For this assignment, I had to take a look back at the topic of my Exploratory Essay and consider why it matters to the world as a whole and to me.
Before writing my Exigence Essay the class had to read a short narrative piece. The title of the piece was A Thousand Words: A Writer’s Pictures of China by Alice Walker.
If you would like to read the narrative piece feel free to press the download button below.
Some questions that were asked by Professor Rodwell were:
- What have you learned about Alice Walker?
- What have you learned about the intersections of language and/or literacy AND culture?
- What questions do you have?
My response to these questions were:
– I had learned that Alice Walker is a very open-minded and accepting person when it comes to exploring cultures, not of her own background. Throughout this reading, it was fairly evident that she had much praise for the people and culture of China. She had taken many pictures throughout her journey and was able to recall the background behind every single one of them. Alice had certainly been impacted in a positive way from her trip to China.
– I have learned through the interactions of language and/or literacy that many people in China are unaware of the history African Americans had faced in the United States. Many Chinese people that Alice had interacted with had little to no understanding of the struggle African Americans faced, which is why when Alice had met Ding Ling, she had immediately felt a connection in the shared struggles they have faced. Just like the Blacks of America who’ve been attacked and silenced ever since this country was founded, Ding Ling had also been under attack for her style of writing during the cultural revolution. Shared pain brought them together which is where I can make the connection between the intersections of language and culture.
– I noticed that towards the end of the story Alice is told by a group of three African Students that Blacks are looked down upon in China. I wonder though, how come Alice felt so accepted and welcomed by the people she interacted with? Was it because she was a woman?
This reading felt like a perfect Segway into the Exigence essay. We were able to read how Alice was looking back on experiences in China by connecting those experiences to photographs she had taken. When I was doing the exigence essay I would constantly look back on how Alice was able to explain to their reader why her experiences were important. Her work was like a template to me when I had to explain to the reader why my ExploratoryEssay was important to the world.
Draft of Exigence Essay
When drafting I simply got all my ideas down on paper and tried to see what feedback I would get from my peers and professor.
This draft helped because it allowed me to explain why my topic was important to me. It allowed me to input personal opinions and information in my essay which wasn’t allowed in the Exploratory Essay.
I was able to grow in my writing through the feedback I had received from professor Rodwell and my classmates.
The Importance of Understanding
The topic for my research exploratory essay was the language of Darwinism and its correlation to racial superiority against the Jewish People. Throughout my life, I had learned about the events of World War Two through readings. A major event of World War Two was the surge in Anti-Semitism which led up to the Holocaust. One thing that always perplexed me was how the people of Nazi Germany had been brainwashed into believing that their actions against the Jewish people were acceptable. Over the years, I came to the conclusion that it had been the racist and nationalistic beliefs that the German people had been led to believe that had led the attack on Jewish people. Throughout history, the Jewish people were not the only people to experience this form of hatred. However, whenever a group of people was under attack it always tended to stem from the shared belief that they were inferior to another. I feel as if my topic matters to me and the world as a whole because it shows how the false belief in racial superiority can be used as an excuse to justify the crimes committed against another race of people. We as a people must learn that we are all humans and so should treat others the way we would like to be treated.
When I was younger I would constantly watch the History channel on television. Through the copious amounts of documentaries centered around World War Two and the Holocaust, I was able to learn about the struggles the Jewish people had faced. I couldn’t believe that something of this nature could happen to a race of people. Being young, I was terrified by the pictures and videos shown. I would see pictures of piles of dead bodies, videos of malnourished children being held by their also malnourished mothers, and overall just people living through pure hell. This made me think that maybe one day it would happen again but this time to a different race of people. Despite being traumatized at a young age, I’m glad I was able to learn about what happened. It made me realize how valuable life was and taught me to be more respectful and accepting of different people. People shouldn’t place their races over others because it will eventually lead to the same thinking and consequences that the Jewish people had faced. I feel as if the world as a whole would benefit from viewing each other as equals. People around the world must be educated on the consequences of racial superiority in order to prevent another Holocaust.
