Essay Prompt #2

Readings:

“City of Broken Dreams” by Sara Goldrick-Rab; “Class in America” by Gregory

Mantsios; “What We Really Miss About the 1950s” by Stephanie Coontz; “The Color of

Family Ties: Race, Class, Gender, and Extended Family Involvement” by Naomi Gerstel

and Natalia Sarkisian; “Serving in Florida” by Barbara Ehrenreich; “From A Tangle of

Pathology to a Race-Fair America” by Alan Aja, Daniel Bustillo, William Darity Jr., and

Darrick Hamilton.

Context:

In “Class in America,” Gregory Mantsios argues that “most importantly, the point that is

missed is that inequality is persistent and structural—and it manifests itself in a multitude

of cultural and social ways” (par. 1).

For your second essay, please respond to the following prompt: Analyze one aspect of

American inequality and argue why it matters.

Directions:

Please write a 4-5 page essay that has a clear, specific thesis supported by strong

argumentation. When appropriate, vivid, detailed examples should be used to support

your ideas. Your essay must use three of our texts and contain a total of six quotes.

Of the six quotes used, at least two must be statistics from our texts. Please use 12-

point Times New Roman font, double-spacing, and one-inch margins. Make sure all

quotes are properly introduced with a signal phrase and cited in MLA style. When

appropriate, please also use transitions to move your reader through your argument, both

within a paragraph and from each paragraph (C5-d). Please also remember that there

should be no outside sources, and that you must dedicate at least one paragraph near the

end of your paper to discuss concrete solutions.

Your essay must contain a counterargument paragraph that includes a thorough

rebuttal. Please see A4-f, A4-g, and my prior counterargument handout for more

help.

Tips:

You might try using an outline to help organize your ideas (see C1-d). Remember, try to develop

one main idea per paragraph that is clearly articulated in a strong, clear topic sentence (C5-a).

You might also begin by revisiting our texts and ensuring you clearly understand the positions

taken by the writers. Then, you might try to isolate a particular inequality—racial, wealth,

income, gender, educational—that was covered in the readings, and analyze each of the writers’

positions. Which authors do you agree with most? Why do you agree with them? And finally,

what evidence are they citing that you find particularly compelling?

Dates:

First Draft Peer Review: Check Canvas.

Final Draft: Check Canvas.