Breakthrough Writer

1A Has Two More Quizzes : November 23 and December 2

Two more quizzes to go. I may or may not post the actual quizzes, but the dates are for sure.

Refutation of Alfie Kohn: A Research Link for 1A Students, Essay #4 Option

Here's a refutation of Alfie Kohn, his views against grading and homework. 

Be Specific by Giving Context to Your Essay Topic: The Metrosexual Thanksgiving

For metrosexuals, Thanksgiving is a necessary evil—an obsolete tradition rooted in revisionist history and one that asks us to indulge in backward eating habits. 

Piling an incoherent amalgam of food slop on a plate and eating until one is debilitated like a slimy troglodyte is definitely anti-metro. But Thanksgiving is also a time for metros and their like-minded friends to gather and enjoy a sense of “shared experience,” a favorite term for metros. 

To make Thanksgiving cool, metrosexuals avoid turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and other ingredients that constitute the “eating clichés of the Bros” and demonstrate that Dudes are shackled to close-minded provincialism. 

A more open-minded, cosmopolitan metrosexual Thanksgiving feast might feature home-made sushi, Okinawan purple sweet potatoes, miso collard greens and Ichigo Daifuku sweet cakes. 

Faring international food at the metro's Thanksgiving table is conclusive evidence that the metrosexual is enlightened enough to see the folly of the traditional Thanksgiving, but warm-hearted and magnanimous enough to seize any opportunity to embrace a time when family and friends bond and get together. 

1A Students: McMahon Won't be in His Office Until 3:30 on Monday, November 16

Dear 1A Students,

Many of you like to come early to turn in your essays in my office, which is something I always encourage. However, on Monday, November 16th, I have to attend urgent business between 2:30-3:30 and won't be in my office until 3:32 or so. Sorry for the inconvenience.

1C Students, Let's Put All Your Essay #3 Options on One Page!

First 5 Options with Sample Thesis Statements: 

Reading the Signs on Page 456: #2, #3, #4

Reading the Signs on Page 464: #2, #4

Sample Thesis for 456 #1:

To denigrate The Sims for allegedly reinforcing traditional gender roles fails to see the point, namely, that women are drawn to the nurturing components of a surrogate family. This nurturing is evident by _________________________, ____________________, __________________, and _________________________.

456 #3

Arguing whether or not these simulated life games are healthy is not the point. Of course, addiction is not healthy. The real argument should be if there is something worthwhile to be gained from acquiring one of these life games as a hobby. Clearly, these life games when used in moderation are both helpful and educational evidenced by ___________________, ______________________, ____________________, and _________________________.

456 #4:

World of Warcraft encouraged the most toxic male attributes while The Sims stimulates benevolence and interpersonal skills.

464 #2

Against EverQuest:

Some comfort themselves with the idea that EverQuest is a meritocracy. But this meritocracy is compromised by _____________, _____________, __________________, and ____________________.

 

In favor of EverQuest:

With EverQuest we learn how to live in a society built upon a meritocracy evidenced by _____________________, ____________________, _______________________, and ____________________________.

 

The success of the EverQuest and even its addictive nature can be analyzed through the ideas laid out in 464 #4:

Laurence Shames’s “The More Factor” (86). EverQuest exploits the insatiable desire for “more” in several ways, not the least of which are ___________________, ___________________, _____________________, and ____________________________.

Groupthink Option:

In one page, summarize "South Park and the Open Society." Then in another page, define the termgroupthink and give an example ofgroupthink from your personal experience. For your final three pages, analyze the way groupthinkcompromised the quality of a project in the news or from your personal experience.

Convergence Culture Option:

Write a research paper that analyzes the forces in convergence culture that have challenged newspapers, magazines and print media as a whole. Is print media doomed to become obsolete? Can it reinvent itself in the face of convergence culture?

Teen Movie Option

 In 2 pages, show how a mediocre film generates the stereotypes discussed in Denby’s essay. Here's a partial list: Mean Girls, Super Bad (?), Clueless, Breakfast Club, Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, Not Another Teen Movie, Some Kind of Wonderful, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, John Tucker Must Die, Bring It On, A Cinderella Story, She's the Man, Cruel Intentions.

Then in 3 pages, analyze the fully-realized characters who defy such stereotypes in one of these 3 excellent movies: Election, American Beauty, or Ghost World.