In my current life, I can still see examples in which people find themselves to be racially better than others in the United States. I can mostly find these examples on the internet seeing as how we’ve been quarantined for a while now. When using the internet I tend to fall into rabbit holes which lead me to communities that exhibit racist beliefs. Sometimes I stumble upon online forums for White nationalists and sometimes I even stumble upon online forums for Black nationalists. I always tend to notice a pattern and that pattern tends to be hatred. Both sides twist and skew reality to reinforce their beliefs that the other side is to blame for the problems in their lives. In a way, it’s similar to the propaganda the Nazis used against Jewish people. Both sides paint each other as enemies and that leads to more discourse in society. I feel as if the world should take a step back from the internet and realize that not everything online is reality. I think the world would be a much better place if people went out and interacted with others more often. It will tear down the illusions of hatred and make people realize that we are all one whole collective of people who just want to live a good peaceful life. We shouldn’t view other races as being inferior to ours especially in the United States where there is a wide range of races present.
I don’t know what the future holds but I can be sure of one thing. People will continue to view their race as being superior to others. It’s human nature to view your own race in a positive light. I know that I will continue to actually view all races as equal because I understand that we are all human with the same goals of living peaceful and fruitful lives. In the future, I hope more people will share my view on the subject. I do sadly feel as though tensions will continue to rise surrounding racial issues. People tend to buy into hatred more easily than love. I hope I won’t ever have to live long enough to see the United States collapse due to infighting between races. It would truly be a shame.
In conclusion, people shouldn’t view their race as being superior to others. The human race as a whole won’t benefit in any way if we are constantly bickering and fighting with each other. We should instead be accepting and tolerant of the other races. I feel as my topic is important because it shows the negatives associated with the false sense of racial superiority. The Holocaust and the Anti-Semitic views of World War Two are an example that shows just how far the world will go under this harmful belief.
The following is some feedback I had received from students in my peer discussion group:
The intro was good but just remove some of the detail and put it in your body paragraph, since we don’t wanna give too much away in the beginning.
As for the conclusion, you can maybe close out your idea or put some of the details you have In the intro in the conclusion if it makes sense. But I’m not that good with the conclusion and that’s all I can think about the conclusion.
-Jeffrey Li
Throughout your essay, you did a very good job explaining why the topic is important to you and the rest of the world. I would say there are some sentences that are repeated a few times or that don’t need to be there for your final paper.
-Jenin Dari
Final Version of Exigence Essay
After receiving feedback on the draft I wrote the final version of the Exigence Essay.
I took all the feedback I had received from the draft and had made the proper tweaks and corrections to make sure all the issues pointed out to me were correct.
This essay and feedback received allowed me to grow in my writing. In terms of this essay, I was allowed to express myself more than I had in other writings which was a breath of fresh air.
I was also able to restructure certain paragraphs in my essay that felt off to some classmates. My introduction in my draft had given the reader all the information they needed so I reworked it. My conclusion in my draft was also somewhat rushed and I got lots of comments on it so I had also reworked that paragraph in the final version to make it end leaving the reader feeling like they learned something.
The Importance of Understanding and Accepting People of Different backgrounds
For my research exploratory essay, the topic was the language of Darwinism and its correlation to racial superiority against the Jewish People. Throughout my life, I had learned about the events of World War Two through readings. A major event of World War Two was the surge in Anti-Semitism which led up to the holocaust. One thing that always perplexed me was how the people of Nazi Germany had been brainwashed into believing that their actions against the Jewish people were acceptable. Throughout history, the Jewish people were not the only people to experience this form of hatred. However, whenever a group of people is under attack it always tended to stem from the shared belief that they were inferior to another. My topic matters to me and the world as a whole because it shows how the false belief in racial superiority can be used as an excuse to justify the crimes committed against another race of people.
