Essay #4 Options with 3 Sources for Works Cited Due 5-14-18
One. Support, refute, or complicate Debra J. Dickerson's argument that race in America is more of a social fantasy than a reflection of objective reality. In other words, race is not an objective fact; rather, race is a social construction, an invention to justify slavery, Jim Crow, and general racism in which the privileged race creates an artificial hierarchy to justify its privilege and to justify the exploitation of those designated as being lower on the hierarchy.
Two. Show how the Jordan Peele movie Get Out builds on Debra J. Dickerson's argument that race in America is a cruel invention designed to create a hierarchy of power, one that can be seen in all its horror in post-Obama America. For sources, see NYT review , The Guardian review, and the Variety review.
Three. Develop a thesis that argues that Confederate flags and other iconography from the Confederacy should be relegated to museums.
Four. Develop a thesis that supports, refutes, or complicates the claim that mass incarceration is “The New Jim Crow.” The first Jim Crow was the southern white backlash to the end of the Civil War and the government's attempt to make amends to black people. This attempt was mostly seen in the Freedman's Bureau, which existed from 1865 to 1877. Its demise came from KKK attacks and general resentment from white southerners. Jim Crow was the insidious reinvention of slavery in the form of segregation and oppression. Consult Adam Gopnik’s “The Caging of America.” Also consult Michelle Alexander's New Jim Crow Ted Talk video. I also recommend the 2016 Netflix documentary 13th.
Five. Develop an argument that addresses the notion that Tom Jacob’s essay "It's Not Easy Being Green and Manly" (78) is a feeble solution to the problem of global warming in the context of Naomi Klein’s essay "One Way Or Another, Everything Changes" (70). Here is Klein's essay is non-PDF format.
Six. Develop a thesis that examines how cultural tastes are part of our public personality in the context of Tom Vanderbilt’s “How Predictable Is Our Taste” (142 and not online as far as I can tell), Kevin Fallon’s “Why We Binge-Watch Television” (156), and David Brooks’ “People Like Us” (525). Also see Vanderbilt's "The Secret of Taste."
Thesis Template Examples
The New Jim Crow is a failed/successful analogy to the original Jim Crow because __________________, ________________, _____________________, and __________________.
While Alexander makes a compelling critique of the mass incarceration system, her analogy between Jim Crow and incarceration as "The New Jim Crow" collapses when we consider ______________, ______________, ___________, and ______________.
While through Alexander's own admission the analogy between Jim Crow and mass incarceration as "The New Jim Crow" is not a perfect one, we can make the case that those who would dismiss her analogy entirely are in grave error when we consider these major flaws in their thinking, which include ___________, ___________, _____________, and _______________.
Michelle Alexander has written a brilliant critique of mass incarceration in which she points out its moral bankruptcy in ways that are beyond dispute. However, her book is a failure because she squandered the opportunity to point out the real causes of this moral bankruptcy, which include __________, ___________, __________, and ____________.
The assertion that Alexander's book falls short because it fails to address the deeper problems caused by free market capitalism collapses when we consider ___________, __________, ___________, and ________________.
While Alexander's book is hardly perfect and contains some serious flaws, her overall argument is compelling when we consider ____________, ____________, __________, and _______________.
Sample Summary Thesis (professors consider summary thesis inferior to argumentative)
Michelle Alexander does an excellent job of showing the parallels between the original Jim Crow and the New Jim Crow. First, she compares the economic exploitation in two periods of history. Second, she shows the violence and harassment, one explicit and the other implicit, inflicted upon people of color in the two types of Jim Crows. Third, she shows the similarities of the racist media campaigns designed to denigrate people of color in both periods of history. Finally, she shows the immoral economies resulting from both types of oppression.
In the above the thesis, the writer will merely summarize Michelle Alexander’s main point, put a bow on his paper, present it to McMahon, and say, “All right, Teacher, I’m all finished.” But in fact, this student hasn’t elevated his critical thinking skills to meet the class’s expectations.
What’s the solution?
The writer would be better served to defend Michelle Alexander against her opposition.
Alternative Thesis That Avoids Summary by Refuting Opponents
While Michelle Alexander’s thesis has some flaws that diminish the complexity of the narrative she offers us, her overall argument holds up in the face of her opponents’ critiques, specifically, that she fails to convince me that mass incarceration compares to the evils of Jim Crow, racism is not as virulent today is it was in the Jim Crow era, her narrative paints people of color as victims rather than as active agents of their own destiny, and her solution to reduce prison sentencing is a reckless form of leniency that would result in a crime spike.
Sample Concession Thesis Statements That Address the Analogy Between Jim Crow 1.0 and Jim Crow 2.0:
One. Support of Michelle Alexander:
While the New Jim Crow comparison to the Old is not a perfect analogy, there are compelling similarities evidenced by ______________, _______________, _______________, and _______________________.
Two. Refutation of Michelle Alexander:
While I concede there are some disturbing parallels between Jim Crow 1.0 and what Michelle Alexander calls the New Jim Crow, the comparison ultimately collapses when we examine _____________, ______________, _______________, and _______________________.
Three. Example of Thesis That Refutes Michelle Alexander
While Alexander makes compelling points about the loss of human rights and the link between degradation of justice in the face of the profit motives behind the disturbing expansion of the incarceration system in the Age of the Drug War, her narrative is an incomplete, highly selective propaganda piece that fails to address the link between drug crime and theft (Proposition 47 and the spike in Los Angeles crime), the demands of many African Americans for more robust police intervention to protect their communities, and the exaggerated analogy between Jim Crow and the alleged “New Jim Crow.”
