Our first assignment is to be pretty straight forward. Read the essay
“Ricekeepers” by First Nation activist Winona LaDuke. In the essay, LaDuke is
making an argument in which she is linking cultural and economic production while
talking about issues attendant to colonialism.
In a page, minimum (please take more space if needed), explain how she
frames the issue. What is wild rice to her? Why is it important?
Explain why you agree or disagree with her. You might fall somewhere in the
middle. There are other perspectives on this issue that can articulated intelligently.
To do this effectively you will need to identify and adequately explain LaDuke’s
purpose.
This assignment is designed to introduce me to your writing style. I want to
see how well you can structure an essay. It should be written in the three part essay
format you all ought to be familiar with. That is, this essay should have an
introduction that includes a thesis, body paragraph(s) which support your thesis
with textual evidence and a conclusion.
This essay should use in-text citations (also known as parenthetical citations)
and should include a “works cited” page. Please use one outside source (that is a
source that is not LaDuke) in addition to the LaDuke article. Like everything that will
be submitted to the class, this essay should be in MLA format.
THIS IS THE ESSAY!!
https://orionmagazine.org/article/ricekeepers/
