I have an essay on the new Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Thank you! My prompt is “in the New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, author Michelle Alexander argues that it is important for us to understand that The New Jim Crow is the Prison Industrial Complex system which has disproportionately incarcerated black men at an alarming rate in the United State. She writes: “ Like Jim Crow (and slavery), mass incarceration operates as a tightly networked system of laws, policies, customs, and institutions that operate collectively to ensure the subordinate status of a group defined largely by race (Alexander, 13).
Show through quotes, analysis, and the use of other sources how legal policies, laws, and police customs work as a contrived system to incarcerate black and black people. Draw upon historic evidence to support your claims. Carefully consider the four key points that Alexander raises in the passage above. In your essay of 5-6 pages, discuss whether or not you support Alexander’s position on her insights about mass incarceration in the Age of Obama.
Remember to do the following in your essay: 1) state your own position in your thesis statement; and 2) support your thesis by discussing specific points that address Alexander’s main arguments. All in all, your essay will include a combination of your own ideas, analysis, observations, and examples/details as they relate to the main points that Alexander makes.
This will be graded on the following:
1) an insightful thesis statement that clearly reveals your response to and position on Michelle Alexander’s main argument
2) accurate use of information (examples, details/specifics, quotes, etc.) from Chapters 1-6 in Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, to support your opinions/ideas
3) thoughtful, sophisticated analysis and discussion of the details you’ve included from Michelle Alexander’s book (Show your own insight and ideas! Do NOT simply repeat and retell what Alexander has already stated in his book.
4) development of your own ideas with coherent and clear explanations in a minimum of 10-12 body paragraphs (Again, do NOT simply summarize the details from the book. Use details from Michelle Alexander’s chapters in conjunction with your own ideas/observations/opinions. Your own insight and ideas are needed to explain why you have the opinions you have and how the details in the book relate to your own opinions and ideas.
unity (Information, ideas, analysis, explanations and so forth must stay focused on supporting your thesis.)
6) coherence (Use transitions/strong connections to link ideas between your paragraphs and within your paragraphs.)
7) organization (Ideas must follow a logical organizational pattern. Don’t jump around from one idea to the next. Have a clear, logical progression in your thoughts. Outlining/prewriting will really help here.)
8) clarity and presentation— crisp and clear word usage, sentences, logic, format, structure and so on
9) proofreading, editing, correctness, and sentence sophistication—correct spelling, punctuation, and
grammar, as well as varied and sophisticated sentence structures—Get help outside of class! Final drafts
should be error-free.
10) accurate and correct citations and formatting of quoted material and Works Cited page using MLA
standards
11) an original and creative title for your essay
12) Use 5 sources (e.g. Alexander’s text, two scholarly journals, and another credible book source)
