Compare what the modern day version of Ma, Katrina, suffers as well in the form of social immobility.

Overview:

Our last Essay will compare the Documentary, Paycheck to Paycheck: (Katrina), and our novel, All Souls, with a focus on social immobility. One of the big questions that most students ask during discussion is why didn’t Ma get the kids out sooner. Michael MacDonald answered this question when he lectured on campus that the novel has two themes: activism and social immobility. Your essay will look at why Ma stays trapped in Southie and its connection with social immobility; you will then compare what the modern day version of Ma, Katrina, suffers as well in the form of social immobility. You may only use chapters 5-11 for your evidence from the memoir.

Essay Outline:

I. For the introduction: You may provide a quick summary of the novel and what the family experiences. Introduce the character of Ma and the difficulties she faces raising her kids in the projects of South Boston. Make sure to include the concept that it is difficult for her to get out. This should be written in your own words. Then add in the story of Katrina and how she also cannot get out of poverty. Follow with the idea of single parents and the challenges they face to advance up the socio-economic strata.

FYI: Copying from any review of either primary source is NOT permitted.

II. Next make your argumentative claim about the barriers to social advancement and the causes and the effects on the victims of social immobility (this is the theme of the novel), providing a provocative angle in your predicate clause in which the audience now sees this through this lens. IMPORTANT: Find psychology or sociology journals that explain the concept of social immobility–provide a good working definition to build your case. No Wikipedia; no dictionary. Work the definition into your reasoning rather than use an according to source phrase.

III. Then argue reasons why and where Ma and Katrina get trapped. Look at why the Mac Donalds stay in this violent , poverty-stricken neighborhood, comparing with the living situations of current day Katrina. Use examples from both stories (actual events and lines/dialogue) to support your argument that show the cycle of social immobility. This is the major body of the essay. Events should be many and developed fully in terms of how they illustrate the cycle of poverty.

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