1) I am going to be writing about the human tendency to stereotype. I will describe this tendency by answering the following questions; what is a stereotype? , how is a thing stereotyped? ,what is the purpose of a stereotype? , what is the difference between a “good” and a “bad” stereotype? , why are we so dependent on stereotypes? , how accurate are stereotypes? , are stereotypes necessary for daily life? , why are stereotypes necessary? , is there any way to avoid stereotypes? , and just what is the reader supposed to do with this new perspective on stereotypes? One interesting aspect of this essay will be the fact that by describing stereotypes I am in fact stereotyping stereotypes which will subliminally prove my statement for the necessity of stereotypes.
2) I will probably start the essay with a creative nonfiction story just rife with stereotypical data. The stereotypes used will be of the offensive nature in an effort to create a sort of despising interest in the essay. I’m thinking I will describe a scene where a Chinese driver causes a massive traffic jam and the cop in charge of traffic is an ass cause he wont let me by (but cops are great when they are helping you out). The accident will happen near a Church’s Chicken restaurant where most of the customers will be black and the accident will also be near a church after a Sunday service is over and a bible thumper stereotype of some sort may be used. The Chinese driver will end up working at a dry cleaner on the same street. The Chinese driver’s car will be of the old environment gagging type leading me to believe the Chinese driver is an awful man who cares nothing for his environment or the people around him. I will describe my irritation caused by the other inconvenienced drivers around me. The car on my left will be blaring leftist political jargon and I will stereotype them as tree hugging hippies. The car to my right will be playing loud country music and I will characterize them as hicks even though I really do not have a clear idea of what a hick really is. The car behind me may be filled with Mexicans which I will immediately characterize as wet backs or Mexican Jumping Beaners (border jumping that is). I will also suddenly have the thought that perhaps all the stereotypes I just listed in my head make me a “bad” person. The rest of the essay will introduce the questions listed above in section 1) and answer these questions with examples or metaphors.
3) The larger significance of my essay is the idea that every stereotype is true and every stereotype is false. Stereotypes mean nothing (and are false) because they are not based on fact and they also mean everything (and are true) because they influence action and people believe in them.