The midterm essay asks you to reflect on the first half of the semester’s works: Baldwin, Butler, and Johnson. Describe how these works have impacted you. Which themes, characters, scenes, and/or ideas in these works did you connect with in some way?

A reflection essay is generally forward thinking in some capacity. It not only deeply explores its subject matter in looking back; it concludes by granting some sense of closure about its study. It might be certain about those resolutions, or less certain and therefore exploring other questions. It may also conclude with a mixture of those things.

Your reflection essay may also include the Stonewall documentaries, and any further insights from works in the first half of the semester that these later works have revealed to you, but you should prioritize the three texts above. If you are having difficulty forming a topic for your reflection essay, the following questions below may help you get started: –

How did I respond to Baldwin/Butler (fiction novels) vs. Johnson (memoir)? – What specific moments and/or ideas in the works did I respond to? – What emotions were most present for me while reading these works? – How have these works affected me as a person, my ideas about gender, sexual orientation, and identity, and how will I carry that knowledge forward?

Additionally, your reflection essay will: – Have a clear purpose outlined in a thesis statement. This may be a single concept, or a set of concepts that you wish to explore, based on the guidance above, but the essay should follow a logical, organized, and coherent progression. – Be formatted appropriately in MLA style, make use of paragraphs, tabs, and be largely free of grammatical errors. –

Include a reference page with sources cited in MLA. – Be no fewer than 1500 words. This does not include a title or reference page, or quoted passages. You will not receive satisfactory marks if your paper relies on excessive use of quoted material to inflate its word count. – Not reuse written work from our Forum Posts. It is encouraged, however, that you revisit Forums and your Talking Points if you feel they might help you develop ideas.