San Diego State University Hispanic Community Discussion

Directions:
The requirements for the second project of this course ask that you think about the perspectives
of a specific community and then produce a persuasive text. As such, you will be
writing a persuasive letter on behalf of a community you belong to.

To get you started on this, I’d first like you to think about community—what does this word
mean to you? To which communities do you feel you belong? We usually define community as a
group of individuals with common interests or beliefs and/or collective goals. Communities can
form based on shared identities, like race, culture, religion, or can be established based on a
common set of interests—examples might include a tribal nation, an online gaming community,
for instance, or the Left–Handers Club (a real club in high schools that petitions for left–handed
scissors and other accessible materials).

You will need to make an argument on behalf of your community, whatever it may
be, so the first step is identifying a community to which you feel you belong. For this homework
assignment, I’d like you to do some reflective work, thinking about your various identities and
interests, to identify the community of you’d like to argue on behalf of for this project.
I’d like you to reflect on the following questions:
Length: 2 pages

• What are some of the ways that you identify? For this, you could think generally about
your race, your gender, your class, your religion, your culture, etc. or any other set of
practices, belief systems, or interests that play a role in how you navigate the world
around you.
• Pick one of these characteristics that you’d like to focus on for this project and describe
the community to which you belong because of this identity. What are some of the
characteristics of this community? What are some of the unifying factors? Who are the
key figures? In what ways does the community thrive? What are some of its struggles or
challenges?
• What goals does this community aspire to accomplish?
• How do you feel that you relate to or fit into this community?
• What are some arguments you might want to make on behalf of this community in your
letter?