Marginalized Groups: Letter

As members of marginalized groups, we spend a lot of our time giving voice to the issues we face as members of our groups. In order to give effective voice—meaning, that we demonstrate how we are being marginalized by mainstream society—we have to explain ourselves in a way that those who would oppose us understand. Part of the ability to do this effectively rests in the oppositions willingness (and ability) to listen to what we have to say—they have be open-minded and receptive. To encourage this outlook from the perspective audience, we are often burdened with demonstrating to them that we understand where they are coming from them, and in so doing, we can show respect for their views but also advocate for what is being done to us. To this, we have to understand the group to whom we are speaking.

Your Assignment has been designed to tackle an issue impacting a marginalized group in this way.

In a letter of roughly 1000 words, you will address a group that opposes/stands in the way of one of the groups mentioned in either the Pay Gap podcast, the Vice Trans Youth video, or the Hagedorn article (although with the article, you can mention any group represented by “Hollywood”).

The goal of this assignment is for you to provide information to this group that will help them better understand the marginalized group. This information will be pulled from the class texts/sources. Your letter will demonstrate an understanding of the marginalized group’s issues (what they need, why they are being targeted, etc.). In addition, you will also demonstrate an understanding of the group you are addressing—respecting their views while also showing how their group is hurting/hindering another group. Since the details about the opposing group maybe be scant, you will have to infer a lot about their group based on what details you are provided. So, for example, if a group is religious, you will have to draw from your basic understanding of what this means; if a group is a corporate entity, you will have to draw from your basic understanding of what is valued in that ‘culture.’

In terms of formatting, you should use a business letter format. Here’s a link with guidelines for that: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/01/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

For the party’s address, you can be creative–i.e., have a little fun.