Explore the relationship between individual identity and national identity.

English 102
Holyoke Community College
Major Essay 2 Prompt
Draft: due Monday, May 11 (optional)
Final: due Wednesday, May 20

Logistics: 5-8 pages, double-spaced, MLA form and citations, 1-inch margins

Using two course texts (at least one of which should be from the second half of the semester), please discuss one of the following:

How do our authors represent the struggle for autonomy and self-determination?
Explore the relationship between individual identity and national identity.
In “The White Problem,” James Baldwin quotes Nietzsche: “I stand before my highest mountain, and before my longest journey, and, therefore, must I descend deeper than I have ever before descended.” Discuss and explore this quotation in the context of at least two course texts (at least one of which is from the second half of the semester).
In his introduction to The Dance and the Railroad, David Henry Hwang claims, “If we neglect some of the communities which make up our society, our perception of the whole becomes a lie.” Discuss and explore this quotation in the context of at least two course texts (at least one of which is from the second half of the semester).

* Some of these prompts may require that you investigate or research certain terms or ideas. You might need to look up “autonomy,” for instance. Your essay doesn’t need to spend a lot of time defining such terms (because I know what they mean), but a good essay will likely depend on your understanding of certain terms and concepts. Look around, conduct a little research, consult multiple dictionaries—I especially recommend the Oxford English Dictionary, which you can access through the HCC library. And remember to cite your sources.

The highest grades will go to essays that exhibit very few, if any, grammatical, syntactical, or structural problems; that do not merely ‘answer,’ but rather explore and discuss the prompt; that enlist as support specific details, examples, and moments from course texts; and that, where appropriate, enlist support from professional or academic sources.

The lowest grades will go to essays that exhibit multiple, distracting, or confusing errors of grammar, syntax, or structure; that provide simplistic or superficial answers to the prompt rather than thoughtful or thought-provoking discussions; that reference course texts only in superficial, unnecessary, poorly integrated ways, if at all; and/or that rely on, or reproduce discussions from, simple Google searches or unprofessional, academically inappropriate sources like Wikipedia, Sparknotes, Shmoop.com, Answers.com, etc.

If I find that your essay, or any portion of your essay, is plagiarized, your essay will earn a zero. Plagiarism includes use of specific language without quotation marks and citation information, unattributed paraphrases, unattributed ideas, and a passage that has been copied and then changed around a little bit. Cite your sources. Don’t do research on the Internet, except to access academic databases via the HCC library or your local public library.