After reading "Many Ways to Be a Girl, But Only One Way to Be a Boy," and "Like Tomboys, and Hate Girlie Girls? That's Sexist,"  — What is your reaction to the findings of the survey mentioned by Miller in "Many Ways to Be a Girl, But Only One Way to Be a Boy" ? Do you or people  you know share these attitudes about gender? — Do you personally feel constricted by gender norms — the ways men and women are expected to look, act and be? If so, how and why? If not, why not? — Where do you think children primarily get messages about how girls and boys should behave? From friends, family, social media, teachers, coaches, classmates, teammates or others? Do you feel like  people around you are accepting of those who don’t adhere to traditional gender norms? — Do you feel that gender equality exists in your school and community? Why or why not? — What traits do you value most in yourself? How do these compare to what society values most in your gender? How does this make you feel?

Purpose of Essay: This next essay will ask you to respond to a single written text. We will be writing this time, however, for an academic audience—best imagined, perhaps, as your professors and other college-educated people—who have certain expectations about what makes a “reasonable” response to a written text. There are many ways to respond to a text (see handout for help), but academic writing values certain kinds of responses that are both respectful of a text’s author and stay “true” to the points the author is making. As a result, this essay will ask you to write a balanced essay that fairly summarizes and discusses the published essay, while offering your own response to the essay’s ideas. That said, however, you will also need to choose a focus for your own response that may not (and probably should not) “cover” every point the author makes. Imagine this essay, then, as a response to an essay for an academic audience who is interested in what YOU think about the author’s ideas. TWO related purposes are involved in writing a summary-response essay: (1) to demonstrate your understanding of the reading selection; (2) to express your informed opinions about HOW and WHY the author wrote the essay. With all this background information in mind, you will write a summary-analysis-response essay in reaction to one of the following essays from Patterns: Amy Tan—“Mother Tongue” Brent Staples—“Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Ability to Alter Public Space” Deborah Tannen–”Sex, Lies, and Conversation”Follow the steps: the close/active reading as you read with PURPOSE of understanding the author's point and making claims about HOW and WHY the author wrote the essay. Then reread your essay/notes and write a FOCUSED SUMMARY of the essay and WORKING ANALYTICAL THESIS, then look for EVIDENCE to support. Next FREEWRITE about your chosen evidence, then WRITE a TOPIC SENTENCE. Remember to consider this essay to be more “academic” in tone; -- i.e. you are writing primarily for your fellow writers in class and your professor. • Include relevant quotations AND INTRODUCE those quotations. • MLA In-text Citations and MLA Work Cited entry. Formatting Requirements: Your essay should be at least three (3) pages but no longer than five (5) pages -- double-spaced and word-processed -- with 1.0 margins, and a 12-point “normal” font (Times New Roman). No title page is needed; put your name, the course, my name, and the date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. No separate Works Cited Page Needed; put the citation information at the bottom of your last page. Must be cited in MLA using the Patterns text.

(Please refer to the attachment for details）If you are not a person from the U.S.interview, in person or via social media, a person from the United States and, in person or via social media, a person from another country. The person that is not from the U.S. should not be from the same continent as you.For example, a person from China should not interview a person from Korea, but rather a person from a South American country or a person from an African country or a person from Europe or a person from the Middle East.Persons from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or the Middle East are not considered to be part of East Asia.