Short Paper #2: Picturing Immigration

From Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/sad-refugee-middle-eastern-women-royalty-free-image/529142868

Context:      For your second short paper, I want you to enter into the conversation that both “Citizen Khan” and “Refugees Hear a Foreign Word: Welcome” participate in: that of immigration, outsiders, and citizenship. This is a volatile issue since the last presidential election, and one that people often engage in without really knowing the historical or contemporary facts. However, sometimes talking about it isn’t enough; sometime we really have to see the issue to understand how to discuss it.

From Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/september-2018-syria-atmeh-displaced-syrian-girls-sit-news-photo/1034289642

Assignment:          For this paper, I want you to start with a picture. That is, an actual picture that introduces the conversation to your readers. This picture can be of anything slightly related to the issues in these articles: immigrants, refugees, families, politicians, Americans, historical images, etc. Consider what you want us to ‘see’ about this conversation, and find an image that seems to support a way of talking about this discussion. I will give you a few images on the blog to consider, but you do not have to choose these images. They’re just a starting point. But think about how you feel about the issues in these essays, and find an image that seems to illustrate this (imagine if you were writing a book on the subject—this would be your cover).

From Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/congo-dr-royalty-free-image/509186276

Introduction:         Your paper must open by introducing the image and describing it for us. Then you have to find a passage in one of the two essays that you feel supports the image and explain this connection. That should be your introduction, and it can be one or more paragraphs, but your essay has to start with the description and discussion of the image.

Body Paragraphs: Use these to connect the image to the conversation and explain why the conversation matters. You can either support the ideas of immigration in the essays, disagree with them, or be on the fence—there’s no right answer. However, you must use ideas and quotes from one or both essays to support your opinion, and consider a NAYSAYER as well, which you can easily find in the essays. Remember: why does this issue matter? Help us see this without making it sound too easy or too mean spirited.

From Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/childrens-drawing-of-people-on-boat-in-distress-at-royalty-free-image/909231252

Requirements:

• At least 3 pages double spaced
• Must use an image to introduce the topic (see above)
• Must use at least one of the essays in class substantially; you can also use earlier essays from class. More than one quote is probably a good idea.
• Due after Fall Break, Tuesday, October 23^rd by 5pm [we have class that day, but you don’t have reading—we’ll be watching a film to introduce our second book]