Your reflective analysis should be associated with a compare and contrast of your perspective on U.S. history as presented by you in your classes from elementary through college. Utilize notes and ideas from Rethinking, Bennett, etc. Thus, you analysis should contain quotes and other textual evidence from the reading as well as personal examples (connections) to illustrate your points. Here are some guiding questions: In what ways did the book illustrate some of the concepts we have been discussing in class? How was the child’s ethnic identity affected? What cultural conflicts existed between the characters? What types of racism were evident? Did this book give you a different point of view? (Multiple perspectives?) How did the historical perspective (from a minority viewpoint impact your thinking about that group today? Would you use this book (with older students)? Why or why not?
Be sure to include important terms such as: assimilation-acculturation, voluntary/involuntary minorities, ethnic identity, racism (individual and institutional), culture conflicts (values, beliefs other cultural patterns), stereotyping, white privilege, multiple perspectives, and high to low context cultures.