Senior college application process
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Sample College Application Essays That Work!
how to do grammar corrections a) using your essay as a file
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For questions regarding this page, contact Jennifer Fraser,
San Mateo Middle College High School
.........Fleur, the protagonist of the novel
Tracks, is a fictional Native American woman, the last of the Pillager tribe.
She is a complex figure in this novel, created by an author who is herself half
Chippewa In this assignment, you will compare this fictional character to the
images of Native American woman you are familiar with from history and fiction,
from Sacajawea to Pocahontas.
Choose one of the topics below to
explore. You will need to write down the address of this website for future
research:
http://www.howhist.com/jfraser/tracks.htm
OUTLINE FOR ESSAY CLICK
HERE
2. Either use the notes page handout, or create your own, opening a new word document.
ESSAY TOPIC CHOICES
CHOICE #1: Disney Misportrays Pocahontas
ESSAY:
This essay deals with how Native American women are portrayed in
film and literature. Are they accurate portrayals? Use the historical
Pocahontas as a reference. Compare and contrast the fictional Pocahontas to the
actual Pocahontas. Next. explain what qualities the fictional Fleur in Tracks has
in common with the Disney Pocahontas? How was she like the true historical
figure Pocahontas?
#1. The Disney movie Pocahantas received a good deal of
criticism from a number of areas. Read the comments of Chief Crazy Horse
in
Chief Crazy Horse's Response
a) Take notes on his objections to the Disney portrayal of
Pocahontas.
b) Read and take notes on The "Real" Pocahontas.
in
"Real Pocahontas"
c) Using your above notes, take notes on the character of Fleur from Tracks, noting and including quotations that deal with her similarities to and differences from the real and the historical Pocahontases.
CHOICE #2: NATIVE AMERICAN FILMS:
....
ESSAY:
Write an essay about Native Americans in films in the past and
today. Decide for your thesis whether you think progress is being made in
accepting Native Americans as equals in the film industry. Make sure you
use quotations from all articles read.
a) Read the articles about Native American film makers
today.
Article #1."Native American
Films Attempt to Cross Over."
-Take notes on the difficulties and challenges Native Americans
have as film makers.
-Take notes on the issues Native American actors and filmmakers have
experienced in the past and how that is changing today.
CHOICE # 3 :
NATIVE AMERICAN ACTORS AND WANNABES:
This is a more complex
topic and will be awarded 10% extra credit.
Essay:
Discuss the use of Native American
stereotypes in films and advertisements today. Do the ads and movies play upon
stereotypes of Native Americans or do they try to go past the stereotypes and
portray Native Americans as people with a wider range of culture, behaviors,
and appearances?
A) Read the article about Native
American stereotypes in film. Take notes: what are the stereotypes?
http://www.nativepeoples.com/article/articles/174/1/COYOTE-GOES-HOLLYWOOD
B) Check
out at least 4 films from the list on
the right of this webpage.
http://www.nativecelebs.com/actors1.htm
Take notes on
1) what the film is about
2) whether it deals with Native Americans as
stereotypes or not
(give examples from the
film description
to support your opinion)
3) View the
Native American produced videos below. Take notes on
a) in what way do these self-portrayals match the
stereotypes of NA?
b) In what way are they different?
Nathaniel Arcand – talent agency promo
Choice # 4. Contemporary Native American Issues
ESSAY:
This essay deals with current issues of Native Americans today. It
asks you to find issues that still exist, that are discussed or alluded to in
the novel Tracks.
#5. Surf the largest Native American newspaper , http://indiancountry.com
a) Identify and discuss three current issues that concern Native
Americans today. Copy down direct quotations and headlines.
b) Discuss any two of the issues that are also dealt with in the
novel Tracks explaining in full the issues as they affect Native
Americans today as well as how they relate to this novel. Use quotations from Tracks.
CHOICE #5:
The Status of Native American Women in the 1800s
ESSAY:
This essay asks you to examine the fictional characters of Fleur
and Margaret and decide how realistic they are when compared to actual descriptions
of Native American women by travelers in the 1800s.
#6. Historians often refer to the work of three explorers from the
early 1800's who traveled the West and took notes about Native American life.
Read three descriptions of the status and roles of Native American women in the early 1800s
Using direct quotations from the authors (deToqueville (1831),
Cather (1836), and Arese (1837) a)describe the roles and status of the
Native American women from their viewpoint.
b) Then discuss how the characters Margaret Kashpaw and Fleur of the novel Tracks, set a century later in 1919, seem to fit or contradict those descriptions.
CHOICE #6: Portrayal of Native Americans in Ads and Commercials
ESSAY:
This essay deals again with
stereotypes of Native Americans. You will be examining whether ads and
commercials play on the stereotype for humor or effect, or whether they go
beyond the stereotype.
a) Establish what you think is the
public’s stereotype of Native Americans.
b) View the
following t.v. spots and
ads. For each, answer:
1)
how does the ad use the Native American stereotype for its effect?
2) how does the ad
go
beyond the stereotype- or does it?
3) how does
the public feel about the use of Native Americans in these ads? Is there a wide
range of opinions and attitudes?
Finally, view the 1971 anti-pollution ad Pollution: Keep America Beautiful on Youtube
a) Read the explanation of the ad, then click on the film.
b) Answer questions 1,2, and 3 above
c) Then
Read at least ten of the responses to the film on the blog. Take notes on the wide range of reactions to this film. Then draw a conclusion about how people today feel about Native Americans and their use in film and advertising.