ESSAY #2 - Evaluative Response of an Essay in Between Worlds
ENG 1A
Please consult your Between Worlds textbook section on Evaluative Response essays pp.
391-395 for this essay. You will want to refer to and evaluate one of the essays listed
below:
"The Myth of the Latin Woman” (118)
*w An Identity Reduced to a Burka” (113)
"Living in Two Worlds” (99)
Terra Firma" (103)
The Good Daughter” (8)
You can and should use examples from essays we have read in the textbook to either
concur or refute all or part the author's thesis in the main essay you are writing about.
Draft a 3-5 page typed, MLA format essay. This means 3 full pages, minimum. The last
sentence in your introduction should be a clear, focused thesis claim that addresses your
topic. (Please note that the student sample in the text has a thesis at the end of a two-
paragraph introduction). Each body paragraph should begin with a clear, focused topic
sentence that supports your thesis claim.
You will need to integrate quotes from at least two essays that we have read in
Between Worlds to support your claims. These quotes will need to be part of a quote
cupcakes. You will need to look at your handout on quote cupcakes. You should
also cite any outside sources used in your essay.
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NOTE: You are not summarizing the essay. Your introduction will have a brief
summary of the events of the essay. Your job is to analyze the author's points and
find evidence in other essays we have read this semester and that supports or refutes
these points.
aways
General Essay Guidelines
An introductory paragraph that begins with an interesting hook or attention-
getter. Your will need to introduce the topic and end the introduction with a
clearly stated thesis. Your introduction should also include the title and
author of the essay you are evaluating, but do not make this the first
sentence of the essay.
MLA format (this includes double spacing, punctuation, formally including
quotes, a works cited page, .
See p
395
Introduction and thesis statement that uses one of the introduction strategies
shown in your book on pp. 345-349 (typed + printed) Due Mon., March 18th
Full rough draft with Work Cited page (typed + printed) Due Wed., March 20th
Take rough draft to Writing Center/LRC -
Final Copy (printed and uploaded to Turnitin.com)- Mon., March 25th
114 Chapter 3 • Between Cultures
with
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of articles on women's rights, women's sexuality, and female circumcision. She was bom
A practicing gynecologist as well as a writer, Laila Al-Marayati (b. 1962) is the author
in the United States to a Palestinian father and a mother of French, German, and Native
American heritage. The following article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times on
January 20, 2002, and was written because of the authors' growing frustration with the
the
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A few years ago, someone from the Feminist Majority Foundation called
the Muslim Women's League to ask if she could "borrow a burka" for a
shoot the organization was doing to draw attention to the plight of women in
Afghanistan under the Taliban. When we told her that we didn't have one
,
and that none of our Afghan friends did either, she expressed surprise, as if
she'd assumed that all Muslim women keep burkas in their closets in case Q
militant Islamist comes to dinner. She didn't seem to understand that her
assumption was the equivalent of assuming that every Latino has a Mexican
sombrero in their closet.
We don't mean to make light of the suffering of our sisters in Afghanistan,
but the burka was—and is not their major focus of concern. Their priorities
are more basic, like feeding their children, becoming literate and living free
from violence. Nevertheless, recent articles in the Western media suggest the
burka means everything to Muslim women, because they routinely express
bewilderment at the fact that all Afghan women didn't cast off their burkas
when the Taliban was defeated. The Western press' obsession with the dress
of Muslim women is not surprising, however, since the press tends to view
Muslims, in general, simplistically.
Headlines in the mainstream media have reduced Muslim female iden-
tity to an article of clothing—“the veil.” One is hard-pressed to find an ar-
ticle, book or film about women in Islam that doesn't have "veil” in the title:
"Behind the Veil," "Beyond the Veil,” “At the Drop of a Veil" and more. The
use of the term borders on the absurd: Perhaps next will come "What Coloris
Your Veil?” or “Rebel Without a Veil" or "Whose Veil Is It, Anyway?"
