Write a three-page essay in which you describe and analyze a stereotype of your own choosing. 

While the majority of your paper should be analytical, you'll need to spend some time describing the stereotype before you can analyze it.  Take the space and the detail necessary for a vivid and complete description.  Feel free to use examples or personal anecdotes to help your reader understand the stereotype you're writing about. 

After describing the stereotype, analyze it.  Here are some questions to help you with this part of the assignment:

—How might it have come into being?
—Why do you think it has taken the particular shape that it has?
—Where does its power come from?
—Is it harmful?  If so, in what ways and to whom?
—Is it beneficial?  If so, in what ways and for whom?
—Who finds it necessary?
—What human needs does it meet?
—What contradictions does it resolve?

Remember, an analytical essay needs a clear thesis.  Your thesis should be as specific as possible.  Be aware of overly general formulations, such as: "The stereotype of the ditzy blond tells us something about our anxieties over gender."

Also, this assignment asks you to make use of the short reading from Sander Gilman's Difference and Pathology.  You should quote from Gilman at least once, but feel free to refer to him or quote him more often than that.