8)TOPIC: In Reading Lolita in Tehran, Nafisi uses The Great Gatsby and her experiences to show how living in the past can ruin the future.

OPINION: Focusing only on the past traps society and makes it repeat mistakes.

SO WHAT? This matters because it teaches us that we must face the present and build the future instead of staying stuck in what already happened.

7)TOPIC: In Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi shows that literature can be powerful enough to resist oppressive governments.

OPINION: Studying Lolita helps students avoid being passive victims and inspires them to resist silently.

SO WHAT? This matters because it shows that education and reading can emotionally free people and give them strength to fight injustice.

6)TOPIC: Khalidi uses a family division in Tennis in Nablus as a symbol of how colonization impacts Palestine.

OPINION: The play shows how colonization divides society and weakens the fight for freedom.

SO WHAT? This matters because it helps the audience feel and understand how political oppression destroys both communities and families.

5)TOPIC: In Ismail Khalidi’s play Tennis in Nablus, Anbara writes about how women’s empowerment is essential for any revolutionary movement.

OPINION: The failure to empower women contributed to the Palestinian struggle against British oppression.

SO WHAT? This matters because it shows that meaningful change only happens when the most oppressed members of society are lifted up.

4)TOPIC: Delia, the main character in Sweat, suffers mental and physical abuse from her husband for years.

OPINION: Hurston makes readers feel empathy for Delia and understand the triple burden of being Black, female, and poor.

SO WHAT? This matters because it helps readers see how hard it is to survive under so many layers of oppression.

3)TOPIC: In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story Sweat, Sykes, a Black man in the Jim Crow South, tries to prove his masculinity.

OPINION: He abuses Delia and cheats on her to hide his insecurities about failing as a provider and protector.

SO WHAT? This matters because it shows how toxic masculinity hurts women and reflects social pressures of that time.

2)TOPIC: In the different stanzas of Bury Me in a Free Land, Harper shows the horrors of slavery: Black people sold like animals, hunted if they escape, beaten, and babies taken from their mothers.

OPINION: Today, African-Americans still face similar injustices: labor exploitation, racial profiling, murder, and families torn apart by mass incarceration.

SO WHAT? This matters because it shows that even though slavery ended, the fight for real freedom continues.

1)TOPIC: In the poem Bury Me in a Free Land, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper talks about slavery and the contradiction of Americans valuing freedom while keeping people enslaved.

OPINION: Harper makes readers face the hypocrisy of Americans and realize how wrong it is to allow slavery.

SO WHAT? This matters because it makes us question our morals and reminds us that injustice must end.

8)TOPIC: In Jarhead, Anthony Swofford talks about how soldiers lose their First Amendment rights.

OPINION: This silencing makes soldiers follow orders without question, protecting the rich and powerful and allowing war for profit to continue.

SO WHAT? This is important because it shows how soldiers’ rights are ignored and how the system uses control to keep wars going for money.

7)TOPIC: Anthony Swofford’s depiction of military culture in Jarhead.

OPINION: The military’s systemic toxic masculinity—emphasizing transactional relationships, emotional repression, and violence—leads to sexual harassment, rape, and high suicide rates among service members.

SO WHAT? This is important because it reveals how deeply ingrained cultural norms within the military harm individuals and highlights the need for systemic change to protect service members’ well-being.

6)TOPIC: According to Malala Yousafzai, education is capable of combating terrorism in Pakistan (as stated in I Am Malala).

OPINION: This view is too simplistic as educational solutions will not provide an answer to the complicated geopolitical issues of Pakistan and they could potentially strengthen extremist behaviour instead of weakening it.

SO WHAT? For this reason, readers should evaluate the proposed solutions to the terrorism dilemma taking into account broader political and historical factors, and not simply rely on education as a solution.

5)TOPIC: The assertion made by Malala Yousafzai in the book I Am Malala, written about how combating terrorism in Pakistan is possible through education.

OPINION: Because educated persons have the ability to advocate for themselves and to resist all forms of propaganda, the way of Malala will greatly lessen the influence of the Taliban.

SO WHAT? This is important in that it displays the vital nature of education to provide citizens the ability to make positive change both socially and politically.

4)TOPIC: T.V. Reed’s discussion of music as a tool for addressing racial oppression in The Art of Protest.

OPINION: Hip-Hop today continues the work of Civil Rights-era music by highlighting ongoing inequalities and police brutality against Black men.

SO WHAT? This is important because it shows how music remains a powerful medium for social awareness and activism, keeping conversations about racial injustice alive.

3)TOPIC: T.V. Reed’s argument that environmentalism is perceived as a “white issue” in The Art of Protest.

OPINION: Because environmental activism is seen as dominated by white, affluent groups, marginalized communities most affected by environmental harm are left without a voice, preventing meaningful change.

