So here's your assignment. Select one of the essays written for the first essay assignment (you may choose your own, if you'd like), or select one of the following essays from our course pack: Angelou, Malcolm X, or Rondinone; you may also, if you'd prefer, select an extended passage from either the Kidder book or the Kozol book. Your task will be to re-examine whichever essay or book passage you select from the perspective of one of the following theorists from our reading list: Anyon, Clinchy, et al., Freire, Hirsch, hooks, or Sadker & Sadker. For example, if you selected a classmate's essay about her experiences as a black female student and you were interested in bell hooks' perspective on education, you might write an analysis of that classmate's essay using bell hooks' ideas about race and class and education. How would we make sense of the essay from hooks' perspective? What might we say about your classmate's experiences from hooks' perspective? What conclusions can we draw? Or you might select one of the chapters from Jonathan Kozol's book or Tracy Kidder's book and analyze it from the perspective that Freire lays out in his essay. What might we say, for instance, about how Chris Zajac and her school dealt with Clarence if we examined that episode using Freire's about the banking concept of education? Or you might select the essay by Peter Rondinone and analyze it from Anyon's perspective on the relationships between schools and class.

Whichever essay or book passage you choose, the point is to try to examine it carefully using the ideas of one of the theorists we've discussed and to try to see what such an examination might tell us about the ways in which we think and talk about education.

Keep a few things in mind as you put your essay together:

• First, be sure you understand the ideas of the theorist you select. If, for example, you select Freire as the theorist you want to use, be sure you understand what he means by terms like "conscientization" and becoming "fully human." Similarly, if you're working with Hirsch, be clear about what he means when he talks about "cultural literacy" and why he sees a need for reform in our schools. Be confident that you have a good sense of your theorist's arguments.

• Second, it will be necessary to summarize your theorist's perspective and arguments in your essay. For example, if you're using bell hooks, you will want to explain her ideas about race and class in your essay and how you will be using them.

• Third, be sure to refer to specific passages (quoting where appropriate) from your theorist's essay.

• Finally, quote also from appropriate passages in the essay or book passage that you're examining.

This essay should be no less than 1200 words.

One more point: this is not an easy assignment. It requires you to understand and apply some difficult theoretical ideas and to analyze a story focused on education. And it requires that you do all that in a coherent, organized, and focused way. Keep in mind that the assignment may be a challenge, and use your opportunities for feedback and revision fully to help you make your esay an effective one.

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