Write a letter as if you are a foreign exchange student living in America. Pretend you are writing to your family in your homeland and you must explain an American custom they know nothing at all about.

 

To write a convincing letter, you must examine the American custom through the eyes of an outsider. What may seem perfectly natural and logical to us may seem silly to someone from a foreign country.

 

Think about what foreign students must think when they are first confronted with American children dressing in rags and outlandish costumes, going out knocking on doors begging for candy, and threatening to pull a trick on the people who have no candy for them. Or what about American customs at Christmas and Thanksgiving?

 

Your letter must be a minimum of three paragraphs containing 5-7 sentences each.

Re-write the following passages from a student essay so that they no longer contain instances of plagiarism.  Add quotation marks and parenthetical citations when necessary.  Add in-text attributions to alert the reader to upcoming quotations and be sure to differentiate between a source’s voice and the student’s.

1. Americans have always had high expectations about their possibility for success. Though they may not have thought they would reach nirvana, 19th-century Americans believed that they would ultimately have fulfilling lives because they lived in America.
2. The American Dream means that anyone living in this country can rise to the level of his aspiration.
3. Throughout American history, Americans have believed that through hard work they could rise to the level of their aspirations.
4. In the 19th century, the American Dream reflected the belief that anyone in this pragmatic, un-class-conscious society of ours could, by dint of hard work, rise to the level of his aspiration.
5. The American Dream used to mean that people in this pragmatic society could rise to the level of their aspirations.
6. The American Dream seems now to not be about seizing opportunity but about realizing perfection and entering the fabulous worlds Americans see in the movies.
7. Americans are encouraged by what they see in Hollywood: the mere existence of movie stars proves the perfectibility of any man or woman.
8. Though Americans of the 1960s may have been the first generation to live within its illusions, today’s Americans certainly believe from seeing social media posts and digitally perfected images that perfection is possible in their own lives.
9. Though people have always wanted to be rich and famous, America is the first country to democratize dreams and allow Americans to believe in the perfectibility of any man or woman.
10. Anyone perusing social media today can see that Americans have come to believe in their own perfectibility.

Checkpoint 6

This Cornerstone project will introduce students to the concepts of cultural hegemony and narrative through the lenses of race and colonialism. Through these lenses, students will be able to articulate ways that people in power (particularly through the media) create narratives designed to influence the thoughts, actions, and beliefs of the public without us realizing they are doing so.

Students will learn about leaders and movements that challenged racist, hegemonic ideas that spread negative narratives about African American people. Students will participate in multiple close readings, view media clips, and consider provocative quotes as they begin to think about how these early leaders eventually informed Civil Rights leaders like Malcolm X.

After students have read closely about the leaders and movements, they will select two (2) to craft an essay that responds to the question, “Explain how these leaders and movements challenged racist, hegemonic ideas and negative narratives about African American people.” In your response, cite appropriate and effective textual evidence.

Students will be graded using the PARCC writing rubric.  

• Think about what you will write before you begin writing.
• State your opinion clearly and give two or more reasons to support your opinion.
• The paragraphs should include at least three complete sentences.
• Check your writing for correct grammar, capital letters, punctuation, and spelling.