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Dreams from My Father

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Dreams from My Father
Earl B. King II
Eng-002-01
November 30th, 2010
Obama Outline

Paragraph 1- introduction
-discuss => W.E.B. Du Bois/ double consciousness
-discuss=> Obama/self-identity
-thesis=> Barack Obama contributes to the discussion, by taking the reader on a journey through his own search for racial identity.

Paragraph 2 -Obamas beginning -upbringing/parents/grandparents
-How did this affect him? Why is this relevant to the contribution to the discussion of racial identity?

Paragraph 3 -meeting other black kids/and gaining black friends -how that helped him. -what did he learned about his identity? -how does this contribute to the discussion of racial identity?

Paragraph 4 -meeting another person of mixed race (Joyce). -how he judged her conversation about her racial identity? -why is this relevant to him? -overall contribution to discussion on racial identity.

Paragraph 5- conclusion -why is racial identity is such a big deal in America? -how does it affects individuals? -general view of the conversation about racial identity in the US.

Essay In the United States individuals of multi-racial backgrounds feel like they are forced to choose only one part of the racial identity to define themselves. Over the years, many important figures that have lived in the United States have spoken on this issue. One of the most relevant people, who have spoken on this, is W.E.B. Du Bois. He developed a theory called ‘Double Consciousness.’ This theory states that as a black person you have a dual identity; one identity that is American and the other identity that is black. This theory relates perfectly the theme of racial identity in Barack Obama’s book, Dreams from my Father. In this book, Obama discusses racial identity as a means to find yourself in the United States. He does this by allowing the reader to follow his journey through life, and discussing the experiences that caused him to question his identity because of the


Cited: Obama Barack. Dreams from my Father 1995. Three Rivers Press: NY,NY, 2004.
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