 Thesis sample structure: The film transcends stereotypes by featuring characters who provide complexity and contradictions evidenced by _________________, ___________________, ____________________, and ____________________________. 

Another Option

In a page, summarize "South Park and the Open Society." Then in two pages choose a target of South Park’s satire and analyze why the show was justified in skewering this target. Finally, in a page use research to show how various targets attempted to censor the TV show.

Another Option:

Using the idea of hyper-irony, analyze an episode of South Park, 30 Rock, or another current TV show. Your thesis will show the different ways the episode implements the idea of hyper-irony. In your first page, you’ll define hyper-irony, as it’s laid out in Matheson’s essay. In your second page, you’ll use a personal anecdote to show you understand how to apply hyper-irony to your own life (as I did with the cell phone birthday photograph story). Your thesis will begin on your third page. So again, this is a “2 plus 3” format. 

Another Option:

Summarize Warren St. John’s definition of a metrosexual and McMahon’s definition of a Dude. Then choose a metrosexual and Dude you know and profile them in a contrast essay.

Another Option: In a page summarize "South Park and the Open Society." Then in another page, summarize the film Juno. Then in 3 pages, argue that Juno, likeSouth Park, contributes to the open society evidenced by _____________, ______________, ____________, and ________________. 

Consider that Juno defies political extremes on both sides of the abortion debate. 

Consider these research links:

Elizabeth Nolan Brown

Juno, a Postmodern Tale

Juno and the Culture Wars

 

1A Fall Students: Let's Put All Your Essay #3 Options on One Post!

One. Argue for or against the effectiveness of baby genius products.

Weak Thesis:

 

Alissa Quart’s essay is about parents who suffocate their children with “genius products.”

 

True, but too obvious and too broad. And not really a thesis at all but a fact.

 

Better:

 

It’s clear that Quart’s thesis has hit a nerve because it’s all too true that parents hell-bent on making their children into “geniuses” are behaving in a morally bankrupt way. This egregious moral bankruptcy is evidenced by __________________, ____________________, ____________________, and ______________________.

 

Here’s another thesis:

 

Who’s McMahon to knock the fact that parents want the best for their children. I think raising a genius is a good thing.

 

Better:

 

In his haste to jump on the Alissa Quart bandwagon, McMahon fails to sympathize with well-intentioned parents who are using these so-called baby genius products, understandably, because they want to __________________, ________________________, ___________________, and ___________________.

 

 

 

Another thesis:

 

I’m tired of McMahon being a parent hater. If parents want to immerse their children in baby genius products, more power to them. Hey, man, it beats making them dumb. Right?

 

 

Here’s another thesis.

 

It’s all a matter of avoiding extremes. I’m sure if parents want to use some of these so-called baby genius products, it will do their children some good. Let’s not throw away the baby with the bath water.

 

Rebuttal to the above thesis:

 

The writer’s point, that baby genius products, can be beneficial, is an obfuscation of the real issue, namely, that the majority of parents using these products are doing so in a misguided way evidenced by ___________________, _____________________, ___________________, and _______________________.

 

 

 

Another Good Thesis:

 

While certainly Quart identifies extreme and neurotic behavior, her alarmist essay fails to see that the baby genius complex can be a healthy alternative to the infantile, dumbed-down entertainments that too many American children embrace. Contrary to the portrayal of the “complex” that Quart so robustly demonizes, the genius industry is beneficial to children evidenced by ____________________, ______________________, ____________________, and _________________________.

 

Another Effective Thesis:

 

Poor McMahon is a misguided soul whose rigorous defense of the baby genius industry evidences his blind eye to ______________________, ________________________, __________________________, and _______________________________.

Two. For Abramsky's essay, write a refutation or counterargument essay in which you outline your opponent’s main arguments and then knock them down.

 

A Thesis that Opposes Abramsky’s Essay

 

In what is supposed to be objective reportage, it is clear that Abramsky has written a biased article in favor of dismantling the Supermax. His liberally tendentious point of view contaminates his article in several ways.

 

Mapping Statements

 

First, this effete academic, with no first-hand knowledge of criminal miscreants, writes under the Rousseauean delusion that prisoners can be reformed, contrary to empirical evidence.

 

Second, Abramsky seems to favor the safety of the prisoners to the prison guards.

 

Third, Abramsky has no viable alternative to the Supermax model.

