English 375

In every society there also exist notions of difference between men and women, rich and poor, nobility and ordinary folk. Concepts of gender, class, and national difference have a profound effect on how any culture understands its own boundaries … (6)

In the introduction to Skakespeare, Race and Colonialism, Ania Loomba discusses the ways in which difference helps shape the way a culture understands itself. Using the quote above as a prompt, explore the ways cultural differences begin to define the concept of race during the 17th and 18th centuries in at least three of the texts we have read thus far (this includes the theory texts).

Please be sure to have an outline of your paper in the section provided on the class wiki by Saturday, June 3rd. The paper should be no shorter than 5-pages, type-written, double-spaced, 1″ margins, and 12 point font (Times New Roman).

The paper is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, June 6th - you can send the paper to me as an e-mail attachment or paste it the wiki (the preferred method is the latter). Please leave a comment on this post if you have any questions or concerns.