In-Class Activity for 10/25

In-class Argument/Research Activity:

Huge research papers can seem pretty intimidating so I thought we'd try an exercise that might help you create a sample introduction/thesis, and also get a little more experience with research.  This can be either hand-written or typed, but I want all of these by the end of the day.

1)      Look at the Famous Quotes on the blog.  Choose TWO quotes.

2)      For each quote, do the following:

a.      Paraphrase the quote,

b.      Give me a few sentences relating the quote’s meaning or lesson to a contemporary issue facing our community, college, government, or world, 

c.      Using the library website or Google Scholar, find an academic source backing up your statement,

d.      Supply an argumentative thesis.

Example: 

According to Ignazio Silone, “An earthquake achieves what the law promises but does not in practice maintain - the equality of all men.”  This quote implies that laws are fallible and life, in general, is unfair; however, it also draws attention to issues of social injustice.  This can be related to the income disparity in the United States in that most of the money and resources are controlled by a small number of people.  For instance, in 2010, the top 1% of people had over 35% of the financial wealth, whereas the next 19% had about 54% of the wealth, and the bottom 80% of Americans had only about 11% of the wealth (Domhoff, table 1).  While I do not favor an equal distribution of wealth (which could also be seen as unfair and potentially eliminate competition and innovation), I do favor a slight increase in taxes on the top 1% of incomes in order to fund social programs.