Both sources are uploaded as PDF. Please read both books before writing the paper.
Use “Abiding Courage as a source of information about African American
Use “Becoming Mexican American” as a source of information about Mexican American
DO NOT USE OUTSIDE SOURCES!!!
Write a paper that compares and contrasts the experiences of African Americans with Mexican Americans in the East Bay during World War Two.
Your paper should revolve around a series of points of comparison between the two groups. For example, you might consider some of the following issues and how they applied to each group:
-What forces led both groups to come to California?
-What types of opportunities did they find?
-What types of limitations did they face?
-How were the experiences of the first generation (migrants or immigrants to California) different from those of the second generation (born in California, to migrant or immigrant parents)?
-How did group experiences change, for better or worse, over time?
-What was the impact of each group on Californias society, culture, politics, and/or economy?
A logical way to structure this paper would be to find several points of comparison and discuss them one at a time, comparing and contrasting the experiences of one group versus the other around the specific point.
Be sure that it is clear what point of comparison you are focusing on with each paragraph. The best way to do this is through strong topic sentences that state the main point, for each paragraph.
Your paper should also have a strong thesis and a substantive conclusion. Specifically, the thesis should, in one to three or four sentences characterize the relationship between the experiences of the two groups (similar, different, somewhere in between, etc.) and lay out the points of comparison. The body paragraphs should then systematically develop this thesis.
Your conclusion should summarize your findings, but it should also point the reader to some bigger issues, or open things up for further thinking and discussion that goes beyond the scope of the paper.
