Essay 1C Assignments Sequence (4-10-2020)
4 Full-Length 1,200-Word Essays, 200 points each, 800 points
4 Mini 335-Word Essays Mini Essay Reading Responses, 50 points each, 200 points
4 Mini-Essays, 335 Words Each, 50 Points Each
335-Word Mini Essay #1 How does Groupthink degrade critical thinking and morality?
Compare the way Groupthink degrades critical thinking and morality in “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” “The Country of the Blind,” and “The Lottery.”
335-Word Mini Essay #2: The Rick Bayless Debate
Critical Thinking Objective: Study the idea of cultural appropriation and develop arguments for situations that may or may not justify it.
The Assignment: Defend or refute the claim made by Gustavo Arellano and others that Rick Bayless appropriates Mexican cuisine in an offensive manner. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal.
Consult the following:
As of writing, the website is down for Gustavo Arellano’s famous OC Weekly essay “The Problem Isn’t Rick Bayless Cooking Mexican Food--It’s That He’s a Thin-Skinned Diva.” So we will look at these other essays that address the topic:
“Should White Chefs Sell Burritos?”
“Gustavo Arellano Pushes a Few Buttons”
“From Rick Bayless to Bad Burritos”
“The Cultural Appropriation of Food”
335-Word Mini Essay #3: Mukband & Loneliness
Read Jasmin Barmore’s essay “The Queen of Eating Shellfish Online” and Judith Shulevitz’s essay “Why You Never See Your Friends Anymore,” and see The New Yorker’s “History of Loneliness” use the essays to support or refute the contention that mukbang addresses the depression and anxiety of loneliness. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal.
335-Word Mini Essay #4: Limits of Free Speech
Read Andrew Marantz’s “Free Speech Is Killing Us” and support or refute his claim that some private companies need limits on their free speech in order to guard society from existential danger.
1,200-Word Full-Length Essay 1 Options (2 sources for MLA required)
Option A: When our emotions and critical thinking don’t necessarily mix because our emotions prevent us from seeing long-term consequences of our good intentions.
The Assignment: Read Conor Friedersdorf’s “In Defense of Harvey Weinstein’s Harvard Lawyer” and the LA Times editorial “Why not let homeless college students park in campus lots?” and develop an argumentative thesis about the conflict between our emotional connection to what is right and wrong and how this emotional connection is challenged by critical thinking in the context of defending a monster like Harvey Weinstein and having compassion for the homeless. Sometimes moral revulsion and compassion cause us to act in ways that result in unforeseen consequences.
Option B: Should Defense Attorneys Represent Monsters?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the importance of counterargument and rebuttal in arguments that address morally abhorrent subject matter that is so egregious we are inclined to compromise our critical thinking skills.
The Assignment: Read Conor Friedersdorf’s “In Defense of Harvey Weinstein’s Harvard Lawyer” and agree or disagree with the contention that representing someone as monstrous and diabolical as Harvey Weinstein performs a civic good. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal.
Choice C: Should community colleges house the homeless?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the possible unforeseen effects of good intentions.
The Assignment: Read LA Times editorial “Why not let homeless college students park in campus lots?” and develop an argumentative thesis that addresses the claim that community colleges are acting in students’ best interests by providing sleeping spaces in the parking lots. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Option D: Groupthink and the death of morality
Critical Thinking Objective: Analyze how Groupthink degrades critical thinking and morality.
The Assignment: Develop an argumentative thesis about the way Groupthink degrades critical thinking and morality in “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” “The Country of the Blind,” and “The Lottery.” This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Choice E: Is Ignorance Justified for the Sake of Paradise?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the evolutionary drive for willed ignorance and Groupthink as ways of achieving belonging in the tribe.
The Assignment: Read H.G. Wells’ short story “The Country of the Blind” and develop an argumentative thesis about the true nature of paradise. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section that addresses some people’s claim that blind ignorance is justified if it leads to paradise.
Option F: Groupthink & Resulting Disasters
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the ways Groupthink compromises critical thinking and results in foreseen catastrophes and fiascoes.
