Write an essay on what Multicultural American Literature tells us about America. Can we truly understand or even appreciate the Idea of America without
knowing about the experiences depicted by the authors we have covered? How can these literary works help us to deal with the many issues we face as a
multicultural nation? AVOID generalizations. ROOT everything in the works we have covered.
First, go back and re-read Ronald Takaki’s “A Different Mirror” and Nikole Hannah-Smith’s “The Idea of America” and summarize what they have taught you
about Multicultural and Multiracial America. You must also review the introductory Micro-Lecture, “Introduction to Multicultural America”.
You will then analyze at least FOUR literary works assigned in this course. By literary work, I mean a poem, an essay, a short story or excerpt—not a video or
documentary. Choose passages from each work to analyze closely. You should analyze them to show how they illustrate one specific idea of America that
you have learned or learned more about in this course. Connect each literary work back to the points you set out in the Intro. Find a coon theme to connect
them together.
In your conclusion, I would like you to evaluate the importance of reading multicultural literature to understand the Idea of America. Explain how these works
inform your understanding of current issues in our society today and the future of America.