1. Embedded Assessment 1— Writing About My Cultural Identity Topic: Your assignment is to write reflective essay about your cultural identity. A reflective essay is an essay in which the writer examines his or her experiences in life. The writer then writes about those experiences, exploring how s/he has changed, developed or grown from them. Due Date: Wednesday, 1/27 at 12:00 a.m. You will submit the assignment to Turnitin.com. Format: MLA – Times New Roman, 12 point font – Double spaced – 1 inch margins (do not adjust margins) – Heading with your name, my name, class, date, word count – Header with your name and page number Word Count: 500-600 words Scoring: I will use the Rubric we discussed in class. I will also take off points for incorrect formatting or papers that do not meet word count.

2. Why MLA? MLA style for documentation is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on language and literature. Generally simpler and more concise than other styles, MLA style features brief parenthetical citations in the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works cited that appears at the end of the work. Open a Word Document. Change the font to Times New Roman, 12 point font. Click on the spacing button, and select 2.0. Type your first and last name (make sure to capitalize) and hit enter. Type my name (Ms. Brasino) and hit enter. Type the class name (English II) and hit enter. Type the date (September 15, 2015) and hit enter. Hit ctrl +e to center the cursor. Type the title of your essay (example: Cultural Identity Essay). Hit enter. Hit ctrl + l to bring the cursor back to the left. Hit tab. This is where your essay will begin. Save your document and email it to yourself to use for later. Create an MLA Formatted Document

3. Reflective Essay Outline Introduction – Hook—give a quick preview of the most exciting part of the story – Thesis Statement—without giving too much away, write how this experience influenced you. Body Paragraph – Description of a cultural conflict (internal or external). Body Paragraph – The effect the conflict had on you. Body Paragraph – How the conflict shaped your cultural identity Conclusion – Summary of the experience – Overall impact/lesson learned