Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Below is a copy of out of class essay assignment #2, assigned today in class.

English 20, Sections 3
Summer 2010
Course Theme: The Significance of Home
Instructor: C. Fraga

Out of Class Essay Assignment #2
• Assigned: Tuesday, July 27
• Rough Draft (optional): If you wish to submit a rough draft, it must be submitted no later than Tuesday, August 3.
• Due: Thursday, August 5
• Essay must follow MLA format exactly.
• Essay must be typed and double spaced.
• Essay must have a minimum of five sources on the Works Cited page. You are welcome to use the Internet for sources, but at least one of your sources cannot be found on the Internet (for example, use a book, view a film or documentary, conduct an interview, etc.)

Essay Prompt:

• For this essay, you will first select a group of people from another culture, religion and/or country OR a particular time period in a group of people’s lives that you are genuinely interested in finding out more about.
• You will then conduct research in order to discover and then write about at least three significant ways in which persons from this culture/country/religion (or someone in a particular situation) must adapt to home, whether it is a new home, a changed home, etc.
• You will then begin by writing a thesis that is assertive and debatable.


For example, imagine that you selected the adaptation of the Hmong once they arrive in the US. After conducting some research, you decide to present information on male and female roles in marriage, religious practices and diet as the three areas of adjustment you feel are most significant and would make the most interesting reading.

Your thesis might read something like the following:

Hundreds of Hmong people immigrate to the United States every year and face many difficult challenges, particularly in the areas of religious practices, changes in diet and male/female roles within a marriage.

• I highly encourage you to consider your academic major or an area of personal interest when selecting the three areas or issues. For example, if your major is early childhood education, you may find it particularly enjoyable to pursue the acclimation of young immigrant children; if you are an economics major you might want to explore employment struggles/strengths of new immigrants

• Likewise, when selecting an overall topic, I encourage you to consider your academic major or an area of personal interest. Some topics that students have explored in the past or topics that have been suggested during a class brainstorming session are:

1. transition from having a home to being homeless
2. transition from serving in the military in combat (or not) and then returning to civilian life.
3. transition from being single to being married
4. transition from being married to being divorced
5. transition from living at home to living away from home
6. transition from being incarcerated to being released
7. transition from being in a long term relationship to losing one’s partner to death
8. transition from having children living at home to experiencing an ‘empty nest’



(An essay that asks students to address a topic such as this one would be difficult to complete in less than five pages, approximately.)