Write a four-page essay in response to the following prompt:
How does Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again” enhance our understanding of Lynn Nottage’s play Sweat?
Select one of these four subtopics to give focus to your essay:
Critique of the American Dream
Examination of Racial and Social Injustice
Longing for Equality and Freedom
Historical Continuity
A goal of your essay is to synthesize the two texts–combine their words and ideas, topics and themes into one coherent essay with a single over-arching idea: the claim that makes your original thesis. An effective composition will give us insight into both texts.
Here are some suggestions:
Use your introduction to introduce and summarize the play. Focus your summary on the subtopic that your essay will explore. Transition to an introduction of the poem, ending the paragraph with your thesis. In your thesis, crystallize your response to the topic question with a focus on your subtopic. Summarize what Nottage’s play says/shows about your topic. For your thesis, make a claim that identifies some of the ways in which the poem enhances our understanding of the play.
Focus each body paragraph on one way in which the poem enhances our understanding of the play. Begin paragraphs with topic sentences that identify these areas of focus. Develop the body paragraphs by presenting details from the play first and then from the poem. Keep your focus on each paragraph’s topic and its relation to the larger essay topic, identified in your thesis.
Provide a close and critical reading of both texts. Do not simply summarize or generalize the texts in the body paragraphs; provide details and analyze the details.
Use your conclusion to restate your thesis and to explore the significance and implications of your argument. Why does your argument matter? Who or what does it impact? What are the implications of the play and poem’s relationship for America today?