When I was younger I would constantly watch the History channel on television. Through the copious amounts of documentaries centered around World War Two and the holocaust, I was able to learn about the struggles the Jewish people had faced. I couldn’t believe that something of this nature could happen to a race of people. Being young, I was terrified by the pictures and videos shown. I would see pictures of piles of dead bodies, videos of malnourished children being held by their also malnourished mothers, and overall people clinging onto their lives. This made me think that maybe one day the same tragedy would happen again but this time to a different race of people. Despite being traumatized at a young age, I’m glad I was able to learn about what happened. The horrors I had witnessed made me realize how valuable life was and taught me to be more respectful and accepting of different people. I began viewing life through the eyes of others and tried to understand how they would feel about certain issues. I had become more empathetic. People shouldn’t place their races over others because it will eventually lead to the same consequences that the Jewish people had faced. I feel like the world as a whole would benefit from viewing each other as equals. People around the world must be educated on the consequences of racial superiority in order to prevent another Holocaust.
In my current life, I can still see examples in which people find themselves to be racially better than others in the United States. I can mostly find these examples on the internet seeing as how we’ve been quarantined for a while now. When using the internet I tend to fall into rabbit holes which lead me to communities that exhibit racist beliefs. Sometimes I stumble upon online forums for White nationalists and sometimes I even stumble upon online forums for Black nationalists. I always tend to notice a pattern and that pattern tends to be hatred. Both sides twist and skew reality to reinforce their beliefs that the other side is to blame for the problems in their lives. In a way, it’s similar to the propaganda the Nazis used against Jewish people. In terms of Black and White Nationalists, Both sides paint each other as enemies and that leads to more discourse in society. An example would be The multiple clashes between the groups following the uptick in riots across America. I feel as if the world should take a step back from the internet and realize that not everything online is reality. I think the world would be a much better place if people went out and interacted with others more often. Distancing ourselves from the online world would tear down the illusions of hatred and make people realize that we are all one whole collective of people who just want to live a good peaceful life. We shouldn’t view other races as being inferior to ours especially in the United States where there is a wide range of races present.
Despite how accepting and caring people may act towards other races, I know people will continue to view their race as being superior to others. In my opinion, it’s human nature to view your own race in a positive light seeing as you belong to that race. I know that I will continue to actually view all races as equal because I understand that we are all human with the same goals of living peaceful and fruitful lives. In the future, I hope more people will share my view on the subject. I do sadly feel as though tensions will continue to rise surrounding racial issues. People tend to buy into hatred more easily than love. I hope I won’t ever have to live long enough to see the United States collapse due to infighting between races. It would truly be a shame.
Over the years, I came to the conclusion that people shouldn’t view their race as being superior to others. In terms of racial prejudice during World War Two, it had been the nationalistic beliefs of the German People which had allowed for the attack on the Jewish people. We should instead be accepting and tolerant of the other races. My topic matters to me and the world as a whole because it allows for the realization that people shouldn’t put their own race over other races. If people don’t come to view every race as being equal then it wouldn’t be surprising to see racial tensions further increase. The Holocaust and the Anti-Semitic views of World War Two are an example that shows just how far the world will go under this harmful belief.
Self-Reflection of Exigence Essay
Self-Reflection Essay for Exigence Essay
The topic for my Exigence Essay was racial superiority and why it should be abandoned in order to form a more respectful and understanding society. For most of my exploratory essay, I focused on how it related to my life. I went about writing my essay by structuring it in chronological order. The order follows my early, current, and future life. For my early life, I delve into how I had first heard of racial superiority through learning about history. I used Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jewish people as an example that shows the effects of a false sense of racial superiority. For my current life, I talk about ways in which I see groups in the United States portraying their race as being superior while condemning them and explaining why they have to rid themselves of this hateful mindset. Lastly, for my future life, I give my overall thoughts on how I think race relations will play in the future. In the conclusion, I tie everything together while explaining why this topic should matter to the world as a whole.
