PA#7
Please note (IMPORTANT)
My upcoming absence from class on Friday necessitates some changes in the syllabus, so here goes:
By Sunday at 5 PM, blog a paragraph-length response to the following topic. Bring a hard copy of the paragraph to class on Monday.
The topic:
Draft a paragraph length response to ONE of the author's sub-arguments. Don't try to respond to his entire thesis. Choose instead one of his supporting arguments as the topic for your paragraph.
Either support or refute his supporting argument in your paragraph.
Your paragraph might take the following form, depending on whether you are confirming or refuting:
Confirming:
1. State the writer's supporting argument.
2. Explain it briefly. You might want to work in a short, phrase length quotation to show that you are summarizing the argument accurately.
3. State your response.
4. Explain it. (Develop the writer's argument in support of it.)
5. Provide some evidence from an outside source that your claim is true. Alternatively, you could develop the writer's example or analogy with an example or analogy of your own. Another alternative is to show that the writer's example or analogy is a true representation of his or her argumentative claim.
Refuting:
1. State the writer's supporting argument.
2. Explain it briefly. You might want to work in a short, phrase length quotation to show that you are summarizing the argument accurately.
3. State your response.
4. Explain it. (Develop the writer's argument in support of it.)
5. Alternatively, you could counter the writer's example or analogy with an
example or analogy of your own. Another alternative is to show that the
writer's example or analogy is a false representation of his or her
argumentative claim.
Two things to keep in mind:
1. Provide appropriate transitional devices from TSIS to indicate where the paragraph is moving.
2. Show. Don't tell. Don't evaluate the writer's argument. Don't respond to the writer. Respond to the argument in a reasoned and unemotional way. Don't write that the argument is true or false. Don't even refer to the argument. State it, explain it, and move on the your response.
Don't characterize the argument or the writer. Avoid name calling. Don't write that the argument is "bull," for example. Show the strengths or flaws in the argument instead.
Erin Fannin PA#7
ReplyDeleteIn their essay “Torture: When the Unthinkable is Morally Permissible”, coauthors Mirko Bagaric and Julie Clark argue that torture should be permissible when its purpose is to save an innocent. They claim that the temporary physical pain of a suspect is small in comparison to the possible death of an innocent and that torture is allowed when it “is the only means, due to the immediacy of the situation” (Bagaric and Clark). But do the ends always justify the means? The key idea that is used to justify the use of torture is the presence of innocence. Are the victims always innocent and are the suspects always guilty? In a hostage situation when a suspect is pointing a gun at someone, there is no doubt of their guilt, but in a situation where a case is built on hearsay and testimonies guilt is not always so certain. When considering a suspect, there is always the chance that they might be innocent, and thus there is a chance of endangering a so called innocent that the use of torture is supposed to protect.
David Krein PA#7
ReplyDeleteIn singleton’s essay, “What our education system needs is more F’s”, one of his arguments is that “Giving an F where it is deserved would force parents to get themselves away from the TV set, too, and take an active part in their children’s education.” However, one should take into account that not every family is the same. Many parents just simply don’t have the time to attend to their children every night and some parents might not even care that much about their children’s academic success. For example, if a parent has multiple children that are failing, which one should they attend to? There are is only so much time in one day and divided between work, household chores, and children, parents are super busy and not to mention stressed.
In Carl’s essay, he argues that parents will pay more attention on the students’ study when the student get worse grade. To be more specific, parents always want their children to be the best, even the students cannot be the best, parents want them to try their best. Therefore, F is not an expect grade for parents and student, which will make both of them to think backward and find the way to solve the problems. As for as I concerned, the point of Carl is reasonable. As a student, the communication of teachers and parents are different. Because teacher take care of all the students in class, but parents just educate their own children. However, parents cannot stay with children all day, the students spend most of their time with the teachers. If the student is excellent in campus, it is fine. However, if they did not try their best in school, a F in report is necessary to let parents know that situation. Because they can influent and educate their children more directly and effective.
