Reaction Paper

Prompt for Reaction Paper Assignment (Due Date: 10/19/18 by 11:59 PM—to be posted on D2L) In an unexpected turn of events, you receive a letter from the office of your state senator. You open the letter and are surprised to find a hand-written note signed by your state senator herself expressing how intrigued she was by what she learned while reading the summary you had handed off to her at the end of your meeting (this was of either the Takaki essay, or of the Gabaccia essay). After reading the summary, she even decided to pick up the original work to read it on her own. She indicates to you in the letter that she also decided to pick up a copy of the essay you had not summarized for her, and gave it a very close read as well. At the end of the letter, she asks you a series of questions to help her further understand how you yourself make sense of the arguments Takaki and Gabaccia present in their respective works. After reading her questions, you write up what she is asking you to do.

1. Takaki begins his essay with a brief personal narrative about his interaction with a taxi driver while on his way to a conference. While the senator was fascinated by this story, she is a little bit at a loss as to why a study of American history would begin with such a story. She therefore asks you: what is Takaki telling us about how mainstream American culture often views “American” identity? Is Takaki’s vision of American identity different than the Taxi driver’s?

2. Gabaccia begins her essay with a brief narrative of the life of Nicola Sacco, a skilled worker in a shoe factory who had immigrated to the United States from Italy in the early 1900s. While the senator was fascinated by this story, she is curious as to how Sacco’s life narrative reflects Gabaccia’s overall argument in her essay. She therefore asks you: how does Nicola Sacco’s narrative reflect Gabaccia’s overall understanding of the wave of immigration to the United States that took place between the years 1890-1920?

3. The senator understands that both Donna Gabaccia and Ronald Takaki are essentially trying to present a multicultural perspective on American history and culture. She is asking you to compare and contrast these two perspectives.

You decide that you will choose 1 of the 3 questions/topics to write a response that will be 3-4 pages long (double-space). Paper format, submission process and Important Dates: -Microsoft Word (PLEASE NO PDFs) -Font theme: Times New Roman or Cambria -Font size: 12 -Line Spacing: Double-space -The essay must have a title -Paper Length: 3-4 pages -Post on D2L (Click the module Formal Papers; click the tab Reaction Paper; attach a copy of your essay as a word document; also, copy and paste your paper in the text field Suggestions: -Visit Writing Center at the different stages of the writing process -Meet instructor during office hours (Mon and Wed, 2:30-4:30 PM, and by appointment)

Student Name Course Prof.’s Name Date

“Title????”