The Assignment: In the context of the Netflix documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, develop an argument about how Groupthink fueled this colossal fiasco. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Groupthink:
Groupthink can be defined as a consensus that is reached without performing due diligence or critical reasoning and evaluation. Often Groupthink deteriorates into irrational, self-destructive behavior as a result of everyone being too cowardly and too desperate to conform so there is a fear of dissent.
Groupthink is born from the tribal instinct for belonging and the desire for group unity and cohesiveness.
Some symptoms of Groupthink include the following:
One. Overestimating the group’s power and morality.
Two. The narcissistic belief that one’s group is superior to other groups without any objective evaluation.
Three. Close-mindedness and a reliance on tradition rather than critical analysis.
Four. The pressure for everyone in the group to conform, “to be polite,” and “get with the program” so that there is uniformity at the expense of critical analysis.
Five. Self-censorship resulting from the fear of being expelled by the tribe.
Six. Mindguards who repel any challenge to the status quo.
Seven. The ability to rationalize negative outcomes.
Eight. The ability to change the goalposts so that the group can re-define success.
Groupthink:
Groupthink can be defined as a consensus that is reached without performing due diligence or critical reasoning and evaluation.
Often Groupthink deteriorates into irrational, self-destructive behavior as a result of everyone being too cowardly and too desperate to conform so there is a fear of dissent.
Groupthink is born from the tribal instinct for belonging and the desire for group unity and cohesiveness.
Choice G: How are cognitive bias and reliance on logical fallacies a form of moral degradation and a mortal threat to the world?
The Assignment: Read "It's been hot before" by John Cook, “The Ballad of Clay Travis” by Timm Miller, and consult Caleb Ecerma’s “Fox News Is Preparing to be Sued Over Coronavirus Misinformation,” and Erin Carroll’s “Lawsuit Against Fox News Over Coronavirus Coverage,” and develop an argumentative thesis about how bias causes us to cherry-pick evidence and frame arguments built on logical fallacies even at the expense of public safety.
Choice H: What Is the Role of Logical Fallacies in Global Warming Denial?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Show the connection between logical fallacies and moral bankruptcy.
The Assignment: Read the online essay "It's been hot before" by John Cook and write an argumentative essay about the role of logical fallacies in the dangerous denial of global warming and global drought. For another source, you can use Netflix Explained, "The World's Water Crisis." This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Logical Fallacies in Global Warming Denialism:
Logical Fallacy One: Faulty Comparison (death from previous weather events don’t compare to today’s in terms of scale and severity)
"We've had heat waves before" is both a faulty comparison of previous heat waves to today's, which are five times worse and a non sequitur because they don't address the current cause of heat waves.
Logical Fallacy 2: Red Herring & Whataboutism (that people died of cancer before cigarettes is an attempt to distract from the fact that cigarettes cause cancer. People make the lame argument: “But what about other cancers? People have always died from cancer long before cigarettes,” but this idiotic statement doesn’t refute the spike in cancer from cigarette smoking.
"People died of cancer before cigarettes were invented."
Logical Fallacy Three: Non Sequitur: Throw in a lame argument that has no logical connection to the issue at hand. “It’s been hot before” is a non sequitur that fails to address the cause and effect connection between carbon emissions and global warming, a connection that has been established by the scientific community.
Logical Fallacy Four: Cognitive Bias happens when people double-down or engage in the backfire effect when facts don't conform to their reality bubble. Many people are too narcissistic to accept truths that prove to be "inconvenient" to their comfortable false reality.
See The Backfire Effect, according to The Oatmeal.
Sample Outline and Thesis
Paragraph 1, your introduction, write an explanation of the existential crisis posed by global warming.
Paragraph 2, pivot to a thesis that argues that in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence, there is a Cult of Denialism that relies on logical fallacies to reject the science.
Sample Thesis:
In spite of overwhelming scientific evidence that we are facing an existential threat from global warming, there is a Cult of Denialism that relies on logical fallacies to support their distorted worldview. These fallacies include _______________, ________________, ___________________, and ______________________.
