ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
Write a 3-4 page essay, about 750-1000 words, double-spaced. Your essay will demonstrate your reading and understanding of the memoir Born a Crime. Use Beverly Daniel Tatum’s “The Complexity of Identity Links to an external site.” as a secondary source, along with one more source of your choice.
This source can be a video, a newspaper article, or an interview. Your essay will have a works cited page (not counted as a page of the essay length requirement) and will follow MLA formatting. Below are the topics–choose one.
1-Criminality is a theme that runs through Noah’s memoir Born a Crime. Indeed, crime is so central that the author takes the idea in his title. In your essay, you will examine the role of criminality in Apartheid-era South Africa. How was crime perceived by Trevor and his community? How does crime affect them during apartheid? Do you feel that the laws passed during this time are just or unjust? Consider how Trevor’s identity centers him as a crime, but also at times, how his identity helps him to evade prosecution or suspicion?
2-In what ways does Noah’s racial or linguistic identity affect his experiences with his own family, friends, school, community, or the law? In what ways does his unique identity contribute to experiences and spaces that are both “dominant and subordinate” as described by Beverly Daniel Tatum.
3-How does racial segregation affect Trevor and his family members? Consider the limitations on the jobs, school completion, neighborhood, and relationships that they experienced due to segregation. What similarities exist between what Trevor and his family experiences to those living here in the U.S.?
