Assignment Essay 1 - Exploring Personal Perspective

ASSIGNMENT FOR ESSAY 1: EXPLORING PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ENGL 1121/1120, SPRING 2021

Purpose of this assignment: use various modes to explore and answer the question, What factors influence the formation of a personal perspective?

Readings for this unit: “Mother Tongue” (234) “The Sanctuary of School” (166) “My Beloved World” (454) “More Room” (114) “Like Mexicans” (350)

Essay Prompts—choose one approach for your essay:

· Using examples from one or two of the essays and your own experience, identify and demonstrate how and why two specific factors significantly shape perspective.

· In America, we have an unstated motto that to overcome adversity and achieve success requires you to “pull yourself by your bootstraps”—in other words, to get ahead using only your own power and initiative. This is a commonly accepted perspective. Using examples from one or two essays and your own personal experience, demonstrate whether you agree or disagree with this perspective and why.

· What is the specific (and unique) influence of a cross-cultural experience on identity? Come up with a statement that shows your opinion, then use examples from one or two essays and your own experience to support your statement.

Details and expectations:

Length: at least 3 full pages, typed and double spaced

Points: 50

Successful essays will contain:

· A clear thesis or main idea statement

· Strong paragraph structure; different structure for introductory, body, and conclusion paragraphs

· Well-developed paragraphs with sufficient examples

· MLA heading, page-number citations, and Works Cited page

· Good command of sentence structure and mechanics (punctuation)

NOTE: for this first essay, consider your audience to be your classmates, people who will be familiar with the sources you introduce