Paragraph 3-6 are your supporting paragraphs.
Paragraph 7 is your counterargument-rebuttal.
Paragraph 8, your conclusion, is a powerful restatement of your thesis.
Choice I: Are People So Soulless That They Will Tell Deadly Lies to Make Money?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Show the connection between logical fallacies and moral bankruptcy.
The Assignment: Support or refute Tim Miller’s contention in his essay “The Ballad of Clay Travis” that Travis has exploited American political division to create a dangerous ecosystem of lies and misinformation in order to “get clicks” and enjoy a huge revenue stream. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section. For example, Clay Travis attacked Tim Miller’s essay on Twitter. Are those attacks legit? Explain. As a variation of this essay, you could argue that Covid-19 deniers (also known as “truthers”) and global warming deniers wage war against science and factual evidence so that they present a deadly threat to society and the world at large.
Choice J: Should Fox News be Sued for Covid-19 Misinformation?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Show the connection between logical fallacies and moral bankruptcy. Secondly, explore the conflict of freedom of speech and presenting danger to the community.
The Assignment: Support or refute the contention that Fox News has endangered lives with their Covid-19 misinformation, and therefore they should be sued into bankruptcy.
Consult Caleb Ecerma’s “Fox News Is Preparing to be Sued Over Coronavirus Misinformation,” Erin Carroll’s “Lawsuit Against Fox News Over Coronavirus Coverage,” and other relevant sources. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
1,200-Word Full-Length Essay 2 Options (2 sources for Works Cited Required)
Choice A: When Media Ratings Contribute to Postmodern Propaganda & the Death of Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking Objectives: Show the connection between logical fallacies, propaganda, and moral bankruptcy.
The Assignment: Read New Yorker writer Joshua Yaffa’s essay “The Kremlin’s Creative Director: How the television producer Konstantin Ernst went from discerning auteur to Putin’s unofficial minister of propaganda” and develop an argumentative thesis that addresses the role of media in producing a new type of “postmodern propaganda” that shatters critical thinking. As a variation of this essay, you can compare the sell-out rationalizations Konstantin Ernst makes to those made by Travis Clay. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Option B: When Is Appropriating Another Culture’s Food Acceptable and When Isn’t It?
Critical Thinking Objective: Study the idea of cultural appropriation and develop arguments for situations that may or may not justify it.
The Assignment: Defend or refute the claim made by Gustavo Arellano and others that Rick Bayless appropriates Mexican cuisine in an offensive manner. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal.
Consult the following:
As of writing, the website is down for Gustavo Arellano’s famous OC Weekly essay “The Problem Isn’t Rick Bayless Cooking Mexican Food--It’s That He’s a Thin-Skinned Diva.” So we will look at these other essays that address the topic:
“Should White Chefs Sell Burritos?”
“Gustavo Arellano Pushes a Few Buttons”
“From Rick Bayless to Bad Burritos”
“The Cultural Appropriation of Food”
Option C: World War Z and Covid-19 Comparison Essay
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the way popular culture memes become metaphors for unconscious fears and societal concerns that permeate through communities.
The Assignment: Read “You Can’t Scare a Virus” in Vox, “How the Zombie Represents America’s Deepest Fears” in Vox, “What zombies can teach us about infectious diseases” in The Los Angeles Times, “Zombies in the Age of Covid-19” in The National Review, and listen to Terry Gross’ Fresh Air interview with Max Brooks.
Use this material to help you write an argumentative thesis about the relationship between Covid-19 and the allegorical 2013 horror film World War Z or any other zombie entertainment that you watch. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal.
Comparison Points of Zombies and Covid-19
Both create panic.
Both bring out the survival “doomsday prep” impulse resulting in hoarding supplies, guns, food, TP, etc.
Both create paranoia, resulting in fear of strangers, racism (see all of the hostility against Asians and Asian-Americans).
Both create a retreat from crowded spaces and encourage what is called the quarantine.
