For our first paper, we were asked to select a passage from one of the texts we had read that we found particularly difficult and use another text to “unlock” a new understanding of it. I selected two conflicting passages from John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (one declaring all men equal, and another justifying slavery) to de-code with the help of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story.” In the essay, I discuss how our understanding of an author’s context should help us to decipher their works and comprehend their biases, but not excuse discrimination.
In my final research paper, I analyzed the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s production Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land, and how it encourages its audience to reimagine beauty and femininity.
