Final Essay Is Worth 200 Points and Is Due December 14th.
Final Essay Requires 3 sources, one from the El Camino College library database.
Writing Option #1 for Final:
In the "Trump Vs. Hitler" essay by Nathan Stoltzfus, we are presented with the question if there is a legitimate moral comparison between Trump and Hitler. Argue for or against such a comparison.
Writing Option #2 for Final
Read Thomas Frank's "Donald Trump is moving to the White House, and liberals put him there" and Sarah Smarsh's "Dangerous idiots: how the liberal media elite failed working-class Americans," and then develop a thesis that defends, refutes, or complicates the argument that Trump's rise to power was largely the liberal establishment's fault as a result of their smug, rotten, delusional self-aggrandizement that blinded them from the reality of white people who feel as if their country is becoming too globalized and too diverse for their comfort levels and that this discomfort has created a backlash against the liberal establishment.
Writing Option #3 for Final
Read Masha Gessen's "Autocracy: Rules for Survival" and support, refute, or complicate Gessen's contention that Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama's "nice" response to President Elect Trump was misguided and dangerous for America. You can use this Christoph Waltz video. The Waltz video is discussed here.
Writing Option #4 for Final
Read Mark Joseph Stern's "The Electoral College is an Instrument of White Supremacy--and Sexism" and Akhil Reed Amar's "Troubling Reason the Electoral College Exists" and defend, refute, or complicate the argument that we should replace the electoral college with the popular vote.
Another helpful source for Option #4:
Julia Azari's "Most People Hate the Electoral College, But's It's Not Going Away Soon."
Writing Option #5 for Final:
Support or refute the argument that there is no valid defense of the Anti-Vaxxer position. You can consult the following:
"Why Vaccination Refusal Is a White Privilege Problem"
"Anti-Vaxxers: Enjoying the Privilege of Putting Everyone at Risk"
"What Everyone Gets Wrong About Anti-Vaccine Parents"
"We Seem to be More Frightened Than We've Ever Been"
"How to Change an Anti-Vaxxer's Mind"
Writing Option #6 for Final:
Defend, refute, or complicate Bloom's assertion in "Against Empathy" that empathy, contrary to popular opinion, is not a virtue in the face of evidence that empathy is a form of "irrational compassion" that can be destructive and inimical to human affairs.
Sources:
Writing Option #7 for Final
Support, refute, or complicate Steve Almond's contention that we are morally compelled to boycott football, especially the NFL.
Writing Option #8 for Final:
Support, refute, or complicate Ta-Nahisi Coates' argument in "The Case for Reparations" that America is morally compelled to devise an effective reparations program for eligible African-Americans.
Writing Option #9 for Final:
Support, refute, or complicate the argument that "the right to a living wage" compels us to increase the minimum wage to a universal level of about $15 per hour (you can set the wage).
Writing Option #10 for Final:
Support, refute, or complicate the argument that student loans should under certain circumstances be forgiven.
Writing Option #11 for Final:
Support, refute, or complicate the assertion that college tuition should be free.
Writing Option #12 for Final:
Support, refute, or complicate the argument that colleges are morally compelled to replace gourmet food with plain food so those money savings can bring in more low-income students.
Course Objectives:
- Evaluate arguments in terms of bias, credibility, and relevance.
- Assess an argument's claims by examining assumptions, by differentiating between facts and inferences, by recognizing errors in logic, by analyzing support, and by identifying both explicit and implied conclusions.
- Recognize and assess argumentative claims embedded in literary works, advertisements, political tracts, and presentations in other media.
- Express critical viewpoints and develop original arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory.
- Demonstrate the ability to evaluate electronic sources and databases, to incorporate research from on-line and print media, and to compose unified, coherent, fully supported argumentative essays that advance their claims by integrating primary and secondary sources, and by employing the tools of critical interpretation, evaluation, and analysis.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, students will:
- Compose an argumentative essay that shows an ability to support a claim using analysis, elements of argumentation, and integration of primary and secondary sources.
