Essay 3 options

Essay 3 options:
Wealth, Poverty and Injustice

A rough draft of Essay 3 is due November 8, with the final draft due a week later. This essay will be an "argument" essay, so consult the "Basic Features" of the Argument essay in SMGW, on which the self-evaluation for this essay will be based. See also SMGW chapter 19 and avoid the logical fallacies listed at the end of that chapter.

Like the other essays, Essay 3 will need a narrow topic, a good title, an attention-getting introduction, a clear thesis, good ideas that are well-developed, a good sense of organization, good use of sources and quotes, citations, a list of works cited, etc.

Minimum two pages, single spaced, 12-point Times Roman font, not counting list of works cited, illustrations, charts, graphs, etc.

You will have to use at least one, and preferably more, of the sources/readings we assigned for the unit (essay, article, opinion piece, music video, etc.). You need to use at least three sources, preferably more.

You'll have to avoid plagiarism. Check the plagiarism and paraphrase resources accessed through the "Where to find it" menu.

And no matter what option you choose, you'll have to explain enough background to your reader regarding people and events so that the reader knows what you're talking about.

Here are some options you could consider for your third essay:

1. Use some of the assigned readings about structural adjustment (Parenti, Goodland, Cobb) via D2L, and also research what the International Monetary Fund has to say about their own programs. They tend to say they give loans to help developing countries, but critics note that it often doesn't work out that way; instead, big corporations benefit and get a fresh batch of cheap labor, while the poor countries go deeper and deeper in debt, and have less and less to spend on things like health care and education because their loan payments as a nation are so high. Make an argument either way, either in favor of IMF polices, or against them as often practiced. List and develop your main arguments, consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

2. Use some of the assigned readings about who pays taxes ("Who Pays Taxes in America," the Warren Buffett interview, and possibly other readings about CEO pay, the widening pay gap between rich and poor), and consider the other side, which argues that when you cut taxes, everyone benefits. Argue either in favor of higher taxes for the rich, or lower taxes for the rich. List and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

3. Compare Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (BR) in which he explains to other black clergy why the civil rights movement must take peaceful action, and his speech, "A Time to Break Silence" (web), in opposition to the war in Vietnam. Decide which you think is the more important speech of the two, perhaps the better speech of the two considering MLK's career. Make an argument in favor of the one you think is more important or better. List and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

4. Research extraordinary renditionand torture as practiced by the US at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. See the resources on torture here on the blog. The government claims that they have gotten very useful information from prisoners using "enhanced interrogation techniques" (a euphamism for torture). But there is also proof that innocent prisoners have been tortured. How good or useful should the information they get have to be to justify the torture of even one innocent prisoner, wrongfully imprisoned?

5. Write about Smedley Butler and the Business Plot. As usual, use Wikipedia only as a starting point. Argue that perhaps Smedley Butler should have led the coup and overthrown the US government. Or argue that the rich who instigated the planned coup should have been shamed, their property confiscated by the government, and brought to trial, perhaps executed for treason. No matter what position you take, list and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them. You could also use Smedley Butler's book, War is a Racket, as a resource

6. Take the essay by Rachel Carson, "The Obligation to Endure" (BR), about man-made chemicals and their risks, and perhaps also research the opposition of Dr. Alice Hamilton to lead additives in gasoline. Argue either in favor of restrictions on pollution from man-made chemicals in order to make the environment more clean and healthy, or in favor of fewer restrictions on chemical use and dumping for economic reasons ("It's good for the economy"). List and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

7. Take the assigned article about child/slave labor in India for the GAP, and perhaps research other instances where corporations have been found to have used child labor, or abusive practices toward workers (like Nike). Argue either in favor of restrictions on child/slave labor and labor abuses, or argue against restrictions or laws for economic reasons ("It's good for profits and the economy"). List and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

8. Racism: Take some of the articles we read on racism, including the article about the "Resurgence of Nooses" (under "content" on D2L), the Sean Gonsalves article on Rasicm and Education (also under "content" on D2L), and research on what has been written recently about the Jena 6 trial in Louisiana. Consider using one or both of the recently assigned Martin Luther King, Jr. speeches (in Blair Reader or online) as other sources. List and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

9. Death Penalty: Using the Russ Feingold essay from BR and other Death Penalty resources listed on the blog or found through your own research, make an argument for or against the death penalty. List and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

10. Using the essay "Savage Inequities" from Blair Reader, the essay on Racism and education by Sean Gonsalves (see content under D2L), and other research, make an argument for reforms in education. List and develop your main arguments, and also consider some of the main arguments of the other side, and try to refute them.

Or if you want to propose a topic of your own, submit it by email. Use at least one source we read or viewed during the unit.