Composition

The article “Losing Whiteness When You Lose Your Father” by Corina Zappia is structured in five parts.

In the first part (ll. 1-28), Zappia talks about her mixed ethnicity and how it confuses others. She talks about looking Asian and about her father’s Italian ancestry. Zappia ends the first part with some thoughts on how society looks at people of mixed ethnicity. In the following example, she talks about a black and Asian model who was judged because of her mixed race:

You think of an article you once read about the black and Asian model Kimora Lee Simmons. ‘In negotiations for TV shows and movies,’ the New York Magazine reporter wrote, ‘race remains an issue: Is Kimora Lee Simmons black enough?’ In your case, you wonder: How real is real enough? (ll. 26-28)

In the ...