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Sample College Application Essays That Work!

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how to do grammar corrections          a) using your essay as a file

b) on your original essay

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SantaCruz 2004

 

For questions regarding this page, contact Jennifer Fraser,

San Mateo Middle College High School

fraserjen08@yahoo.com

 

NATIVE AMERICAN STEREOTYPES

IN LITERATURE AND

ON SCREEN

.........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

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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.

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CHOICE #2: NATIVE AMERICAN FILMS:  

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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.

    Article #2 Read the article, "Native American Dreams"

-Take notes on the issues Native American actors and filmmakers have

experienced in the past and how that is changing today.

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CHOICE # 3 NATIVE AMERICAN ACTORS AND WANNABES: This is a more complex topic and will be awarded 10% extra credit.

     

http://www.howhist.com/jfraser/picture2.gifEssay:

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?

       Native American produced videos to view:

             Nathaniel Arcand – talent agency promo

             JENNIFER PODEMSKI – talent agency promo

            View at least two other commercials from www.youtube.com. Use "commercials using Native Americans" as a search term. Take notes on the same questions you see in #3 above"

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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

or http://www.nativetimes.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.

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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.

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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?

                Mac vs. PC users

                public service announcement

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.

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