Review what you have learned in class and scour your notes for ideas for a thesis. Decide on the type of topics you are interested in and make sure the scope is narrow enough for you to write an essay. Immigrant-related topics might include the daily hassles immigrants face, stereotyping or perhaps reasons for a change in state or national immigration policy.
Decide on the types of categories you want to include in your paper. Perhaps if the essay is about stereotyping, you would classify your subject by region, or where the immigrants come from. Make a list of the categories you wish to include and try not to leave any out. For a paper such as this, consider focusing on the major immigrant populations in your area to help you maintain your focus.
Create a detailed outline for your essay. Under each category, list the elements you plan to discuss. This is the division aspect where you are breaking down each of your categories into separate parts. If the essay is about immigrant hassles, for example, you might break down a category like government barriers into sections like applying for citizenship, registration and passing government-issued tests in English.
List an example you plan to use for each part of every category. Look through other media such as newspapers, autobiographies, interviews, etc. to show instances of what you are talking about. For example, if your essay is about how immigrants face unflattering stereotypes, you could cite the episode of "Chico and the Man" where Ed tells Chico he attracts flies. This is an example of a type of stereotype being used to put down the Hispanic population.
Review your outline and make sure the parts of the different categories do not overlap. If they do, revise the outline and look for other examples or perhaps replace one category that is very similar to another. A good way to see this might be to put your outline into a diagram. If a stereotype, for example, obviously spans two groups, consider replacing it with two different ones that are more specific to a certain group of people.
Begin you paper with an introduction that states your topic, lists your categories and follows with your thesis. For example, if your essay topic is immigrant stereotypes, you would introduce this and then finish the paragraph with your thesis, which should answer the question, "so what?" Perhaps the "so what" in this case is that stereotypes demoralize the immigrants, make it harder for them to get work or even hurt the concept of the American dream. Whatever your thesis, make sure your examples and discussion of the parts reflect it.
Write the rest of your paper. Make sure that the order you discuss your categories in matches the order listed in your introduction to make your paper more streamlined. In the conclusion, restate your topic and then wrap up the essay with an interpretation, prediction or solution. Make sure this wrap-up ties in with your main idea and is related.