Both came by surprise. We got “sucker punched” and didn’t have the appropriate preparation.
Both caused disruption of society, the economy, national security, the supply chain, etc.
Choice D: Damned If We Work; Damned If We Don’t Work
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the notion that we don’t always have the luxury of choosing between good and bad. Sometimes we have to choose between More Bad and Less Bad.
The Assignment: Read Anne Helen Petersen’s “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation,” Derek Thompson’s “Workism Is Making Americans Miserable” and Spencer Bokat-Lindell’s "Should the Government Give Everyone $1,000 a Month?" and show how the demands of acquiring a successful career and the prospect of mass unemployment evidence that some of life’s biggest decisions are not based on choosing between good and bad but on choosing between More Bad and Less Bad.
Option E: When Work Turns into a Cult
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore how our hunger for identity and meaning can make us vulnerable to the manipulations of a cult master, even if this cult master is work itself.
The Assignment: Read Derek Thompson’s essay “Workism Is Making Americans Miserable” and develop a thesis that supports or refutes Thompson’s claim that work has become a false religion that doesn’t deliver on its promises. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Option F: Is UBI the Answer to Mass Unemployment?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the meaning of identity, self-esteem, and purpose in a world without work.
The Assignment: Read "Should the Government Give Everyone $1,000 a Month?" by Spencer Bokat-Lindell in The New York Times and develop a thesis that argues for or against UBI as a viable solution to the crisis of mass unemployment. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Option G: How do we lose our free agency and even sanity through obsession?
What mechanisms of obsession and addiction make us “lose the forest for the trees” so that we lose our metacognition, our sanity, our free agency (free will) and critical thinking skills resulting in the loss of free agency and the surrender to psychological determinism?
The Assignment: Read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams” and David Foster Wallace’s “Shipping Out” and explain how the mechanisms of obsession and addiction make us “lose the forest for the trees” so that we lose our metacognition and critical thinking skills resulting in the loss of free agency, the affliction of mental dissolution, and the surrender to psychological determinism.
Option H: When Love Is Not Only a Farce But a Self-Destructive Addition
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore how self-agency can give way to psychological determinism (loss of free will) as one goes deeper and deeper into one’s obsession so that one “loses the forest for the trees,” a figurative expression for describing the loss of metacognition.
The Assignment: Read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “Winter Dreams” and develop an argumentative thesis that addresses the notion that Dexter Green’s pursuit of Judy Jones is analogous to a drug addict who needs his fix, loses his sense of time, withdraws into a world of selfishness and solipsism, and essentially squanders his life on a fool’s errand. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal.
Choice I: Are Boat Cruises a Form of Death?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the possibility that consumerism can reach a point of no return where we are larded with so much indulgence that we lose our minds.
The Assignment: Read David Foster Wallace’s essay “Shipping Out,” and defend or refute the claim that boat cruises are a form of all-consuming spiritual death. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
1,200-Word Full-Length Essay 4 Options (2 sources required for Works Cited)
Option A: Epidemic of Loneliness and Mukbang
Critical Thinking Objective: Explore the causes and effects of loneliness in a digital society and how this loneliness develops symbiotic relationships with those who are clever enough to exploit the digital landscape.
The Assignment: Read Jasmin Barmore’s essay “The Queen of Eating Shellfish Online” and Judith Shulevitz’s essay “Why You Never See Your Friends Anymore,” and see The New Yorker’s “History of Loneliness” use the essays to support or refute the contention that mukbang addresses the depression and anxiety of loneliness. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal.
Option B. Was Ronnie Coleman Justified in Destroying His Body to Become the World’s Greatest Bodybuilder?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore how some arguments are not binary, that they are more appropriately addressed as a “complication” that defies black and white answers and requires a nuanced analysis.
