Writing Prompts

Directions: Type your responses to the items below.

1		Which information in the selection was new to you or was surprising to you?
2		What, in your opinion, can be done to promote better understanding of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans by Americans who are non-Arab and/or non-Muslim? What steps can be taken to counteract prejudice against Arab Americans and Muslim Americans?
3		In your opinion, is profiling ever justified? If so, under what circumstances? If you think that it is not ever justified, explain your reasoning.

To the Web

Consult one or more of the following websites that pertain to the topic of the reading selection. Then answer the questions based on information obtained from the websites.

http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim

(You will need to type in this web address rather than click on it.)

This website selection is the entry for "Muslim" from an online encyclopedia.

4		Why has the term "Muslim" replaced "Mohamedans" and "Mohametans"?
5		According to the article, how many Muslims were there worldwide in 2002? List the three countries with the largest Muslim populations for that year.

http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=343

This is the website for Tolerance.org, a web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. This selection is entitled, "New Test Measures Hidden Bias Against Arab Muslims." It reports the results of this test (which is also available online at this website.)

6		What percentage of those who took Tolerance.org's Arab Muslims hidden bias test showed some degree of unconscious or automatic negative reaction toward Arab Muslims? Was that a higher or a lower percentage than those who admitted to having a conscious bias? Why do you think there was a discrepancy?

http://www.tolerance.org/campus/index.jsp

This article is from the same website. It is entitled, "10 Ways to Fight Hate on Campus."

7		According to the article, who can have the greatest impact on reducing hate crimes, and bias-driven slurs and images in colleges and universities?
8		Which of the ten ways to fight hate on campus would you be willing to do? If you would not be willing to do any of them, explain why you would be unwilling.