 

And finally,  Abramsky's bleeding heart seems incapable of dishing out punishment to cruel sadistic criminals who may be deserving of it.

 

A Thesis That Opposes the Opposition to Abramsky’s Essay

 

McMahon’s hack job against Sasha Abramsky’s insightful article is so wrought with logical fallacies, personal attacks, and blatant exhibitions of shoddy writing that we must expose his fraudulent, BS-soaked thesis for the purpose of defending Abramsky’s excellent, carefully-crafted Supermax critique.

 

Mapping Statements:

 

First, McMahon sets up a hack writer’s egregious use of the either/or fallacy, hoping we will fall into the trap of embracing either a Rousseauean or Hobbesian world view when in fact there is a middle ground that is more appropriate.

 

Second, McMahon’s superficial reading of Abramsky’s article fails to see that humane treatment of prisoners can actually result in more, not less, safety toward the prison guards.

 

Third, McMahon’s advocacy of punishment over reform belies an irrational mean-spiritedness that has no place in the dialogue about crime and punishment.

 

And finally, McMahon’s use of personal attacks against Abramsky shows that he is more comfortable in the sophomoric realm of personal insults rather than sticking to the real issues because deep down he knows his ideas stink. 

Three. Writing Option:

In your first three pages, compare the destructive myths as they are presented in the two essays “Love and War in Cyberspace” and “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.” Then in your last two pages, write about a myth that afflicted you and how you freed yourself from this myth.  

Four. 

McMahon’s thesis for “Love and War in Cyberspace”

 

Cause and Effect Thesis Uses "can be attributed to" and "and results in"

Example:

The swine flu hysteria can be attributed to its unpredictable mutability, disproportionate coverage of a few deaths (far less than the common flu), the stigma of an animal-to-human contagion and this hysteria will result in wild rumors inflaming public anxiety, overreactions (canceled cruises, abstaining from pork, etc.) and hypochondria (people misinterpreting every sniffle or cough as a sign of "sure death"). 

The organic food movement, as chronicled in Michael Pollan's masterful essay, can be attributed to ___________________, ________________, ________________, and results in ___________________, __________________, and ____________________. 

The intoxicating, addictive nature of war, Hedges argues, can be attributed to ________________, _________________, and ___________________, and results in ______________________, ___________________, and _________________________. 

Walden is a failed experiment in the promise of unlimited freedom through technology. This woeful failure can be attributed to ________________, ___________________, and ____________________, and results in ___________________, ___________________, and __________________________________.

 

Katy Vine’s essay shows us the dangers of living in a Virtual World, which include __________________, ___________________, _________________, and _________________________.

 

“Love and War in Cyberspace” 380. 5-page outline: In the first 2 pages, analyze the causes of social dysfunction described in the essay. Then in about 3 pages, use research to show how the apartment complex is a microcosm for an emerging social dysfunction in our Age of Information. As such the thesis would like this: The apartment complex is a microcosm for an emerging social dysfunction emerging in our Information Age, which consists of __________________, ___________________, ___________________, and _______________________. You would flesh out the mapping components for the essay's last 3 pages.

 

 

More Stylized Thesis with a More Distinct Writing Voice:

Take a bunch of socially dysfunctional computer nerds in desperate search of belonging, stick them in a yuppie techno-apartment flexing its steroidal broadband muscles and you’ve got Walden, a microcosm of the types of addictions Americans will face in the near future. These addictions will include a sick attachment to trumped-up, often noxious alter egos, the need to vent without boundaries, the preference of virtual worlds to the real world and all the chemicals the body requires to stay up in a ghoul-like existence where sleep is little more than an afterthought.

Research Links:

Virtual Reality: Danger Ahead

Real Hope in a Virtual World (unrealistic expectations)

Geeking Out (addiction)

Second Skin Documentary

CNN (addiction)

Five: 

Compare Christopher Hedges’ essay to a war film:Born on the Fourth of July, The Deer Hunter, orPlatoon.

Method:

In a page, summarize the major points in “Love Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning,” emphasizing the mythology of war that becomes so addictive. Then in another page summarize the major developments of the film you’ve chosen. Then write a thesis that argues that the film shows us the mythology of war followed by our disillusionment with war’s mythology. Your body paragraphs will show the mythology and the de-mythology of war as dramatized in the film.

