ENG 101-O13/Essay Number Three
NECC
Fall 2020
In an essay of 1200-2000 words or so, complete ONE of the following writing prompts
1) Each of the readings from the Module three deals with some aspect of social interaction and/or social justice. Can you find common themes between the essays and other materials weve looked at in class or from the discussions weve held? Describe this common theme as youve discovered and identified it as it relates between the two or three (or more?) sources youve selected to work with?
2) Using quotes from the debate presentation video of James Baldwin, the essay by Martin Luther King, and any other relevant source that you find to reasonably speculate on what either or both might think of race relations and racial issues from today. Consider the Coates interview and the Booker as more contemporary accounts of the state of race relations in the US.
Some issues might be income inequality, or the Obama presidency (Or any other reasonable issue). What would it be they might think has improved, and what might they think has not gotten better, or even become worse?
3) Do we live in a society based on equality regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other distinction which tends to divide our society? If you use quotes from contemporary political leaders or popular figures and creative artists in the media, can you make that case
4) What surprises you about what Baldwin says? What does it make you think? What does it make you feel? What did he offer you that you learned? Ta Nehisi Coates comments on his father, fatherhood, and why he won’t hit his children. That sounds like a comparison between the men, between the times, and of these times all at once. Use quotes.
Use what you wrote in your discussion board posts as a jumping off point for your ideas about this essay.