SO WHAT? This matters because recognizing this imbalance is necessary to make environmental movements more inclusive and effective.

2)TOPIC: Elizabeth Kolbert’s argument that people must reduce carbon emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change in Field Notes from a Catastrophe.

OPINION: Catastrophic climate change is already inevitable, so efforts should shift from prevention to adapting and making future climates survivable.

SO WHAT? This is important because it challenges Kolbert’s focus on prevention and encourages readers to reconsider where time, research, and resources should be directed.

1)TOPIC: Using Alternative Energy Sources to Combat Climate Change according to Elizabeth Kolbert in Fieldnotes from a Catastrophe

OPINION: Kolbert does not acknowledge the major drawbacks of biofuels, solar energy, and wind energy, making widespread implementation of these technologies unwise until all pending issues about Cost, Waste, and Space have been resolved.

SO WHAT? This is significant because readers need to thoughtfully evaluate Kolbert’s argument regarding the use of alternative energy sources, along with understanding alternative energy's limitations before endorsing and supporting widespread implementation of alternative energy technologies.

5 is not thesis

5 is not thesis

In the first page of the essay, there are several MLA formatting errors. The header “Lachmayr 1” is incorrectly placed on the left instead of being right-aligned and ½ inch from the top margin, and it uses the professor’s last name instead of the student’s, which should read “Bell 1.” The date is written in the wrong format, as MLA requires “21 May 2013.” The title is not properly centered, is incorrectly capitalized, and uses improper styling, since MLA titles should be in plain text without bold, italics, or underlining. The abbreviation “n.°” in the title is not MLA style and should be written as “No. 1” or avoided. Additionally, the book title within the paragraph is incorrectly placed in quotation marks instead of italics, and there is an unnecessary space before the closing quotation mark and comma.

During my adolescence, I was able to observe the genetics of my father's family, and as I grew older, I had to go to the dermatologist because I had acne on my skin, and I also had to go to the gynecologist, which terrified me. But that's what a teenager has to go through because those are the stages, and that's how it is habitual ** And I feel that my father's paternal nature protected me throughout that time. And it's incredible how you see it in retrospect, from your father's perspective, because despite everything, he takes care of you, and even when the situation is very pathetic, he's always there for you. That's why my father's love is perennial and omnipotent **because he dont leave me alone

1)How did he learn to read if it was forbidden? So brave! I feel bad for his suffering, it’s so unfair. Wow! His mistress changed because of slavery, that’s sad but interesting. I like how he used kids to learn, so smart. “Columbian Orator”? I need to look this up, sounds important. It’s so intense that learning to read made him suffer more… cruel that freedom was only a dream.

2) Chattel -someone’s property (like an object) Stratagems -strategies, tricks Emancipation - freedom from slavery Vindication - defense or justification Writhed -twisted, squirmed Unabated - without decreasing

3) Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland around 1817. - Origin He went to Baltimore and learned to read with his master’s wife’s help. - Learning He escaped in 1838, got married, and changed his name. -Freedom

Became a speaker, wrote his autobiography, fought for Black rights. - Activism In Master Hugh’s house, he had to use strategies to keep learning, because his mistress stopped teaching him. -Obstacles His mistress was kind at first, but slavery made her harsh and cruel. - Change of people Douglass befriended white kids to teach him how to read more. -Cleverness The book Columbian Orator taught him about freedom and arguing against slavery. - Education Learning to read caused pain because he saw his situation but couldn’t change it. -Pain

4) “Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me.” “Education and slavery were incompatible with each other.” “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers.” “The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness.” Freedom was always on his mind, motivating and torturing him at the same time. - Desire for freedom

5) My thesis: Learning to read was a double-edged sword for Frederick Douglass: it freed him intellectually and gave him power to fight for freedom, but it also caused him pain by revealing the cruelty of slavery and his own oppression.

Paternal: fatherly Agoraphobia: fear Polyphonic: multiple Contorted: twisted Soliloquy: speech Transcribe: copy Tactilely: touch Pyrotechnics: fireworks Unorthodox: unconventional Pathetic: pitiful

Gynecologist: doctor Biopsy: sample Genetics: heredity Habitual: routine Dermatology: skin Autonomy: independence Ethnographer: researcher Aquatic: water

Deduced: inferred

Gradual: slow

Perennial: lasting Malformed: deformed Omnipotent: all-powerful Preconceptions: biases Trimester: third Quadruplets: foursome Polyembryony: multiple Subversive: rebellious Postpartum: afterbirth Retrospect: review

abdicate: not taking responsibility. interced: praying for the person. beneficent: benefit and help. illogical: something unsafe. anarchy: lack of rules. congregated: to unite. expel: to expel or banish someone. ambiguose:loose. dichoyomous: right or wrong. synthesis:idea.

The mother was beautiful and kind, but slavery and evil transformed her into a resentful person devoid of love.