Writing Homework Help

Born A Crime Talking Point 2

What You’re Writing About

Noah prides himself on his ability to fit into a variety of situations and forge friendships with different groups of young people: “Ever the outsider, I created my own strange little world” (139). He continues, “Since I belonged to no group I learned to move seamlessly between groups. I was a chameleon, still, a cultural chameleon” (140). Before he decides to leave Alexandra, Noah realizes that, “Bongani and the other East Bank guys, because of where they were from, what they looked like—they just had very little hope . . . in the back of my mind I knew I had other options. I could leave. They couldn’t” (224). Later, when he is in a prison holding cell, he concludes that “racism exists, and you have to pick a side. You can say that you don’t pick sides, but eventually life will force you to pick a side” (240). Do you agree with Noah’s view about race and picking a side? Explain why. Use a personal experience to support your opinion.

How You’re Writing It

• Your Talking Point is no longer a summary-and-response assignment. Now, it is your academic literary response to a writing prompt, which is based upon specific themes and passages from the reading. In other words, you’re writing short essays as preparation–a build-up–to a larger essay that you will write later–an essay about a theme you understand and interpret from the novel and discussions. Again, no summary paragraph is required as the first paragraph–just start off your Talking Point as an insightful essay of your own thoughts.
• Your Talking Point must be five paragraphs in length, and it must have an introduction with your thesis, a body of support paragraphs that explain your main ideas with descriptive details, and a conclusion that sums up your main ideas and insights about the prompt.
  • Note: There is no requirement for a summary paragraph of what you’ve read.
• You must cite a total of four (4) sources to support your ideas. You must cite at least two (2) passages from Born A Crime, and you must cite passages from two (2) essays from They Say, I Say or multimedia, such as online articles or videos, that you’ve studied this semester. Your source citations must be in proper MLA-style format.
• You must have a Works Cited section at the end of your Talking Point. Your Works Cited section must be in proper MLA-style format.