Upload the response as a Word document (double-spaced, 12-point font).
Begin each response with a one-sentence paragraph—a separate analytic thesis statement (no introduction necessary, only the thesis) and develop the response according to the requirements below and the weight of the question. A brief quote or two should be employed for shorter response, and a few quotes should be employed for longer responses (shorter [often blended] quotes are often the most effective in this format); MLA internal citations.
1. “What American about America?” Explain Ishmael Reed’s perspective on the cultural heritage of the United States in the context of concepts such as the American “melting pot,” cultural assimilation, and multiculturalism. How does Reed’s perspective reflect an argument in favor of multicultural and intercultural aspects of the United States? (1 paragraph [approx. 4-7 sentences]; 20 points)
2. In The Sympathizer, the narrator sees his character partially reflected, recto and verso, in the two descriptions of the Vietnamese younger generation (page 251) in Hedd’s Asian Communism and the Oriental Mode of Destruction. Discuss key examples of how the narrator’s struggle for freedom pulls him in two directions, politically and culturally. (2 extensive paragraphs; 50 points)
3. Narrative of the Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano Explain the importance of Equiano’s argument on slavery in Igbo societies in the context of his goal of abolition (Chap. I). How does his explanation of Igbo slavery relate to his arguments against the cruel, inhuman treatment of enslaved Africans in Europe and the Americas in the era of Enlightenment, which, despite its philosophical ideals, ignores that all humans are “rational beings” (end of Chap. V)? (1 paragraph [approx.. 6-10 sentences]; 30 points)
file://faymkefile03/Userdocuments/twilliams/Desktop/Equaino.pdf