Students will write a thesis for today’s essay:

 

Six: Write an essay that agrees or disagrees with Dobie's position on AWOL. 

 

The military will enhance its strength and morality if it pardons those who want to quit because __________________, _________________, _________________, and _____________________.

 

Dobie’s argument that special cases should be pardoned for committing AWOL would pose certain dangers to the military, namely, ___________________, _________________, __________________, and _________________________.

Seven: Super Mom

In one page summarize Warner’s essay. Then in another page profile a “super mom” you know, either firsthand or by interviewing someone who knows such a super mom (perhaps the child of one?). Then in your thesis you might write something like this:

Mrs. Tuttweiller (whatever name you use) embodies the consummate super mom evidenced by ________________, ________________, and __________________, and ____________________________.

 

Another thesis:

Mrs. Tuttweiler’s self-aggrandizing role as super mom actually compromises her duties as a mother evidenced by __________________, ____________________, and ___________, and _____________________.

 

1C Lesson Plan, Writing Assignments for “From the Forest to the Trees” (452) and “Game Theories” (460)

 

One. Why does the game The Sims appeal especially to women?

1.    It emphasized interpersonal relationships rather than violence and domination.

2.    It emphasizes meeting the characters’ basic needs and their “Mood Bar.”

3.    It focuses on juggling time in a way that is analogous to motherhood.

4.    It teaches intimacy skills through “SimSpeak.”

5.    It allows us to experiment with our sometimes confusing roles. See page 455.

 

Writing Assignments:

Reading the Signs on Page 456: #2, #3, #4

Reading the Signs on Page 464: #2, #4

Sample Thesis for 456 #1:

To denigrate The Sims for allegedly reinforcing traditional gender roles fails to see the point, namely, that women are drawn to the nurturing components of a surrogate family. This nurturing is evident by _________________________, ____________________, __________________, and _________________________.

456 #3

Arguing whether or not these simulated life games are healthy is not the point. Of course, addiction is not healthy. The real argument should be if there is something worthwhile to be gained from acquiring one of these life games as a hobby. Clearly, these life games when used in moderation are both helpful and educational evidenced by ___________________, ______________________, ____________________, and _________________________.

456 #4:

World of Warcraft encouraged the most toxic male attributes while The Sims stimulates benevolence and interpersonal skills.

464 #2

Against EverQuest:

Some comfort themselves with the idea that EverQuest is a meritocracy. But this meritocracy is compromised by _____________, _____________, __________________, and ____________________.

 

In favor of EverQuest:

With EverQuest we learn how to live in a society built upon a meritocracy evidenced by _____________________, ____________________, _______________________, and ____________________________.

 

The success of the EverQuest and even its addictive nature can be analyzed through the ideas laid out in 464 #4:

Laurence Shames’s “The More Factor” (86). EverQuest exploits the insatiable desire for “more” in several ways, not the least of which are ___________________, ___________________, _____________________, and ____________________________.

 

 

 

1A Study Guide for “The Baby Genius Edutainment Complex” by Alissa Quart 450

 

 

Question One: How does the author define the term “complex”?

 

It has two meanings. First, it is the intricate network of entrepreneurial innovations designed to bilk as much money as possible from well-intentioned albeit grossly insecure parents.

 

Therefore a complex, the first definition we face, is an overproduced industry designed to aggressively market a product often resulting in a gross exaggeration of the product’s “need” for the consumer.

 

The second meaning refers to the psychological condition known as a “complex” in which one has an exaggerated notion of one’s perceived strengths and/or weaknesses. Parents are fearful that their children will be left behind so they over-compensate with extreme, obsessive, and neurotic behavior.

 

This second definition of “complex,” then refers to the ongoing sense of inferiority and inadequacy that compels people to compensate for their perceived shortcomings by behaving in irrational, self-destructive ways.

 

 

Question Two: What forces make the Baby Genius Edutainment Complex so profitable?

 

One. The first factor: narcissism, a form of vanity and self-centeredness so severe that the narcissist only acts in self-interest so that all other human beings, including the narcissist’s children, are pawns whose sole purpose is to feed the narcissist’s ego.

 

Pertaining to the BGE, narcissistic parents want their children to “succeed” in order that their children bring them glory and in effect make the children extensions of themselves and their own egos.