Four. Example of Thesis That Supports Michelle Alexander
While Alexander’s analogy between Jim Crow 1.0 and the War on Drugs as a form of Jim Crow 2.0 has many flaws, there are enough compelling parallels to make her thesis persuasive, especially when we focus on the profit motive behind incarceration, the racial disparities in prison sentencing, and the loss of constitutional rights as a result of the futile Drug War.
Five. Thesis That Refutes Michelle Alexander
While Alexander makes some compelling points about the need for more drug treatment and making incarceration less profit-driven, her overall narrative is largely a fiction that does a great disservice to American society by demonizing all politicians and cops as money-hungry racists, by ignoring the crimes resulting from drug use, by ignoring how black communities suffer when the police back off from those communities, and by ignoring the role of economic class, not race, as a predictor of crimes that must result in imprisonment if we are to protect law-abiding citizens.
Six. Thesis That Supports Michelle Alexander
While Alexander's argument would be better served to take a more nuanced approach in her portrayal of the police, her overall New Jim Crow narrative is persuasive in light of racial arrest patterns, race-based loss of civil liberties, and the military-like expansion of police powers.
Review: What McMahon Would Do If He Were Writing This Essay
For paragraph 1, I'd write an introduction that does four things:
Defines Jim Crow
Summarizes Alexander's major points and how they add up to support her main argument
Introduce the question: How convincing is her argument?
Answer the question with a thesis that includes 4 mapping components that will corrospond to the supporting evidence paragraphs
Paragraphs 2-5 would be the supporting evidence paragraphs
Paragraphs 6-7 would be counterarguments in which I'd anticipate my opponents' disagreement with Alexander and show why those opponents are wrong and/or misguided.
Paragraph 8, my conclusion, would sum up my supporting evidence and restate my thesis in a dramatic fashion.
Each paragraph would be approx. 150 words for 1,200-word total.
How to Set Up a Counterargument in Your Rebuttal Section (The Templates)
Some of my critics will dismiss my claim that . . . but they are in error when we look closely at . . .
Some readers will 0bject to my argument that . . . However, their disagreement is misguided when we consider that . . .
Some opponents will be hostile to my claim that . . . However, their hostility is unfounded when we examine . . .
Some Alexander critics argue that . . . However, their remarks collapse under the weight of various fallacies, which include
Common Rebuttal Points to Michelle Alexander
- "She is encouraging the victim role instead of personal responsibility."
- "Racism is over. Obama is President!" (or was President)
- "Do the crime; pay the price."
- "NJC is an exaggerated and offensive analogy to slavery."
- James Forman has a very complex critique. This is the best critique I've seen.
"How Predictable Is Our Taste?" by Tom Vanderbilt
One. What's the difference between likes and dislikes?
Likes are public like music that we love while dislikes are private, reserved for our close circle of friends like ugly gossip.
We live in an age where companies like Spotify live and die on their ability to match people to their tastes.
Our tastes define our tribe, which is exactly what marketers want to they can continue to feed us our desired consumer products and keep us insulated inside our tribal bubble.
While music is easy to predict, film is much more difficult in part because we surround ourselves with music; it becomes our ubiquitous wallpaper while most of us may only see films once in a while.
Two. What is the primary challenge of musicians and marketers of music?
Exposure.
People can't like what they don't know.
People tend to stick with what they know rather than explore new music.
Pretentious people and art snobs are more posers of taste so they don't reveal what they truly like.
Three. What is dehumanizing about predicting personalities through social media?
Complex humans defy easy categorization. But human bots are easy to put inside little boxes and be mined for their consumer spending habits.
This is a point the author failed to develop though perhaps he made the point through implication.
"Scientists Can Predict Your Personality Based On Just One Facebook Like"
"Why We Binge-Watch Television" by Kevin Fallon
One. TV is better.
Two. TV is "shelter from the storm" of stimulation overload.
Three. We love the idea that to binge is to accomplish something of great magnitude and as such is "brag-worthy."
Four. We binge when we find out that others in our social media tribe are binging on something because of FOMO (fear of missing out).
Five. TV is a more convenient way to consume popular culture than going to the movies.
What is the larger point of the two assigned essays?
Both essays speak to tribalistic, predictable behavior as touched upon by David Brooks' essay, "People Like Us."
Essay Option Six:
Develop a thesis that examines how cultural tastes are part of our public personality in the context of Tom Vanderbilt’s “How Predictable Is Our Taste” (142 and not online as far as I can tell), Kevin Fallon’s “Why We Binge-Watch Television” (156), and David Brooks’ “People Like Us” (525). Also see Vanderbilt's "The Secret of Taste."
Sample Thesis Statements
The business of predicting our tastes in music, TV, and other popular culture enterprises is dehumanizing in several ways, including the tendency to turn us into predictable stereotypes, the tendency to compel us to willingly surrender our private information, and the tendency for us to stay trapped inside our tribalistic information bubble.
While I concede that the business of predicting our tastes reinforces our tribalism and encourages us to give up our private data, overall our taste-prediction sites such as Spotify improve our lives by making it easier for us to enjoy what we want, helping us connect to like-minded people, and helping us discover new art we will like through analytics that are superior to other sites such as Netflix.
Work on Your Thesis for Essay #4
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