American Dream Assignment
Write a six-paragraph essay where you explore how the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes is still relevant to us today. (1951)
Background info: Civil Rights movement and Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks: 1960’s. Equality in education, segregated bathrooms, bus seats (in the back of the bus), obstacles to voting, “whites only,” lunch counters, lynchings, etc. “dream explodes” – creativity, at the same time, wounds and the terrible conditions of segregation and Jim Crow laws made segregation legal in the South, violence, explosion of protests during the Civil rights era.
1. Have an introduction/ thesis (three ways in which the American dream of equal opportunity is deferred today- from your articles). In the introduction paragraph, mention the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes also.
In the body paragraphs:
2. Explore what the images in the poem “Harlem” mean to to you;
3. One obstacle to the American dream today in the U.S. Include an in-text citation at the end of each body paragraph. (Last name of author of article). (If there is no author stated, cite the title in quotation marks). 3 authors: (Smith, Gonzalez, and Richardson). More than 3 authors: (Smith et al).
4. Another obstacle to the American dream today; (Last name of author of article).
5. Another obstacle to the American dream today: (Last name of author of article).
6. Conclusion: restate thesis (3 obstacles) and leave the reader with a final thought. You can also mention “Harlem” again.
In the body paragraphs you must cite research from 3 articles from MDC databases. Statistics, cases, data, names of experts, studies, etc. The articles must be about “How is the American dream of equal opportunity deferred in the U.S. today? You can find the articles in www.mdc.edu/academics/libraries
Use MLA style and in-text citations (Last name of author of article).
7. Have a Works Cited page with MLA citation of each article in alphabetical order by the last name of each author. It must be double spaced.
