In his book Street Life: Poverty, Gangs, and a PhD, Victor M. Rios tells the story of his personal journey from an impoverished childhood to academic acclaim, addressing a range of topics, as he notes in the book’s preface, including “social issues like abuse, youth violence, delinquency, fatalism, opportunity, stratification, poverty, resilience, college, positive role models, healthy choices, and personal transformations.” In offering a personal account of his own journey, Rios encourages us to reflect on the link between our personal lives and our educational paths, whether those journeys are marked by inspiration or beset by adversity. He also encourages us to then look outside of ourselves and see the lives of those whose educational opportunities have suffered from being marginalized by their society due to poverty, stereotyping, and hyper-criminalization. How can we better support our marginalized youth to achieve their educational goals?
Essay Question(s)/Assignment:
You will write an essay of 6 full pages (or more) that addresses all three of the following questions. Your thesis statement will be your direct answers to these questions, so your thesis statement will be 2-4 sentences long.
According to Rios, what are some of the educational challenges experienced by youth facing adversity?
What are 1-2 additional educational challenges that Rios does not explore?
What can be done to alleviate/dismantle those challenges? (In answering this question, you can reference Rios’ own suggestions as well as your own.)
Article and Research Expectation:
This is a research-based argumentative essay. Thus, you are required to summarize, quote, paraphrase, and analyze our Unit 2 texts and outside sources within your essay as evidence for your thesis. You will use at least five (5) sources total. Here are the sources you will use in your essay:
Street Life: Poverty, Gangs, and a PhD by Victor Rios
at least two of the four Rios articles that we have gone over in class (see below for links)
at least two additional scholarly and credible sources that you will choose on your own as evidence to support your answers
Unit 2 Rios Articles (Choose at least two):
“The Hyper Criminalization of Black and Latino Male Youth in the Era of Mass Incarceration”
“Guilt by Association”
“Immigrant Targets”
“Cultural Misframing”