ReplyDeleteCarl Singleton suggests that once teachers begin to hand out F’s that the students’ parents will take action by helping their students to understand the material. He states that the responsibility of students’ failure ultimately lies in the hands of their parents. Singleton overlooks the fact that not all parents are capable or willing to help their students. Some parents may be surpassed in level of education by their own children, while others either simply don’t have the time or the patience to sit down and ensure their children fully understand the material. My parents were a combination of all inabilities to assist my siblings and me with understanding school work. My mother stopped attending classes after primary school and both she and my father were usually busy working. I saw my mother twice a day for the entirety of my school career, when she dropped me off at school and when she picked me up, for a grand total of fifteen minutes a day. She also couldn’t read English so she was never able to help me even in primary school. My father was a short tempered man, so if we didn’t understand after the first round of attempted explanation, he would simply rule us off as incompetent and leave us to figure it out on our own.
ReplyDeletePeter Hamblett
ReplyDeleteAll living things deserve equal rights. Steven M Wise explains that throughout his essay about Why Animals Deserve Legal Rights. Though others don’t view animals equal to humans, his essay claims that they aren’t being treated fairly. By that he means that animals who undergo testing don’t receive treatment that could reduce pain inflicted on them or even save their lives. Animals are being tested with diseases and surgery that can be done to humans. He explains how animals are truly intelligent and deserve the same rights as humans. They get operated on without anesthesia and pain medication which can ultimately lead to there death. Animals such as apes deserve the same rights as humans as they are the most identical animal to humans. In the twenty-first-century there is an increase of knowledge that we can use to back up the statement that animals do deserve the same amount of rights as humans do.
Carl Singleton claims that if teachers send home a final “F” it would force most parents to deal with the realities of their children’s failure. Though it might put them in reality we can’t say for sure how some parents will handle the situation. Some parents don’t handle the situation with a TV punishment. Sixth grade a boy sat next to me in math class and had received an “F” on a test. He got tiers in his eyes and said my dad is going to kill me. Thinking he was over thinking the situation the next day he wasn’t in class. His father had beaten him so bad that he could come to school. So thinking that parents will deal with their kid’s failure by helping them and taking away the TV doesn’t always happen.
ReplyDeleteMallory Torr
ReplyDeleteIn Carl Singletons Essay “What our Education system needs is more F's” Singleton claims that parents need to become more proactive in their students academic career. Singleton goes on in his essay to explain that parents have a huge impact to the success of their children s academics. Singleton states in his essay, “Sending students home with final grades of F would force most parents to deal with the realities of their children's failure while it is happening and when it is yet possible to do something about it (less time on TV, and more time on homework, perhaps!)”. This being said Singletons claim is very reasonable, a parent should be just as involved as the student is. A parents job is making sure their child can be as successful as it can, and being involved in their academics is part of that. That was the case for me growing up as a child, my parents would check on me daily and make sure I was doing my homework and studying any material that I was suppose to. Overall, I think that Singleton's claim is very reasonable and important to any students success.
Jon Griggs PA #7
ReplyDeleteIn Bagaric and Clarke’s essay on torture, they argue that Torture is permissible only in the circumstances in which it can make the difference in saving an innocent life. They argue that the right to self-defense should never be taken away in any situation. They claim that if shooting the suspect in a hostage taking scenario is universally accepted, than torture should be as well because they both share the common goal of the safekeeping of others. I agree with this claim because the life and well-being of innocent people are far more important to me than the physical harm a suspect is receiving. The wrong-doer obviously doesn’t care too much about their target or enemies life, so why should the target or enemy care about him? Torture has been used for centuries by the entire world. In some instances, it is the only way to get the information you need to save your people from harm.
Carl Singleton stated in "What Our Education System Needs is More F's" essay that the school systems are, too, to be blamed for the deteriorating education within the United States of America. This is to say that the "massive ignorance" of grading policies and other such flaws in the system were accommodating those who did not meet prerequisites - or simply did not meet the practical standards. It is true that students couldn't, or at least shouldn't, "come to class and get your C's, laugh at my jokes and take home B's," but I argue that the system cannot be blamed within such manners. For instance, D's can't be given to those who deserved F's, because the weighing of work, tests, and quizzes are heavier than just participation (aka. sucking up) and attendance.
