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Thesis Statement and Intro:
In "Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer" by Murphy Paul, she argues that reading fiction not only helps us become smarter, but also learn to be more empathetic and hone in our ability to understand others better. More specifically, Paul asserts that those who read more fiction are "able to to understand other people, emphasize with them, and view the world from their perspective." In other words, from reading literature, we are able to learn how to become kinder, more thoughtful human beings and how to better connect with and understand those around us. By reading multicultural literature, we learn just that. Learning about those who are different from ourselves and understanding their struggles helps us to become more empathetic, understanding, and tolerant of those different from us. Through reading "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros and "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston, I am able to better understand the double identity that many minorities in the United States face and in turn I am able to better understand and empathize with those who have a story different from my own.

The House on Mango Street:
-Esperanza's struggle with finding her place within her community as a Chicana woman. She wants to break away from the traditional role that society has for women.
-Struggles with her double identity, learning to come to terms with the shame she feels about her identity and where she grew up

The Woman Warrior:
-Kingston learns from and struggles with her double identity, her Chinese and American sides
-Has trouble finding where she belongs as a woman in her society; her Chinese side tells her one thing and her American sides tells her another
-"I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes"pg. 29
-"I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes"pg. 29

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In "Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer" by Murphy Paul, she argues that reading fiction not only become smarter, but also learn to be more empathetic and hone in their ability to understand others better. More specifically, Paul asserts that those who read more fiction are "able to to understand other people, emphasize with them, and view the world from their perspective." In other words, from reading literature, we are able to learn how to be better and kinder human beings. Paul explains that fiction teaches us as children how to better connect with and understand those around us.

In "Should Literature Be Useful?" by Lee Siegel, he argues that instead of constantly worrying about being idle and focusing on reading publications that give more concrete results, society should place more attention on reading fiction. Siegel believes that "fiction's properties are countless and unquantifiable." In other words, fiction gives us more than we will ever know. Reading makes us become more empathetic and kinder, but also allows us to take a step back and relax in the idleness that fiction brings.

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"I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me." pg. 3
"A matter of the construction of the inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality." pg. 3
"Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses." Pg. 16
These quotes all touch on the idea of invisibility throughout the novel, which helps to explain the struggle with double identity and finding ones place in their community.

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Invisible Man helps to show the struggles of those who are living as a minority in the United States. Ralph Ellison wrote his book as an allegory. Although the book follows an African American man, it is meant to apply to anyone and everyone living with the same struggles. In this way, everyone can see a part of themselves within the main character, who is purposely left unnamed.

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"Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction. It was as though some mysterious all-knowing  master had given each one a cloak of ugliness to wear, and they had accepted it without question."pg. 39
"He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see."pg. 48(ties into themes from the Invisible Man)
"The thing to fear was the thing that made her beautiful, and not us."pg. 74
"Physical beauty. Probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought."pg. 122
All of these quotes mention the idea of physical beauty equaling one's worth and how destructive it can be for young girls, especially young African American girls.

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"I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to, But this isn't it." pg. 5
"I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees." pg. 11
"All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight." pg. 28
"Like it or not you are Mango Street, and you'll come back too." pg. 107
Those quotes are all moments where Esperanza is struggling with her identity and where she feels shame because of it.

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"I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes"pg. 29
"I push the deformed into my dreams, which are in Chinese, the language of impossible stories."pg. 87
"It translated well."pg. 209
All of these quotes have to do with the struggle that Kingston faces within herself over her double identity."

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The Bluest Eye helps to show the story of young African American girls. However, some of what Toni Morrison touches on throughout the novel applies to all women. In this instance, it is the unrealistic beauty standards that the media forces on women. This is particularly harmful to African American girls because the standard of beauty is white.

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The Woman Warrior showcases the challenge of living within two different cultures. The whole book is about Kingston coming to terms with her double identity and learning to accept both parts of herself. Throughout the book, Kingston successfully blends together Western and Eastern cultures, which helps guide the novel into becoming a story that differs from the single American story.

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The House on Mango Street helps to shine a light on the many stories that make up the Chicano community in America. Cisneros breaks down the stereotypes that many people have by showing the reasoning behind them. She also highlights the struggles they face because of the fact that they are a minority. Most importantly, the book also shows how women are treated the worst, being a minority within a minority. However, through Esperanza, the book shows that women can overcome the traditional place for them in society,

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-double identity as an African American man
-the double identity that all minorities face
-feeling out of place?

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-the struggle of being a young African American girl
-the struggle that women have with they unrealistic beauty standards set by the media

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-struggle with double identity
-trying to find a place within the Chinese American community and the American community
-struggling with her place in society as a women(the two parts of herself telling her different things)

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-the struggle of women within the Chicano community
-the strugle of women finding their place within the outlying community
-finding the balance between both communities, the struggles with double identity
-the traditional role of women in society

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The Bluest Eye is breaking the stereotype of young African American women and also women in general.

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Kingston is breaking the stereotype and single story of immigrant families from China living in the United States.

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This novel responds to the single story of the Latina woman, showing that they can be more than society believes they can be.

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Ellison is responding to the single story of African Americans living in the United States.