Essay

Correct my paper.

Here are my professor’s comments.” I see some good ideas in this essay about racism and also about memory and symbolism. I think if you conference with me and then restructure this essay, you can achieve a higher grade.
Basically, this essay does not have an essay structure. Ideas are appearing in unpredictable places and a majority of the details and examples in the body paragraphs do not relate to what you have stated or argued in the thesis. This means that you are not certain of the organizational pattern for a college-essay.
Once the structure is more pronounced, we can work on some other skills such as mechanics and phrasing.”

E N G L 1 B – B r o w n e l l

E s s a y # 1 ” R e c i t a t i f ”
For Essay #1, you will write a

formal essay about “Recitatif,”
a short story by Nobel-prize

winning author Toni Morrison.

Toni Morrison was a Nobel-prize winning author. She was also a professor and
literary critic. Morrison is most famous for the Beloved trilogy (Beloved, Jazz,
and Paradise). The book Beloved was adapted into a film with performances by
Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandie Newton in 1998. She has written a
highly acclaimed book of criticism titled Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the
Literary Imagination. In it, she argues that an “Africanist presence,” replete with
a history of stereotypes and negative connotations is deeply intertwined in the
concept of America and American literature. In her short story “Recitatif,”
Morrison intentionally triggers the reader’s mental history of stereotypes
about whiteness and blackness to reveal how deeply ingrained beliefs about
race are in the U.S. 

Final Draft due Tuesday,
September 8th

Value: 15% of overall
course grade

“The condition of truth is to allow
suffering to speak, and the condition
of being the truth is to transform your
suffering with great creativity and
compassion into forms and deeds that
empower others to do likewise in their
own ways.”

West, Cornel. Race Matters, 25th
Anniversary . Beacon Press. Kindle
Edition.

Prompts (Select ONE)

Examine the way “Recitatif” was written. How has
priming factored into the way the story is read? Why
do you believe Morrison wrote “Recitatif” in a way
that provokes the reader to rely on stereotypes to
fill in the blanks?
Examine why the author included Maggie in the story.
Maggie is a racially ambiguous character who is also
disabled. What does Maggie symbolize? Why is
Maggie important to the story? How does the
misinformation effect relate to the plot line about
Maggie?
Twyla as the narrator of the story has a laundry list of
things she does not like about Roberta. Does Twyla
have legitimate reasons for disliking Roberta, or is
Twyla herself biased or lacking in critical thinking
skills? How so? (Support your answer.)

Essay Minimum Requirements:
MLA style (page format, header, page numbering, title, 12-point Times New Roman
font, double-spaced)
1000-1150 words (excluding Works Cited page)
Thesis-driven (make an argument; someone may disagree with you)
Showcase critical thinking skills (making inferences, identifying biases, analyzing
assumptions, cultural awareness, etc.)
Essay organization (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion)
Use A.X.E.S. to build analytical paragraphs
Use textual evidence (quotes from the short story and quotes from YNS)
Synthesize sources with your own voice
Use third-person (do NOT use “you” or address the reader)
You must use at least two quotes from You Are Not So Smart
Standard English spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics
The final draft should be proofread and generally free of mistakes
Include a Works Cited page

Due Dates:
Brainstorm uploaded to Canvas by
11:59 p.m. Wednesday, 9/2
Full-sentence outline uploaded to
Canvas by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday,
9/2
Upload the rough draft to Canvas
by Thursday, 9/3
Peer Review completed by Friday,
9/4
Final draft uploaded to Canvas by
Tuesday, 9/8

Tips:
Read the Claude Steele essay about
stereotype threat located in Canvas
Other research sources are accessed
through the college library
databases 
The video lecture gives you tips and
pointers for writing about the essay

Lesson: Brainstorming
B ra i n s t o r m i n g i s w h e r e

yo u p l ay w i t h d i f f e r e n t

i d e a s a n d a p p r o a c h e s .

Le t yo u r m i n d f r e e l y

ex p l o r e i d e a s !

Example of Listing

For more details and advice about brainstorming, visit OWL Purdue’s
Website: https://owl.purdue.edu/engagement/ged_preparation/part_2_lessons_1_5/index.html

https://owl.purdue.edu/engagement/ged_preparation/part_2_lessons_1_5/index.html