ReplyDeleteCory Feuerstein
ReplyDeleteCarl Singleton states that giving students F's when they are deserved would make teachers expect just as much of themselves as they'd expect of their students. His reasoning behind this argument is that it wouldn't allow teachers to give out passing grades to students who don't deserve them, just to make it look like they are doing their jobs properly. Giving students F's when they deserve them could help the educational system in a couple of ways. It would point out specific problem areas that students were having on a certain subject. Also, doing this would point out to teachers that they may need to adjust their teaching methods according to these problem areas. For example, when everyone in my high school Algebra II class did poorly on the same area of a test, the teacher would go about fixing the situation in a couple of ways. First, he would reteach the specific problem area to the class, usually in a slower and more thorough manner. He would then give us a small quiz over the area that he retaught. This gave the students a chance to make up for points that they lost on the test and it also demonstrated that he was properly performing his teaching duties.
Gopika Nair
ReplyDeleteIn his essay "What Our Education System Needs is More F's," Carl Singleton asserts that giving kids a final grade of F will compel parents to take an active interest in their children's education. Singleton's point of view implies that parents should have a stronger involvement in teaching their kids. Though the writer makes a valid point, this cannot be a solution because not all parents are capable of helping kids with their education. Due to work commitments, some parents simply might not have time to attend to their children's doubts. Additionally, there are others who cannot assist their wards with homework because they aren't as educated. Moreover, some parents lose their temper upon learning that their kids aren't doing well in school. In such cases, instead of motivating their children to learn and grow from their failures, the parents will end up impacting their kids negatively, thereby increasing their internal frustration and feeling of hopelessness. This could contribute to an increasing number of dropouts as students will lose faith in their own potential. In order to develop their skills and study habits, what students really need is the support of educationalists. Ultimately, the whole purpose of high schools and universities is to give students a good education and solid resources. Bringing in parents, who on the first hand pay for the education of their children, to also assist in home-education is putting the pressure back on the family. More than sharing the onus of failure with parents, universities and high schools would do better to motivate the students in order to overcome setbacks and emerge triumphant.
Carl Singleton suggests that teachers in the education systems should give out more F's in his essay "What Our Education System Needs is More F's". Singleton's idea states that if teachers give out more F's, parents will start to get more involved in their child's school work, which will ideally increase the proficiency of the student's work quality. In some states of his argument, I would agree that the student would have to work a lot harder to provide better work that would be acceptable. But, there is a downfall that goes along side one of his reasons, referring to the parents of the students helping out. I believe that Singleton assumes that every home has two supportive parents in each household. Unfortunately, that is not true. There are many parents in the United States that are not supportive, nor would they offer help to their child with their school work. For many of the students who aren't as academically gifted as others, as well as not having the type of parents who would help them succeed in the classroom, it would only benefit one side. To the other side, it could lead to an increase in high school dropouts. Singleton's intentions are good, but the system wouldn't work, as there would be more hurt than positivity.
ReplyDeleteDavid Herbawi
ReplyDeleteOne of the supporting arguments used in Mirko Bagaric and Julie Clarke’s essay Torture: When The Unthinkable Is Morally Permissible is that a society that refuses to do torture under any circumstances is disregarding the safety of everyone but the suspect. They argue that a society that won’t do physical harm to a suspect for the greater good is the same as one where “rescuers would not be permitted to save sick people for fear of colliding into other cars, police would not pursue criminals for the same reason, people would not undergo security checks at airports they boarded their planes.” All three examples are flawed. The first two are flawed because emergency workers and police never need or want to cause harm to bystanders when preforming their duties, and are able to avoid doing so the vast majority of the time. The last example is weak because the inconvenience that people willingly go through when in an airport is nothing like the deliberate pain inflicted on the torture victim who has no power over his situation.
More F’s do not mean more success. Grade deflation may increase the value of an A because students may need to work harder for them, but this will decrease the amount of students with success in school. Each student with an A may look better in a world where they are more sparse, but now there are much less people that have A’s. You will increase the gap between great students and poor students, when what needs to happen is the opposite. The second quarter of my freshman year in high school, I got a D in Physical Science and had to walk home with my report card. I set the report card strategically where my parents would find it and I hid downstairs in our damp dark basement waiting for them to find out. All A’s and one D. I heard a yell and then a bang from upstairs which shook me to my core. I went through hell that weekend until I was able to go in and talk to the teacher who had given me the grade. He said he would sort through some papers and see if he missed something, but that he was certain it was just my own lack of staying organized and on track. Later the teacher called my mom directly to inform her he had made a mistake and that I had an A in his class and that he apologizes for the mistake. Every day I will remember the fear and the terror I had expected. I did not feel motivation to move or go upstairs, let alone enough motivation to get better grades in the future.
ReplyDelete