- Identify and assess bias, credibility, and relevance in their own arguments and in the arguments of others, including primary and secondary outside sources.
- Write an essay that is correct in MLA format, paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.
Course Catalog Description:
This course focuses on the development of critical thinking skills. Students will apply these skills to the analysis of written arguments in various forms and genres, both classic and contemporary, and to the writing of effective persuasive essays. Students will learn to evaluate and interpret data, to recognize assumptions, to distinguish facts from opinions, to identify and avoid logical fallacies, to employ deductive and inductive reasoning, and to effectively assert and support argumentative claims.
One. Express critical viewpoints and develop original thesis-driven arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory. This argumentative essay will be well organized, demonstrate an ability to support a claim using analysis and elements of argumentation, and integrate primary and secondary sources.
Two. Use at least three sources and not over-rely on one secondary source for most of the information. The students should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.
Three. Address issues of bias, credibility, and relevance in primary and secondary sources.
Four. Demonstrate understanding of analytical methods and structural concepts such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, logos, ethos, and pathos, and the recognition of formal and informal fallacies in language and thought.
Five. Use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.
Six. Integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.
Seven. Sustain the argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Writing Option #5 for Final:
Support or refute the argument that there is no valid defense of the Anti-Vaxxer position. You can consult the following:
"Why Vaccination Refusal Is a White Privilege Problem"
"Anti-Vaxxers: Enjoying the Privilege of Putting Everyone at Risk"
"What Everyone Gets Wrong About Anti-Vaccine Parents"
"We Seem to be More Frightened Than We've Ever Been"
"How to Change an Anti-Vaxxer's Mind"
Writing Assignment Option:
Support or refute the argument that there is no valid defense of the Anti-Vaxxer position.
"How to Change an Anti-Vaxxer's Mind"
"Why Vaccination Refusal Is a White Privilege Problem"
"What Everyone Gets Wrong About Anti-Vaccine Parents"
"We Seem to be More Frightened Than We've Ever Been"
"Anti-Vaxxers: Enjoying the Privilege of Putting Everyone at Risk"
Sample Thesis
While many parents are well intentioned and fearful of vaccines as they are mired in a sea of overwhelming alarmist information, their decision to deny their children vaccines is misguided, at best, and morally repugnant, more likely, when we consider their refusal to acknowledge real science and empirical evidence, their reliance on logical fallacies and quack pseudo-science, their narcissistic conspiracy mentality, and, most of all, their decision to exact a potentially fatal pestilence upon our children.
Sample Outline
Paragraph 1: In your introduction explain the justifications used for the anti-vaxxer movement.
Paragraph 2: Refute or defend those justifications in your thesis.
Paragraphs 3-6 are your supporting paragraphs.
Paragraph 7 is your counterargument-rebuttal section.
Paragraph 8 is your conclusion, a restatement of your thesis.
Group Activity
Get into groups of 4 or 5 and ask the following 3 questions:
One. Do you have an emotional response to parents who don't vaccinate their children?
Two. Are parents who don't vaccinate their children getting a "bad rap"? Explain.
Three. How could you incorporate these two questions into an introduction for your essay?
Writing Option #6 for Final:
Defend, refute, or complicate Bloom's assertion in "Against Empathy" that empathy, contrary to popular opinion, is not a virtue in the face of evidence that empathy is a form of "irrational compassion" that can be destructive and inimical to human affairs.
Sources:
"Why Paul Bloom Is Wrong About Empathy and Morality"
"I Could Say That Paul Bloom Is a Callous Idiot, But I Empathize With Him"
Suggested Outline
Paragraph 1 is your introduction, a summary of Bloom's points.
Paragraph 2 is your agreement or disagreement with Bloom, your thesis.
Paragraphs 3-6 are your supporting paragraphs.
Paragraph 7 is your counterargument-rebuttal section.
Paragraph 8 is your conclusion, a restatement of your thesis.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.