 

Narcissists are never happy because their egos can never be sated (satisfied). This insatiable ego results in a futile quest to feel “big enough” or “great enough” so that no amount of monetary success or social status can feed the beastly ego sufficiently. As a result, narcissists are bitter, competitive. They tend to see all other people as “opponents” in their ego quest. As a result, narcissists derive great glee from the failures and misfortunes of others.

 

Two. The second factor is social Darwinism, the condition in which the strong get stronger and the weak fall behind and eventually die off. Our instincts know this to be true so that we are possessed by a fierce competitive streak that, if left unchecked, can actually destroy us. We must find the golden mean between competitiveness and altruism (compassion for others). If we error too much in one extreme, we will pay a heavy price.

 

In the context of the BEC, parents fear their children will be left behind.

 

Three. A perverted sense of love. We don’t feel “loved” unless we perform in a certain way, unless we have the Wow Factor. This fear of not being loved compels us to embrace programs that promise to make us spectacular or “geniuses.”

 

Four. Many of us have, knowingly or not, embraced the idea of “giftedness” as described on page 455. “Giftedness” is the idea that hard work and ingenuity can awaken the dormant genius that is within every child. “Giftedness” is compatible with the very American idea that we are not stuck in life but have the freedom or free will to be master’s of our own destiny. Other cultures, in contrast, embrace fate, the idea that we cannot change our life course.

 

Five. The clever marketing of the Mozart Effect, the belief that we can stimulate brain growth by playing music in the womb and in early infancy. This belief has reached religious proportions.

 

Six. Fear makes parents controlling and not surprisingly this need for control has made parents embrace controlled play over free play. See page 459. Of course, controlled play costs money and there is an industry to meet this need.

 

 

Writing a Thesis for Today’s Topic

 

 

 

 

Weak Thesis:

 

Alissa Quart’s essay is about parents who suffocate their children with “genius products.”

 

True, but too obvious and too broad. And not really a thesis at all but a fact.

 

Better:

 

It’s clear that Quart’s thesis has hit a nerve because it’s all too true that parents hell-bent on making their children into “geniuses” are behaving in a morally bankrupt way. This egregious moral bankruptcy is evidenced by __________________, ____________________, ____________________, and ______________________.

 

Here’s another thesis:

 

Who’s McMahon to knock the fact that parents want the best for their children. I think raising a genius is a good thing.

 

Better:

 

In his haste to jump on the Alissa Quart bandwagon, McMahon fails to sympathize with well-intentioned parents who are using these so-called baby genius products, understandably, because they want to __________________, ________________________, ___________________, and ___________________.

 

 

 

Another thesis:

 

I’m tired of McMahon being a parent hater. If parents want to immerse their children in baby genius products, more power to them. Hey, man, it beats making them dumb. Right?

 

 

Here’s another thesis.

 

It’s all a matter of avoiding extremes. I’m sure if parents want to use some of these so-called baby genius products, it will do their children some good. Let’s not throw away the baby with the bath water.

 

Rebuttal to the above thesis:

 

The writer’s point, that baby genius products, can be beneficial, is an obfuscation of the real issue, namely, that the majority of parents using these products are doing so in a misguided way evidenced by ___________________, _____________________, ___________________, and _______________________.

 

 

 

Another Good Thesis:

 

While certainly Quart identifies extreme and neurotic behavior, her alarmist essay fails to see that the baby genius complex can be a healthy alternative to the infantile, dumbed-down entertainments that too many American children embrace. Contrary to the portrayal of the “complex” that Quart so robustly demonizes, the genius industry is beneficial to children evidenced by ____________________, ______________________, ____________________, and _________________________.

 

Another Effective Thesis:

 

Poor McMahon is a misguided soul whose rigorous defense of the baby genius industry evidences his blind eye to ______________________, ________________________, __________________________, and _______________________________.

 

1C: Putting the Spotlight on Groupthink and Convergence Culture

In one page, summarize "South Park and the Open Society." Then in another page, define the term groupthink and give an example of groupthink from your personal experience. For your final three pages, analyze the way groupthink compromised the quality of a project in the news or from your personal experience.

What is groupthink? Sacrificing your individual critical thinking in order to conform to the group. groupthink tends toward mediocrity, incompetence, and corruption. Take for example an ugly car like the 2009 Acura TL. Individuals on the design committee may have hated the design but were afraid to offend their boss and/or the rest of the committee. Or individuals were afraid to speak out for fear of offending other committee members.

