American Minorities

/in /by

Books

The Soloist – By Steve Lopez

A Wedding in Haiti – By Julia ALvarex



Continue reading from your selected novel and decide on the topic and thesis you are most interested in. Write a rough introduction paragraph for your paper’s topic and include a strong thesis statement as the last sentence. Once complete, please post this to the Discussion Forum for peer review.

Once you post your Introduction and Thesis, please respond to at least one other student. For your peer review, keep in mind that a thesis needs to provide the reader with the author, title, and assertion, as well as make it clear exactly what will be covered in the body of the paper.

Remember that you can open with an attention-getting statement, statistic, quote, or example, but your thesis statement should appear as the last sentence of this paragraph.

  1. For your thesis statement, be sure to bring focus to your topic by narrowing your paper to one or two issues or key characters.
    Sample Topic: Cross Cultural ties
  2. Sample Thesis (from topic): Both novels have the same cultural roots, but differ due to __A__ and __B__.
  3. Topic Suggestions (Feel free to use these topics or to devise your own):
    1. Compare and contrast the issue of Minority and Majority between your novel and your assigned readings in this course.
    2. Look for similar themes of cross cultural ties between assigned readings and your novel as seen through characters A, B, and C.
    3. Color-line
    4. Gender roles as illustrated through A, B, and C.

In this project, you will read a text written by a minority writer and explore the text’s issues, events, or narrators/characters. You are encouraged to choose a work or author that is new to you. It is important that you select and begin reading your selection now to complete your project on time.

While some texts may be available via the Rasmussen College Online Library accessed via the Resources tab, you may also need to visit your local library. If you are having trouble deciding on a specific work, here is a list of suggestions:

  • Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson
  • Home by Toni Morrison
  • Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
  • The Absolute Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • The Soloist by Steve Lopez
  • The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes
  • House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
  • I Love a Broad Margin to My Life by Maxine Hong Kingston
  • A Wedding in Haiti by Julia AlvarezÂ
  • Homegirls and Handgrenades by Sonya Sanchez
  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
  • The Chicken Chronicles: A Memoir by Alice Walker
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
  • Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux by Nicholas Black Elk & John Neihardt
  • No-No Boy by John Okada

Due Date

Your final project is due in Module 6. There will be individual assignments along the way. The assignment and the module they are due are noted in bold on the time line below.

Time Line

Week

Assignment

01

Introduction
Spend some time selecting and reading your novel.

02

Topic, Introduction, and Thesis