The readings for this unit all combine personal reflection with analysis.  The writers offer stories from their past—stories having something to do with questions of race, or with questions of  difference.  They don't, however, simply tell these stories; they also probe them for meaning.  In short, they turn an analytical lens on personal experience.  In the process, they broaden our understanding of the ways in which race and difference structure our lives.

This is essentially what I'm asking you to do for Writing Project #1.  Pick an experience from your past that has something to do with the issues raised by this course and ask yourself what we can learn from it.  In a 3-page essay, recount this experience and make an argument about its meaning. 

While I'm asking for a combination of personal narrative and analysis, the majority of your paper should consist of analysis.  Don't let the personal narrative overtake your paper.  It might be a good idea to recount your experience in an opening paragraph or two and devote the rest of your paper to an analysis of it (this is just a suggestion; feel free to come up with your own organizational model). 

Use the five questions on the final page of the "Criteria for Grading" as a guide, with particular emphasis on numbers 1 and 2.