The Assignment: Watch Netflix documentary Ronnie Coleman: The King. Considered to be the greatest bodybuilder of all time, Coleman is now on crutches, faces a lifetime of excruciating pain, must take opioid pain medication, may have to be consigned to a wheelchair, and by most accounts the abuse he took to become a champion bodybuilder is the reason for his condition. The film celebrates Coleman’s life principle to persist in doing what he loves, but doing what he loves comes with a price: excruciating, life-altering injuries. Is doing what we love worth it? In this context, develop an argumentative thesis that addresses the notion that in order to achieve exceptional success, we are justified to make sacrifices of our body, minds, and souls. Is Coleman’s current condition justified by his success and his heroic drive to do what he loves? Answer this question and be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Option D: Should We Judge an Adulterous Couple Through the Lens of Moral Absolutism or Moral Relativism?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the differences between moral absolutism and moral relativism and how these frameworks bias our judgments and arguments.
The Assignment: Read Anton Chekhov’s story “The Lady with the Dog” and argue for a moral absolutism or moral relativism in our judgment of the adulterous couple. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal.
Option E: How Greed Eats Us from the Inside Out
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore how self-agency can give way to psychological determinism (loss of free will) as one goes deeper and deeper into one’s obsession so that one “loses the forest for the trees,” a figurative expression for describing the loss of metacognition.
The Assignment: See the 1998 movie A Simple Plan, and address the argument that the movie makes a persuasive presentation of 5 points: the love of money is the root of all evil, acquiring a huge sum of money makes resisting this evil impossible, happiness may be found through working for one’s money but not stealing it, greed will devour even the best-laid plans and consume the souls of those who submit to it, and finally critical thinking skills of the individual get crushed when people join forces and become like a pack of crazed, ravenous wolves in their desire to gain control of their fortunes. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Choice F: Is Losing Weight a Fool’s Errand?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Apply Sturgeon’s Law (that over 90% of everything is crap) to the majority of dieters who fail in their weight-loss quest.
The Assignment: Read Alexandra Sifferlin's "The Weight Loss Trap" and Harriet Brown's "The Weight of the Evidence" and develop an argumentative thesis that addresses their claim that losing weight is a nearly futile quest. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Choice G: Was Erik Killmonger a villain or a hero?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the contradictions of a hero that defy easy analysis.
The Assignment: See the movie Black Panther and in an argumentative essay, with a counterargument-rebuttal section, address the question: Is Erik Killmonger a villain or a hero? Consult Adam Serwer’s “The Tragedy of Erik Killmonger” and Osman Faruqi’s “Why Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger Is the Real Hero of ‘Black Panther.’” Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Choice H: Are vegan burgers the wave of the future?
Read Tad Friend’s New Yorker online article “Can a Burger Help Solve Climate Change?” and look at two opposing camps on the role of alternative protein sources as a viable replacement for meat. One camp says we face too many obstacles to accept non-animal alternative proteins: evolution, taste, and cost, to name several. An opposing camp says we have the technology and the proven product in Impossible Foods and other non-meat proteins to replace animal protein. Assessing these two opposing camps in the context of Tad Friend’s essay, develop an argumentative thesis addresses the question: How viable is the push for tech companies to help climate change by replacing animals with alternative proteins?
Choice I: Is Gamechangers a work of propaganda?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the way people with good intentions can manipulate emotions, studies, and statistics, cherry-pick evidence, and rely on cognitive bias to present their dubious arguments.
The Assignment: Read Biolayne’s critique of the Netflix documentary The Gamechangers, see the documentary, and find arguments that both defend and refute The Gamechangers and develop an argument about how the quality of argumentation used in the film. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
1,200-Word Full-Length Essay 4 Options (requires 3 sources for Works Cited)
Choice A: The Origins of Morality
Critical Thinking Objectives: Show how biases distort our argumentation.
The Assignment: Read Elizabeth Anderson’s “If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?” and defend, refute, or complicate the author’s claim that non-religious societies offer a superior moral framework for human evolution than religious societies. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Choice B: Should Private Companies Have Free Speech Limits?
Read Andrew Marantz’s “Free Speech Is Killing Us” and support or refute his claim that some private companies need limits on their free speech in order to guard society from existential danger.
