Critical Reflection Paper: For this assignment, you will be asked to write a 4-5
page, double-spaced essay that asks you to exercise both reflective and critical
thinking. You will be asked to write about two memorable and in some way(s)
connected experiences in your life that, at the time or perhaps not until now,
impacted how you saw yourself in relation to two aspect(s) of your identity, one
of which must be your gender (for gender, you may focus on your gender
identity, your gender assignment, and/or your gender roles). Other aspects of
your identity may include: your social class, your sexuality, your race and/or
ethnicity, your body image. You will need to explore the intersections between
these aspects of your identity (for example, gender identity and sexuality) and to
reflect on your experience(s) from your newly-informed WGST perspective.
As part of the critical thinking component of the assignment, you will be asked
to connect your experience to two “texts” from the course list on D2L, one
of which must be a reading. You will be required to incorporate two concepts,
one from each “text”, that helped you to reframe/conceptualize your
experience(s). You will need to be as specific as possible in your choice of
concepts, and be able to identify how the writers/speakers define and use such
concepts as racism, sexism, classism, sizeism, ableism, heteronormativity,
gender roles, gender identity, and gender stratification, for example. Be sure that
you fully integrate the concepts from the texts into your discussion and explain
the connections to your experience(s) clearly. You are not expected to provide an
analysis of the texts in this paper, but you are expected to understand how the
writer/speaker explores and defines the concepts. Your paper should have an
introduction (which lays out your experience(s) in brief and perhaps mentions the
connection to the two concepts from the readings), unified body paragraphs with
a clear focus, and a conclusion (in which you provide an overall summary and
feminist-informed conceptualization of your experience(s). You will need to
include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper and to include in-text
citations if you quote from the texts. You may use APA or MLA format. A word of
caution: be sparing in your use of quotations; I want to see that you can explain
the concepts in your own words and integrate them meaningfully into your
discussion.
*I will be respectful of your life experience(s), and your paper will be kept in the
strictest confidence. Please note that you are asked to provide only details of
your experience(s) that you feel comfortable sharing.
Criteria for Evaluation
–level of detail
–depth of self-reflection and critical thinking
–relevant and clear use and understanding of the two concepts from the texts
–clear use of your two identity categories (one of which must be gender)
–clarity of expression
–unified paragraphs focusing on a central organizing idea
–organization of sentences within and between paragraphs