The word “veil" does not even have a universal meaning. In some cul-
tures, it refers to a face-covering known as a niqab; in others, to a simple
head scarf, known as hijab. Other manifestations of “the veil" include all-
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encompassing outer garments like the ankle-length abaya from the Persian
Like the differences in our clothing from one region to another, Muslim
women are diverse. Stereotypical assumptions about Muslim women are as
inaccurate as the assumption that all American women are personified by
the bikini-clad cast of "Baywatch." Anyone who has spent time interacting
5
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below:
“The Myth of the Latin Woman" (118)
An Identity Reduced to a Burka” (113)
Living in Two Worlds” (99)
Terra Firma" (103)
Issa and Al-Marayati • An Identity Reduced to a Burka 115
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with Muslims knows that, despite numerous obstacles, Muslim women
are active, assertive and engaged in society. In Qatar, women make up
the majority of graduate-school students. The Iranian parliament has more
women members than the U.S. Senate. Throughout the world, many Muslim
women are educated and professionally trained; they participate in public
debates, are often catalysts for reform and champions for their own rights. At
the same time, there is no denying that in many Muslim countries, dress has
been used as a tool to wield power over women.
What doesn't penetrate Western consciousness, however, is that forced
uncovering is also a tool of oppression. During the reign of Shah Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi in Iran, wearing the veil was prohibited. As an expression of
their opposition to his repressive regime, women who supported the 1979 Is-
lamic Revolution marched in the street clothed in chadors. Many of them did
not expect to have this “dress code” institutionalized by those who led the
revolution and then took power in the new government.
In Turkey, the secular regime considers the head scarf a symbol of extremist
elements that want to overthrow the government. Accordingly, women who
wear any type of head-covering are banned from public office, government
jobs and academia, including graduate school. Turkish women who believe
the head-covering is a religious obligation are unfairly forced to give up
public life or opportunities for higher education and career advancement.
Dress should not bar Muslim women from exercising their Islam-
guaranteed rights, like the right to be educated, to earn a living, and to move
about safely in society. Unfortunately, some governments impose a strict
dress code along with other restrictions, like limiting education for women,
to appear “authentically Islamic." Such laws, in fact, are inconsistent with
Islam. Nevertheless, these associations lead to the general perception that
“behind the veil” lurk other, more insidious examples of the repression of
women, and that wearing the veil somehow causes the social ills that plague
Muslim women around the world.
Many Muslim men and women alike are subjugated by despotic,
dictatorial regimes. Their lot in life is worsened by extreme poverty and
illiteracy, two conditions that are not caused by Islam but are sometimes
exploited in the name of religion. Helping Muslim women overcome their
misery is a major task. The reconstruction of Muslim Afghanistan will be
a test case for the Afghan people and for the international community
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at fault is a misguided, narrow interpretation of Islam designed to serve a
rigid patriarchal system.
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90
116 Chapter 3 . Between Cultures
10
Traditional Muslim populations will be more receptive to change that is
based on Islamic principles of justice, as expressed in the Koran, than they will
be to change that abandons religion altogether or confines it to private life.
Muslim scholars and leaders who emphasize Islamic principles that support
women's rights to education, health care, marriage and divorce, equal pay
for equal work and participation in public life could fill the vacuum now
occupied by those who impose a vision of Islam that infringes on the rights of
women.
Given the opportunity, Muslim women, like women everywhere, will be
come educated, pursue careers, strive to do what is best for their families
and contribute positively according to their abilities. How they dress is ir-
relevant. It should be obvious that the critical element Muslim women need
is freedom, especially the freedom to make choices that enable them to be
independent agents of positive change. Choosing to dress modestly, includ-
ing wearing a head scarf, should be as respected as choosing not to cover.
Accusations that modestly dressed Muslim women are caving in to male-
dominated understandings of Islam neglect the reality that most Muslim
women who cover by choice do so out of subservience to God, not to any
human being.
The worth of a woman-any woman-should not be determined by the
length of her skirt, but by the dedication, knowledge and skills she brings to
the task at hand.
12
THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT
does the anecdote embody the authors' point of view?
1. What is the authors' strategy in opening their essay with a narrative? How
2. What do you infer is the authors' thesis? Despite the
claim, the authors' tone is humorous throughout. W
usness of their
eir strategy in
employing humor? What is their aim?
3. What did you learn about the "veil" in d:frent M
differences in styles and purpose overin
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An Identity Reduced to a Burka O
Semeen Issa and Laila Al-Marayati
Born in Tanzania in 1962, Semeen Issa is a teacher and also the president of the Muslim
Women's League. She came to the United States in 1970 and graduated with both
undergraduate and graduate degrees in education from the University of Southern
California. Issa believes that "it is important in this country of great diversity that we take
advantage of what others have to offer and that we stop judging people by how they look.”
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