your argument rather than relying on personal examples.

3. To what extent are borders and boundaries different from each other (Grassiani and Swinkles 7)? What role do “material, social and symbolic aspects of physical borders” impact people in society (7)? How are borders and boundaries created? Why is it important to talk about physical borders and “ideological notions of boundaries” (8)? Write an argumentative essay of 3-4 pages focusing on the distinction between borders and boundaries and why that is important for people to recognize. Provide supporting evidence from at least one reading, but no more than two readings from Modules 2 and 3. Remember to focus on the evidence from quotes to form your argument rather than relying on personal examples.

4. Scholz asks the question, “what might be learned if we think…about the meaning and import of crossing borders, living in them, or even destroying them” (Scholz 1)? What role does “feminist scholarship on the issues” of crossing borders allow people to learn(1)? Why is important to recognize certain borders and people who may be “left out—or why we are included” (1)? Write an argumentative essay of 3-4 pages focusing on the concept of crossing borders. Provide supporting evidence from at least one reading, but no more than two readings from Modules 2 and 3. Remember to focus on the evidence from quotes to form your argument rather than relying on personal examples.