Takaki Assignment

The common questions for this course are:

1. How does group membership affect identity? 
2. What are the causes and effects of inequality between and within groups? 
3. What does it mean to live in a diverse community?

Our additional questions are:

1. What do travelers, outsiders, see in the communities that they visit that an insider might miss?
2. What do travelers learn about themselves and their home communities by traveling to other places?
3. Ultimately - how does one's own identity change by seeing how others construct their identities?

In reading A Different Mirror, Takaki has presented us with a series of related historical narratives, each focused on a distinct minority's history within America. For this assignment, you will re-imagine a single life from the history given us by Takaki, and write a narrative of that life in such a way as to exemplify the major course themes. Pick a moment that explores issues of group membership, inequality within or between groups, and any relevant aspects of the consequences of diversity. Also think about travel - how does crossing borders change perspectives?

This final narrative should be around 750 words long, but may be longer.