Multicultural

In the Combahee River Collective Statement, the members of the CRC explain that their goal is to formulate an integrated analysis … based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking (p. 1). As Audre Lordeherself a member of the CRCputs it, There is no hierarchy of oppression (2:48). In light of these thoughts about what weve called intersectionality, write an essay of approximately 1500 words in which you analyze a fictional character from an American text of your choice (film, TV show, novel, play) in relation to two of the identities weve explored together this semester: race or ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or ability. Beginning with a clear thesis statement about how your character has been affected by these identities, formulate an argument that takes into account the relevant ideas about class, race, gender, etc., that weve explored together this semester. NOTE that Im not asking you to write about or even define the concept of intersectionality; you can assume my familiarity with that concept. Your argument should be a response to questions such as: What are the aspects of your characters identity that youre going to explore? E.g., what is her/his/their race or ethnicity? Class? Sexual orientation? Gender? Immigration status? How are those identities constructed by/in American culture? For this youll need to draw on relevant assigned materials from our course. How is your character represented in relation to these identities? What is her/his/their position in society? Is it a position of power or of marginalization? Is one aspect of your characters identity empowering while the other is marginalizing? What cultural work does your character perform? In other words, does he/she/they perpetuate or resist the stereotypes associated with these categories or does he/she/they do both? In addition to your chosen film, TV show, novel, or play, you must use at least two of the assigned materials from Weeks 5 through 14 to help you analyze the identities your character represents. What you should be doing is exploring the complexity of your characters life in relation to the multiple identities that they embody or express. NOTE: If you choose a character from a TV show, you need to watch at least six episodes so you can get a full sense of who your character is. For example, one could consider the character of Chiron, the young gay Black boy/man in the Barry Jenkins film Moonlight (2016), who is marginalized by his sexual orientation and his class. Or the character of Katherine G. Johnson in the Theodore Melfi film Hidden Figures (2016) who, as a mathematician working for NASA, is marginalized by her race and gender. Once you start thinking about this, Im sure youll see that there are many possible texts that would make good subjects for this assignment. To do well on this assignment, you will need to: State your thesis clearly. It might be a good idea to run your thesis by me before you begin serious work on the paper. Express your ideas clearly. Those of you who had issues with clarity or organization in your first essay might want to schedule an appointment with the Reading and Writing Center to help you do better this time. Support your thesis with arguments based on your chosen text (novel, film, etc.) and your chosen readings from assignments from Weeks 5 through 14.