Reading Questions 3

Modifying Ballenger’s Exercise 3.3 for Our Purposes
Due on the Db by Thursday, September 9

We have read Omi/Winant, Nagel, and Gladwell. This assignment is designed to help you engage in what Ballenger calls “purposeful notetaking.”

1. For each of our texts, summarize the selection in four sentences or less. Write these summaries without looking back at the readings. You’ve already read and written about the texts, and so know enough to write down the key material for a brief summary of the articles.

2. For each of the readings, choose two passages that you think are important, or worth quoting. Write these down correctly (make no errors!).

3. For each of these (six) passages, write a 5 minute reaction to the quote. What does the quote mean to you? Do you agree with the passage? Does one passage seem to connect with any of the other passages, ideally between two different readings? If so, how? Do two passages seem to contradict each other? If so, which seems more correct to you?

4. Once you’ve written for 5 minutes in response to each quote (a total of 30 minutes of writing), spend 15 minutes writing a paragraph that uses two of the texts to begin to answer the question, “How can we make sense of race and/or ethnicity?”

5. Try to include some summary, paraphrase, and quotation in this paragraph. Don’t worry if the paragraph seems long to you. Try to follow correct APA citation style (Ballenger, 2004, p. 314).

6. Put your summaries, quotes, 5-minute responses, and two paragraphs in the Db in the forum, Reading Questions 3, and bring 3 copies of your paragraphs to class on 9/9.