Essay #5 Due Date: 12-12-18: 260 points
You need 5 credible sources for the MLA Works Cited page in your final capstone essay.
Option One. In context of Alfie Kohn’s “From Degrading to De-Grading,” support, refute, or complicate Alfie Kohn’s assertion that grading is an inferior education tool that all conscientious teachers should abandon. In other words, will students benefit from an accountability-free education? Why? Explain.
Option Two. Read Bell Hooks’ “Learning in the Shadow of Race and her essay “keeping close to home.” In the context of those essays, support, refute, or complicate the inferred lesson from bell hooks’ essay, “Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class” that upward mobility requires a betrayal of one’s economic class and even family. To rub shoulders with the privileged, do we have to "sell out," to conform to their snobbish ways, and in doing so, are we betraying our core values and turning our backs on our roots?
Option Three. Read Bryan Caplan’s “The World Might be Better Off Without College for Everyone” and write an essay that analyzes the validity of his claim. You should see this critical review in The Washington Post of Caplan’s ideas.
Option Four. Watch John Oliver’s video about standardized testing and support, refute, or complicate Oliver’s claim that standardized education is a fiasco in every sense of the word.
Option Five. Read “Choosing School for My Daughter in a Segregated City” and develop an argument over what the best moral choice is for Nikole Hannah-Jones as she decides on what kind of school is best for her daughter (vs. the interests of society at large?)
Option Six. Read “Are Private Schools Immoral?” and write an argument about the moral implications of sending one’s children to private schools.
Option Seven. Read Will Stancil’s “School Segregation Is Not a Myth” and develop a thesis about the inequality of education in America.
Option Eight. Watch Hasan Minhaj defend affirmative action in the context of Asian Americans suing Harvard (Netflix Patriotic Act, first episode), and write a research paper that defends, refutes, or complicates Hasan's argument. Consult "The 'Whitening' of Asian Americans" in The Atlantic; "The Rise and Fall of Affirmative Action" in The New Yorker; "The Uncomfortable Truth About Affirmative Action and Asian-Americans" in The New Yorker, and a source from a book.
Composition Subjects I Taught This Semester
One. industrial prison complex
Two. school segregation
Three. income disparity or structural inequality
Four. mass shootings
Five. global warming
School Segregation
Sample Thesis Statements
Like the prison system, school segregation is a form of the New Jim Crow.
Like the prison system, school segregation is one of America's greatest scandals providing evidence that contradicts America's promise of justice, equality, and the American Dream.
Introduction Suggestion
We can see school segregation at California community colleges with the launching of English 1A and English 1AS. The former class is two days a week for two hours. The latter class is two days a week for three hours as it includes a remediation lab for grammar and paragraph development.
Let's look at the time, money, and retention rate for these two classes.
Option Nine. Watch Hasan Minhaj criticize United States energy policy as it pertains to oil on Netflix's Patriot Act. Then support, defend, or complicate Minhaj's assertion that the United States should change its oil emphasis for a more "conservation-focused solution" to America's energy needs. You can consult Slate article, Minhaj's video, and three other credible sources. Read the online essay "It's been hot before." For another source, you can consult "The 5 telltale techniques of climate change denial." Also, see Netflix Explained, "The World's Water Crisis."
Common Counterarguments
One. Global warming is not agreed-upon science. There is no consensus.
Two. Global warming is a liberal-driven agenda; it's not objective science.
Your guidelines for your Final Research Paper are as follows:
This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.
You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.
You need to research and cite from at least five sources. You must use at least 3 different types of sources.
At least one source must be from an ECC library database.
At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.
At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.
The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.
This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required. This means at least 5 full pages of text. The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.
You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.
You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.
You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Your paper must be logically organized and focused.
12-5 Homework #18: Read Will Stancil’s “School Segregation Is Not a Myth” and write a 3-paragraph essay that evaluates the validity of the author’s claim.
12-10 Peer Edit
12-12 Essay 5 Due and Portfolio Check Part 2 up to Homework #18
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