Essay Analysis
Write an essay about Kindred and any other book, poem, TV show, song, or
movie of your choice. You must focus about half on each.
Prompt: Kindred and your chosen other text are both about the past, the present, and the future–or the old
and the new. How do they similarly or differently interpret, value, criticize, or hold onto the past? What are
the lessons that the two teach us about memory, history, women, and/or slavery (or any other important
topic)?
Organization: You may organize the paper how you please. I recommend two pages double spaced (at
least) or around four paragraphs total. Write freely but write aiming for clarity. Try to leave some time to edit
the essay before submitting.
Your body paragraphs should answer the prompt by discussing similarities and differences in the movie and
book. Remember to highlight a few significant similarities between the two. For example:
Too broad: Slavery
Just right: Stories of journeys and time travel (from past to future and future to past)
Just right: Both first-person narrators seem to write from the future.
Finally, your conclusion should address why you think it’s important to read or watch art about the history of
U.S. slavery. Why is the fictional (not beholden to reality) art (whether or a poem, a novel, or a movie)
important to read, instead of or in addition to more strict history? Try to include the phrase “Like Kindred
shows us…” or “Like [your other text] shows us…” to help make your point.