Irving Janis coined the term groupthink:

 

To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink (1977).

Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.

Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.

Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.

Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.

Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty".

Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.

Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.

Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.

 

Groupthink, resulting from the symptoms listed above, results in defective decision making. That is, consensus-driven decisions are the result of the following practices of groupthinking[5]

Incomplete survey of alternatives

Incomplete survey of objectives

Failure to examine risks of preferred choice

Failure to reevaluate previously rejected alternatives

Poor information search

Selection bias in collecting information

Failure to work out contingency plans.

Preventing groupthink:

 

According to Irving Janis, decision making groups are not necessarily destined to groupthink. He devised seven ways of preventing groupthink (209-15):

Leaders should assign each member the role of “critical evaluator”. This allows each member to freely air objections and doubts.

Higher-ups should not express an opinion when assigning a task to a group.

The organization should set up several independent groups, working on the same problem.

All effective alternatives should be examined.

Each member should discuss the group's ideas with trusted people outside of the group.

The group should invite outside experts into meetings. Group members should be allowed to discuss with and question the outside experts.

At least one group member should be assigned the role of Devil's advocate. This should be a different person for each meeting.

Two.

Lesson for “Convergence Culture” (432)

 

1.    What is convergence culture? See paragraph 4: “Where old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect, where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways. . . . “

2.    How has this convergence affected newspapers and major network news? The young generation prefers “interactive new media” to “passive old media.”

3.    How has convergence resulted in niche marketing?

4.    How do the new “smart” cell phones embody convergence, perhaps to an overwhelming degree? The iPhone 3GS with 32GBs has a phone, Internet, email, maps, Kindle allowing for books, magazines, newspapers; iTunes downloads, iPod, games, voice memo, video camera with editing, GSP compass. It has about a dozen functions. It has YOUR WHOLE LIFE. You need security device that erases all the info in the event the iPhone gets stolen.

5.    How does the iPhone described above consolidate all your shopping in one concentrated unit with touch convenience? What are the implications of this? You become a hyper-consumer.

6.    How does the iPhone embody the terms “telecocooning” on page 443 and “extension” and “synergy” used on page 445?

 

Writing Option:

Write a research paper that analyzes the forces in convergence culture that have challenged newspapers, magazines and print media as a whole. Is print media doomed to become obsolete? Can it reinvent itself in the face of convergence culture?

 

1A Lesson Plan for “Return of the Madhouse” by Sasha Abramsky 419

 

 

One. Lexicon

 

1.  recalcitrant—engrained stubbornness that is incapable of reform; the noun form is recalcitrance.

2.  Miscreant—someone with no moral component, completely lawless and quite possibly a sociopath, a person without a conscience.

3.  Hobbesian—pertains to the philosopher Thomas Hobbes who believed humans are barbarians who need the threat of fear to keep them civilized and under control.

4.  Rousseauean; “noble savage” myth: humans are essentially good but are corrupted by an evil society. If we remove society’s evils, humans will return to their noble, virtuous condition.

5.  draconian—severe, harsh and extreme to a point that is almost beyond the imagination. Slop; hog feed; livestock feed

6.  Either/or fallacy, when one makes the error of setting up only two choices when in fact there are more choices.

7.  Tendentious, means biased, having a predisposed unfair leaning for one side of an argument over another.

8.  Effete egghead, an academic writer whose theories aren’t tested by the brutality and harshness of the real world

9.  Ad hominem, is when a writer focuses on making a personal attack rather than addressing the issues.

10.                   Viable, practical, something that has a good chance of being effective

11.                   Hack job, an unfair attack on another writer and/or a sloppily put-together piece of writing that has the pretensions of being good, “important” writing

12.                   Procrustean—a one-size-fits-all mentality that puts in nonviolent, violent and mentally ill criminals all in one group. This is a recipe for disaster.

13.                   Supermax—a prison born from violence in the 1970s and 1980s that enforces “lock down” in which the prisoners live in a constant state of isolation and confinement. Often lock down creates the very problems it’s supposed to solve.

14.                   Prison paradox: prisoners are helpless and brutalized on one hand; on the other hand, powerful prisoners, heads of gangs, operate their crimes more efficiently in prison than they do outside of prison and often they boss around the prison guards.

