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Choose one of the three readings below. Read the text, then write a
five-paragraph argumentative essay
on the prompt given in Application,
which appears below the reading. Make sure to use research when making your
arguments and counterarguments. Be reminded that this is an argumentative
essay, which means that in addition to your arguments, you also need to
present the counterarguments. When presenting the counter-arguments provide
examples of logical fallacies commonly used; explain the type of logical
fallacy. Do not forget to add the rebuttal after the counterargument. Do not
quote; instead, paraphrase.
You need to type the essay in a Word
document and follow APA style.
Theme:
Ways of Seeing
1. Glamour and the Art of Persuasion
Application:
Postrel mentions military
recruitment videos and Barack Obama as a presidential candidate in 2008 as
two contemporary examples of glamour. Choose another present-day example of
glamour and describe it, providing specific details about this glamorous
person, object, place, or event. Do some research about the history of this
glamorous person, place, or thing and use that research to offer an
explanation for the source of its glamour. (For example, Postrel talks about
associations between Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, and about the fact
that Obama had a relatively unknown national political profile, as two
explanations for his glamorous appeal in 2008.) Also discuss why the example
that you’ve chosen is glamorous to you. What is it that makes you drawn to
this glamorous person, place, or thing? If you happen to be writing about a
person, place, or thing that used to be glamorous but no longer is perceived
as glamorous, explain why public (or your) perception changed.
2. Theme:
Places and Spaces:
2. Smelling the Coffee :
Application:
Cobb’s article appeared in 2018,
two years prior to the unrest, protests, and riots of 2020. Part of the
strategies Cobb mentions to mitigate these implicit biases against people of
color includes formal training undertaken by Starbucks. Other attempts to
draw attention to these implicit biases have occurred in 2020, with multiple
scholars and activists encouraging us all to read a variety of texts on the
issue and become more informed on these implicit biases and systemic racism.
Do you think this is the best approach to fight implicit bias and racism?
Develop a curriculum, including at least one book source, that could be used
to increase awareness of these issues and perhaps help to solve them. Then
write an essay defending your curriculum.
3. Theme:
Places and Spaces:
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3. Cities for People or Cars?
Application:
Do some Research to learn a
little more about New Urbanism. (Some possible sources include
Suburbam Nation: The Rise
of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, by Andres Duanny, Elizabeth
Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck, and Walkable City by Jeff Speck.) Make a list
of some of the key principles and ideas that form the basis of New Urbanism
civic design-what it have to say about "walkable" streets, about
proximity of houses and shopping, about sidewalks and public spaces, and so
on? Choose a town or neighborhood that you know and where you spend time
(perhaps even your college campus), and make a proposal for a specific change
to the public space of that town, neighborhood, or campus in keeping with the
principles of New Urbanism. Make a case for the change that you are
proposing. How would it enhance public life and make a public space work
better for local residents, local businesses, and local governments? What are
the possible challenges or problems that would have to be overcome in order
to implement this change to the public space?
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4 min read