Choice C: Do We Live in a Coddling Culture?
Explore the way technology and “helicopter parents” may or may not be cultivating a generation of dysfunctional children.
Read “The Coddling of the American Mind” and “Have Smartphones Ruined a Generation?” and develop an argument about the authors’ claim that a “coddling culture” is creating a generation of dysfunctional people. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Choice D: Is American Democracy a Thing of the Past?
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the forces that destroy democracy.
Read Yoni Appelbaum’s essay “How America Ends” and develop an argumentative thesis about the role of massive demographic shifts on American democracy. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Choice E: The Tiger Kings Debate
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the manner in which a freak show for entertainment can be incompatible with social commentary.
Watch the 6-part Tiger Kings documentary, read Marlow Stern’s “World’s Biggest Tiger Expert: ‘Tiger King’s” Carole Baskin Is Full of It,” and address the argument that Tiger Kings focuses too much on the “human freak show” at the expense of the exotic animals resulting in a morally bankrupt enterprise. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Modules Outline the Course Week by Week
Week 1: Informed Opinions and Unintended Consequences of Good Intentions
Informed Vs. Conditioned Opinions
Pathos, Logos, and Ethos
Toulmin Essay Structure
Refutation Essay Structure (Knocking Down the Pumpkins with a Baseball Bat Method)
Mastering the 6 Components of Signal Phrases
Examining Unintended Consequences in Harvey Weinstein and Homeless Parking Lots at Community Colleges
Week 2: Groupthink and the Death of Critical Thinking
How Groupthink Degrades Critical Thinking
Groupthink in “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”
Groupthink in “The Lottery”
Groupthink and Willed Ignorance in “The Country of the Blind”
335-Word Mini Essay #1 How does Groupthink degrade critical thinking and morality?
Compare the way Groupthink degrades critical thinking and morality in “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” “The Country of the Blind,” and “The Lottery.”
Week 3: Cognitive Bias, Propaganda and Logical Fallacies
Cognitive bias and logical fallacies in global warming denial. See "It's been hot before" by John Cook.
Moral turpitude and logical fallacies in Covid-19 denial. See “The Ballad of Clay Travis” by Timm Miller. Also see Caleb Ecerma’s “Fox News Is Preparing to be Sued Over Coronavirus Misinformation,” and Erin Carroll’s “Lawsuit Against Fox News Over Coronavirus Coverage.”
Week 4 Essay 1 Process
Signal Phrases (6 Components)
MLA Works Cited format
Deciding on Essay Structure
Writing Introduction
Writing Your Claim
Week 5 How Logical Fallacies Inform Propaganda, Cultural Appropriation, and Zombies as Metaphors
How logical fallacies are used in propaganda. Read New Yorker writer ”Joshua Yaffa’s essay “The Kremlin’s Creative Director: How the television producer Konstantin Ernst went from discerning auteur to Putin’s unofficial minister of propaganda.
As of writing, the website is down for Gustavo Arellano’s famous OC Weekly essay “The Problem Isn’t Rick Bayless Cooking Mexican Food--It’s That He’s a Thin-Skinned Diva.” So we will look at these other essays that address the topic:
Rick Bayless Debate can be found in the following essays:
“Should White Chefs Sell Burritos?”
“Gustavo Arellano Pushes a Few Buttons”
“From Rick Bayless to Bad Burritos”
“The Cultural Appropriation of Food”
335-Word Mini Essay #2: The Rick Bayless Debate
Critical Thinking Objective: Study the idea of cultural appropriation and develop arguments for situations that may or may not justify it.
The Assignment: Defend or refute the claim made by Gustavo Arellano and others that Rick Bayless appropriates Mexican cuisine in an offensive manner. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal.
Consult the following:
As of writing, the website is down for Gustavo Arellano’s famous OC Weekly essay “The Problem Isn’t Rick Bayless Cooking Mexican Food--It’s That He’s a Thin-Skinned Diva.” So we will look at these other essays that address the topic:
“Should White Chefs Sell Burritos?”