15.                   Fakers, prisoners who pretend to be mentally ill so that can be put in more lax security environment

16.                   Recidivism—reverting to previous, undesirable forms of behavior. Also: relapsing into criminal behavior.

17.                   Sophomoric, is a derogatory term to refer to behavior that is juvenile and immature.

18.                   Chicken or the egg on page 423 is actually an either/or fallacy: The inmates are a little crazy and go crazier due to the Supermax conditions.

19.                   Sadism, taking pleasure in other people’s misery, suffering, and misfortune. In

America

today, we call these people “haters.” On page 424 we read about guards who laugh at the prisoners who mutilate themselves.  Many guards bet money on prisoner fights, in which they become abused like Michael Vick’s pit-bulls.

20.                   Exacerbate, from page 425: to compound and to make worse: impetigo from over-scratching a mosquito bite.

21.                   The central prison debate: Should prison be reformative or punitive? See page 425 at the top two paragraphs.

22.                   shanked; a prisoner makes a knife (out of toothbrush perhaps)

23.                   bleeding heart; stupid compassion; opposite of bleeding heart is tough love

 

Part Two. What is Abramsky’s thesis or purpose? To show that the abuses and mismanagement in the Supermax constitute cruel and unusual punishment and that this violation of prisoner’s rights compels us to abolish the Supermax as we currently know it.

 

Abramsky’s mapping components, the claims and/or evidence he uses to back his argument:

 

1.  The lock down makes prisoners more crazy than they already are resulting in more danger among themselves and toward the prison guards.

2.  There are no safeguards in place to stop excessive and sadistic force used by the prison guards, who often act as animalistic as the prisoners themselves.

3.  The guards are using the same punishment and control methods on violent criminals and mentally ill ones.

4.   Supermax prison model costs the tax payers too much: $50,000 per prisoner vs. $20-30,000 for lower-security prisons. See page 422

5.  The Supermax model is a violation of the Eighth Amendment and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. See page 425.

 

Part Three. Writing a refutation or counterargument essay in which you outline your opponent’s main arguments and then knock them down.

 

A Thesis that Opposes Abramsky’s Essay

 

In what is supposed to be objective reportage, it is clear that Abramsky has written a biased article in favor of dismantling the Supermax. His liberally tendentious point of view contaminates his article in several ways.

 

Mapping Statements

 

First, this effete academic, with no first-hand knowledge of criminal miscreants, writes under the Rousseauean delusion that prisoners can be reformed, contrary to empirical evidence.

 

Second, Abramsky seems to favor the safety of the prisoners to the prison guards.

 

Third, Abramsky has no viable alternative to the Supermax model.

 

And finally,  Abramsky's bleeding heart seems incapable of dishing out punishment to cruel sadistic criminals who may be deserving of it.

 

A Thesis That Opposes the Opposition to Abramsky’s Essay

 

McMahon’s hack job against Sasha Abramsky’s insightful article is so wrought with logical fallacies, personal attacks, and blatant exhibitions of shoddy writing that we must expose his fraudulent, BS-soaked thesis for the purpose of defending Abramsky’s excellent, carefully-crafted Supermax critique.

 

Mapping Statements:

 

First, McMahon sets up a hack writer’s egregious use of the either/or fallacy, hoping we will fall into the trap of embracing either a Rousseauean or Hobbesian world view when in fact there is a middle ground that is more appropriate.

 

Second, McMahon’s superficial reading of Abramsky’s article fails to see that humane treatment of prisoners can actually result in more, not less, safety toward the prison guards.

 

Third, McMahon’s advocacy of punishment over reform belies an irrational mean-spiritedness that has no place in the dialogue about crime and punishment.

 

And finally, McMahon’s use of personal attacks against Abramsky shows that he is more comfortable in the sophomoric realm of personal insults rather than sticking to the real issues because deep down he knows his ideas stink.

Writing Option:

Thesis Structure for a Contrast Essay:

 

While Vine’s essay focuses on the pathological self-destructive behavior of computer addiction evidenced by ________________, ____________________, and _______________________, Jones’ essay focuses on the creative, productive results of computers evidenced by ________________________, _________________________, and ______________________________.

 

First 3 mapping components would take up 2 pages; the last 3 would take up 2 pages. Your paper is two parts, the bad and good of computer use.

 

The purpose of this essay is to show that we can’t make generalizations about computers based on the Vine case. There are exceptions.