Writers Den

RULES FOR POSTING I look for high quality, thoughtful posts that are supported by relevant evidence from the textbook and/or other reliable sources (e.g., scholarly publications, the U.S. Census Bureau, newspapers, magazines, organization websites, etc.). Replies to peer posts should offer additional insights. Please follow these thirteen rules in composing your posts: 1. RELY ON FACTS (a fact is verifiable and beyond argument; it may involve numbers, dates, testimony, etc.,—for example, “Sixty percent of American women are in the labor force”). 2. FORM EVIDENCE-BASED OPINIONS (an evidence-based opinion is a reasonable conclusion drawn from factual evidence—for example, we know that in the United States women earn about 80 percent of men’s wages, and so you can form the opinion that the country should take some actions to close the gender gap in pay). 3. DO NOT RELY ON BELIEFS (a belief is an inarguable conviction based on cultural or personal faith, morality, or values that cannot be disproved or contested in a rational or logical manner—for example, “Gender is good for society”). 4. STEER CLEAR OF PREJUDICES (a prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about a category of people—for example, “Women are bad leaders”). 5. MAKE SURE YOUR POSTS ARE AT LEAST 170 WORDS IN LENGTH. 6. POST ANSWERS TO 2 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS BY 11:59 PM ON THURSDAY. 7. RESPOND TO 2 PEER POSTS BY 11:59 PM ON SUNDAY. 8. BE ACTIVE (submit posts) AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK (on two different days). 9. POST ONLY ONE ANSWER PER THREAD. To post your second answer, start a new thread. 10. WRITE THE QUESTION NUMBER OR THE FIRST FEW WORDS OF THE QUESTION YOU ARE ANSWERING IN THE POST’S HEADING. 11. When responding to a peer post, DELETE THE TEXT OF THE ORIGINAL POST FROM YOUR ANSWER BEFORE POSTING. 12. DO NOT POST (SEND) TEXT OR IMAGES INTENDED TO THREATEN, EMBARRASS, HURT, OR INTIMIDATE ANOTHER PERSON. 13. DO NOT USE ANGRY OR VULGAR LANGUAGE.

WEEK 2

It is necessary to read chapters 8-15 to support your
answers to any class discussion questions.

1. InA Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki provides a
brief overview of the history of multicultural U.S.-America by highlighting the
experiences of six racial/ethnic groups; Native Americans, African Americans,
Chicanos, Asian Americans, Irish Americans, and Jewish Americans. In what ways
are the historical experiences of these groups similar and/or different? How
are these historical patterns different/similar for new immigrants today?

2. How does Lipsitz explain the concepts of whiteness,
white power, and white hegemony inThe Possessive Investment in Whiteness?
What examples of the possessive investment in whiteness do you see operating in
your college, community, workplace?

3. Many people in our society think it is appropriate (even
an honor) to use Indian mascots, symbols, images, and personalities by schools,
colleges, universities, athletic teams, and organizations. What are your
thoughts on this issue? How would you argue your view with someone who
disagrees with you?

4. How does Gloria Anzaldúa’sLa Conciencia de la
Mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness help you think about the
intersections of race, gender, nation, and language when considering the impact
of race and racism on your own sociocultural identity?

5. Heather Dalmage, in her article,Patrolling Racial
Borders: Discrimination Against Mixed Race People, recounts some of the
historical and present day practices in which multiracial people are patrolled
and required to conform with societal and institutional racial rules. How does
Dalmage explain the concept of “border patrolling?” What examples of “border
patrolling” do you see operating among your friends, family, college community,
and workplace? What new questions have been raised for you regarding the issues
that multiracial people face?

WEEK 12

It is necessary to read selections 86-94 to support your
answers to any class discussion questions.

1. Historically, how have transgender people experienced
exclusion and marginalization in the United States? How have racism, classism,
sexism and other forms of oppression intersected with transgender oppression?

2. How have trans people organized to resist various forms
of oppression in the United States? Given what you have learned about other
social justice movements and the practice of resistance, how would you describe
resistance to trans oppression as similar or different to those other
movements?

3. What roles have institutions—such as the medical system,
the police, the courts, and the media—played in the construction of trans
identity and in trans people’s experiences?

4. Cisgender Privilege: On the Privileges of Performing
Normative Genderpresents a list of benefits that
many cisgender people have access to, and many trans people are denied access
to, based on their status as cisgender or transgender. Which of the benefits do
youhave access to, and which don’t you? Why? What aspects of your
identity, in addition to your status as cisgender or transgender, affect your
access to these benefits?

5. What action can you take or what will you do differently
after reading this Transgender Oppression section?

WEEK 14

It is necessary to read selections 114-126 to support
your answers to any class discussion questions.

1. What is your understanding of ageism and adultism as
presented in the readings?

2. How does the description of ageism and adultism as forms
of oppression presented in the readings differ or coincide with the
understanding of ageism and adultism that you hold?

3. How do the readings explain the intersections of racism
and ableism with ageism and adultism?

4. How do ageism and adultism intersect with other forms of
oppression?

5. How has your own experience and observation of ageism and/or
adultism been similar and/or different from the description of ageism and
adultism described in this Section?

6. Whose voices are included in this chapter? What
additional voices might be included in this chapter?

7. If you were to write a testimonial of your own
experience as a young person and/or as an elder with adultism or with ageism,
what would you include in that testimonial?

8. Similar to what you have read in the Next Steps section,
when and where have you seen evidence of actions or behaviors that interrupt
adultism and ageism?