Write a paper that deals in depth with some issue or theme we have discussed this semester, using a work by some literary figure we will discuss this semester, but not one of the works we discussed in class—no selection included on our syllabus / handout selections is eligible. In your paper, you should make sure that you do not merely re-hash what we have said, but analyze and interpret whatever you are focusing on with originality and in depth. You will need a thesis for your paper and, as with any good essay, a thesis paragraph that lays out your ideas and structure, strong topic and transition sentences, sufficient specific details and examples, and a concluding paragraph that reviews, wraps up, and rounds off. **In class we read about Booker T. Washington’s ‘Up from Slavery’. However, I want to write a paper that challenges whether Booker T. Washington’s approach towards slavery and white people from other works such as The Story of the Negro: The Rise of the Race from Slavery (1909), My Larger Education (1911), and The Man Farthest Down (1912) was a strategic move rather than he actually believed in what he said (the fact that he had an acceptance towards segregation and was not fighting against the white people enough which drew him vast criticism) and I’d like to compare his strategy in approaching the slave issue back in the day as opposed to Malcolm X’s approach. The work by Booker T. Washington written in the essay can NOT include “Up from Slavery” or the “Atlanta Exposition” as we have already discussed these in class. I want my essay to focus on the opposing approaches of these two individuals. Also, just generally compare the two, however, I want my theme to focus on their approaches, where Malcolm X was more direct and advocated the complete separation of African Americans from whites. He proposed that African Americans should return to Africa and that, in the interim, a separate country for black people in America should be created.