“Gustavo Arellano Pushes a Few Buttons”
“From Rick Bayless to Bad Burritos”
“The Cultural Appropriation of Food”
Zombies as Metaphors
Explore the way popular culture memes become metaphors for unconscious fears and societal concerns that permeate through communities.
Read “You Can’t Scare a Virus” in Vox, “How the Zombie Represents America’s Deepest Fears” in Vox, “What zombies can teach us about infectious diseases” in The Los Angeles Times, “Zombies in the Age of Covid-19” in The National Review, and listen to Terry Gross’ Fresh Air interview with Max Brooks.
Develop an argumentative thesis about the relationship between Covid-19 and the allegorical 2013 horror film World War Z or any other zombie entertainment that you watch. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal.
Week 6: The Work Dilemma in the Age of Mass Unemployment
Choosing between More Bad and Less Bad
Read Anne Helen Petersen’s “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation.”
Read Derek Thompson’s “Workism Is Making Americans Miserable.”
Read Spencer Bokat-Lindell’s "Should the Government Give Everyone $1,000 a Month?."
Week 7 Loss of Free Will & Metacognition
Define free agency, metacognition, and psychological determinism.
Read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams.”
Read David Foster Wallace’s “Shipping Out.
Explain how the mechanisms of obsession and addiction make us “lose the forest for the trees” so that we lose our metacognition and critical thinking skills resulting in the loss of free agency, the affliction of mental dissolution, and the surrender to psychological determinism.
Week 8 Writing Essay 2
Choose appropriate structure.
Develop a claim.
Develop pathos, logos, ethos.
Be sure to implement the 6 components of signal phrases.
Be sure to use correct pagination and MLA Works Cited with minimum of 2 sources.
Week 9 Epidemic of Loneliness and Mukbang and Complicating Arguments in Case of Ronnie Coleman
Explore the causes and effects of loneliness in a digital society and how this loneliness develops symbiotic relationships with those who are clever enough to exploit the digital landscape.
335-Word Mini Essay #3: Mukband & Loneliness
Read Jasmin Barmore’s essay “The Queen of Eating Shellfish Online” and Judith Shulevitz’s essay “Why You Never See Your Friends Anymore,” and see The New Yorker’s “History of Loneliness” use the essays to support or refute the contention that mukbang addresses the depression and anxiety of loneliness. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal.
Was Ronnie Coleman Justified in Destroying His Body to Become the World’s Greatest Bodybuilder?
Explore how some arguments are not binary, that they are more appropriately addressed as a “complication” that defies black and white answers and requires a nuanced analysis.
Week 10 Moral Relativism Vs. Moral Absolutism, Self-Agency Vs. Psychological Determinism; Sturgeon’s Law
Should We Judge an Adulterous Couple Through the Lens of Moral Absolutism or Moral Relativism?
Explore the differences between moral absolutism and moral relativism and how these frameworks bias our judgments and arguments.
Read Anton Chekhov’s story “The Lady with the Dog” and argue for a moral absolutism or moral relativism in our judgment of the adulterous couple. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal.
How Greed Eats Us from the Inside Out: The Movie A Simple Plan
Explore how self-agency can give way to psychological determinism (loss of free will) as one goes deeper and deeper into one’s obsession so that one “loses the forest for the trees,” a figurative expression for describing the loss of metacognition.
See the 1998 movie A Simple Plan, and address the argument that the movie makes a persuasive presentation of 5 points: the love of money is the root of all evil, acquiring a huge sum of money makes resisting this evil impossible, happiness may be found through working for one’s money but not stealing it, greed will devour even the best-laid plans and consume the souls of those who submit to it, and finally critical thinking skills of the individual get crushed when people join forces and become like a pack of crazed, ravenous wolves in their desire to gain control of their fortunes. This essay does not require a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Is Losing Weight a Fool’s Errand?
Apply Sturgeon’s Law (that over 90% of everything is crap) to the majority of dieters who fail in their weight-loss quest.