Looking back on my exigence essay, I found the whole process to be both interesting and somewhat challenging. What I found interesting was that I was able to give the reader my views as to why my topic matters to the world while also being allowed to connect my personal life to the essay. Thanks to this, I was able to, through chronological order, give the reader an understanding of how my topic has influenced me. By explaining to the reader how I had learned about racial superiority, the holocaust, and the treatment of Jewish people while I was younger, it allowed the readers to understand that this was a topic I had a good understanding of. A challenge I was faced with was the structure of my introduction. When I had typed my draft and submitted it for peer review, my group members were quick to point out that my introduction felt more like my conclusion. Taking their comments into account, I noticed that my introduction gave my main points and arguments while essentially making my essay pointless to delve further into. Thanks to my group members I had edited and rearranged the introduction in order to not give so much away. This writing decision opened up my essay.
I believe that I had interpreted the topic of my exploratory essay into my exigence essay in an understandable and informative way. By providing an example of racial superiority I’ve witnessed in modern times through videos on the Internet, I was able to segway into explaining the mindsets of these individuals and why they believe what they believe. Explaining to the reader that the reason these people believe they are racially superior was thanks to the spreading of false narratives and hatred on the internet. In accomplishing that I had allowed the reader to realize that both sides share the same ideas and hatred for one another. This was advantageous to me because it allowed me to paint both groups as being two sides to one coin. In a sense, this writing strategy should have made the reader realize that we are all equal in the way we think and act despite how negative the views are.
In conclusion, I feel as though I was able to relate my exploratory essay to my personal life while simultaneously advocating why the topic of abandoning the idea of racial superiority is important to the world as a whole. What motivated me to write this was witnessing all the hatred being spread towards people for simply having a different skin color. I know my audience is young college students so I want them to understand that they should learn to treat others with respect and learn to judge others based on their character and not their skin. If I could’ve changed one thing that would have been the number of examples I gave. However, I don’t think I would be able to fit an adequate amount of examples that show instances of racial superiority seeing as the paper had a page limit. Overall I connected my life to the topic and explained why it mattered to the world as a whole.
Summary of My Experience
I found writing the Exigence Essay to feel like a breath of fresh air. In the previous essay’s we couldn’t bring our personal experiences and ideas into our work. When I learned that it was favored to talk about our views and bring ourselves into the essay it felt like I was given more creative freedom. This essay didn’t require constant research like the exploratory essay which was another added bonus.
Course Learning Outcomes That Addressed My growth
CLO number two mentions developing strategies for reading. When I was reading Alice Walker’s piece, I was trying to be as analytical as possible. I was focusing on the language she had used in describing many of the photos she had presented. She tended to get emotional and very descriptive when mentioning specific photos. When she explained her picture with Ding Ling she talked about how she felt as though they had shared similar troubles in her life. She compared the treatment she received in America for being black and the treatment Ding Ling had received during the cultural revolution. That moment showed how despite their being language barriers the language of struggle can be shared amongst different people.
CLO number four focused on engaging in the social aspects of the writing process. The discussion board assignment allowed me to view other classmates’ thoughts on the reading and gave me an idea as to how other people grasp different concepts in a piece of work. I was also able to receive feedback. This social aspect of the assignment allowed for my understanding of the reading to grow while also allowing my understanding of what is to be expected in the exigence essay to grow.
CLO number one refers to exploring new genres of writing. I had written drafts for essays before but I had never written an essay that allowed me to express why something was important to me. This allowed me to grow in the sense that I was given more freedom to write my own thoughts and opinions on a subject without having to do research and stress about finding sources to include in my writing. I had complete creative freedom.
CLO number two focuses on developing drafts for my writing. This draft allowed me to get great feedback. Thanks to this essay being personal, it allowed me and the other students to understand each other’s topics in a more relatable way. We got to delve into each other’s point of view on a subject and look at the subject from a different perspective. When compared to before we were just reading essays with evidence that felt so devoid of personality and life.
CLO number three refers to the social aspect of writing. By receiving and giving feedback both to and from my peers, and interacting in small groups in BlackBoard Collaborate Ultra, I was able to correct any issues my essay had.
CLO number two mentions developing strategies for revising and editing. In this Final Exigence Essay, I had gathered all the feedback I had been given and had corrected all the mistakes I had made. This has allowed me to grow because it showed that I was able to take feedback and reincorporate that feedback back into my writing.
