The class has read poems, articles, and essays by people who focus on a community issue that relates to current events. Poet Moncho Alvarado highlighted the inhumanity of youth camps that function as detention centers and separate children from their families, and scholar bell hooks wrote about the importance of telling liberating tales and how asking questions is a powerful form of critical thinking for anyone, including communities of students. We also read a KQED article about a community organizer named Socorro Montaño, who passed out red and yellow cards to protect the undocumented neighbors in her community in San José. These individuals highlighted a community issue and offered solutions.
In a 2-3 page essay, name and describe a problem experienced by a community, or communities, to which you belong. You will need to include a personal experience and make a connection to a credible news media source that can support your ideas.
Access the slides from our class sessions on September 10 and 11, 2025.
You can use this Google doc template to make sure your essay is formatted according to Modern Language Association (MLA) style.
Here's a page from the Purdue Online Writing Lab with lots of details about MLA format. You can find a sample paper here.