Read Alexandra Sifferlin's "The Weight Loss Trap" and Harriet Brown's "The Weight of the Evidence" and develop an argumentative thesis that addresses their claim that losing weight is a nearly futile quest. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Week 11: Erik Killmonger and Plant-Based Diets
Was Erik Killmonger a villain or a hero?
Explore the contradictions of a hero that defy easy analysis.
See the movie Black Panther and in an argumentative essay, with a counterargument-rebuttal section, address the question: Is Erik Killmonger a villain or a hero? Consult Adam Serwer’s “The Tragedy of Erik Killmonger” and Osman Faruqi’s “Why Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger Is the Real Hero of ‘Black Panther.’” Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Explore the biases humans have through evolution and cultural conditioning to prefer animal products to plant-based foods.
Read Tad Friend’s New Yorker online article “Can a Burger Help Solve Climate Change?” and look at two opposing camps on the role of alternative protein sources as a viable replacement for meat. One camp says we face too many obstacles to accept non-animal alternative proteins: evolution, taste, and cost, to name several. An opposing camp says we have the technology and the proven product in Impossible Foods and other non-meat proteins to replace animal protein. Assessing these two opposing camps in the context of Tad Friend’s essay, develop an argumentative thesis addresses the question: How viable is the push for tech companies to help climate change by replacing animals with alternative proteins? This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Is The Gamechangers a legit argument for a plant-based diet?
Explore the way people with good intentions can manipulate emotions, studies, and statistics, cherry-pick evidence, and rely on cognitive bias to present their dubious arguments.
The Assignment: Read Biolayne’s critique of the Netflix documentary The Gamechangers, see the documentary, and find arguments that both defend and refute The Gamechangers and develop an argument about how the quality of argumentation used in the film. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Week 12: Work on Essay 3
Choose appropriate structure.
Develop a claim.
Develop pathos, logos, ethos.
Be sure to implement the 6 components of signal phrases.
Be sure to use correct pagination and MLA Works Cited with a minimum of 2 sources.
Week 13: The Origins of Morality and The Limits of Free Speech for Private Companies
Show how biases distort our argumentation.
The Assignment: Read Elizabeth Anderson’s “If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?” and defend, refute, or complicate the author’s claim that non-religious societies offer a superior moral framework for human evolution than religious societies. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
335-Word Mini Essay #4: Limits of Free Speech
Read Andrew Marantz’s “Free Speech Is Killing Us” and support or refute his claim that some private companies need limits on their free speech in order to guard society from existential danger.
Week 14 Do We Live in a Coddling Culture?
Explore the way technology and “helicopter parents” may or may not be cultivating a generation of dysfunctional children.
Read “The Coddling of the American Mind.”
Read “Have Smartphones Ruined a Generation?” and develop an argument about the authors’ claim that a “coddling culture” is creating a generation of dysfunctional people. This essay requires a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Week 15 Is American Democracy a Thing of the Past? The Tiger Kings Debate
Explore the forces that destroy democracy.
Read Yoni Appelbaum’s essay “How America Ends” and develop an argumentative thesis about the role of massive demographic shifts on American democracy. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
The Tiger Kings Debate
Critical Thinking Objectives: Explore the manner in which a freak show for entertainment can be incompatible with social commentary.
Watch the 6-part Tiger Kings documentary, read Marlow Stern’s “World’s Biggest Tiger Expert: ‘Tiger King’s” Carole Baskin Is Full of It,” and and Doreen St. Felix’s “The Crass Pleasures of ‘Tiger King,’” and address the argument that Tiger Kings focuses too much on the “human freak show” at the expense of the exotic animals resulting in a morally bankrupt enterprise. Be sure to have a counterargument-rebuttal section.
Week 16: Working on Essay 4 (needs 3 sources)
Choose appropriate structure.
Develop a claim.
Develop pathos, logos, ethos.
Be sure to implement the 6 components of signal phrases.
Be sure to use correct pagination and MLA Works Cited with a minimum of 3 sources.
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