Rights of Man Argument

1. Rights of Man Argument What is true today?

2. Answer the #*%#@* prompt! • …write an essay that examines the extent to which Paine’s characterization of America holds true today. Use appropriate evidence to support you argument. • I gave this to you on Friday to think about before you wrote it on Monday. • I told you that the key was to answer what was asked.

3. Answer the #*%#@* prompt! • I had some write some or all of a rhetorical analysis… • I had a few evaluate what they thought of Paine’s ideas… • I had some talk almost exclusively about Paine’s America in 1791… • Most did not give enough evidence… • And several of the ones who gave evidence, did so by talking about the past…not today… AP = Answer the Prompt

4. I now need therapy & Prozac! • Y’all are some of the most depressing people I have ever met! • And uninformed… • According to you, the U.S. is an evil empire that persecutes everyone but the rich, has the most horrible racism ever seen or experienced in the world or in history, is rampant with riots on every street corner every day of the week, and is in danger of crumbling economically and socially next week.

5. I now need therapy & Prozac! • I’m not a super political person & I try to keep my opinions to myself so I don’t alienate people and so students feel comfortable stating their beliefs, but… • If you are truly this depressed about the U.S., either work to do something about it or move to whatever utopia you assume is out there that is better than here… • Extremism in argumentation is seldom convincing; it actually can hurt your argument because you don’t sound reasonable. Intelligent people tend not to believe extreme and unreasonable people • Avoid overstatements, hyperbole…

6. Faulty, Uniformed or Skewed Arguments • Racial Intolerance: Paine’s time had slavery; we have our first black president. Some areas of the world practice genocide… Not to say that we all hold hands and skip everywhere together but have a more global and historical view. (Think about the changes that have occurred in just the last fifty years…WOW!) • Racial Demographics: fill-in-your-choice-of-minority group-here… Huge groups of/X group takingover/X language spoken EVERYWHERE • According to 2010 Census: Asians = 4.8%; African-American = 12.6%; Hispanic = 16.3% • Broaden your view: We hear & see a lot of Spanish language because we live in Texas…Mid-west, etc. not so much. We see a lot of diverse ethnic groups because we live in the 4th largest city in the nation…other places not as much.

7. Faulty, Uniformed or Skewed Arguments • Poor are taxed at a higher rate than rich…nope (under $12K/year – no taxes; up to middle class 20-30ish%; top half or so 30+%) Yes, there are tax breaks & loop holes. If you can discuss these intelligently, be my guest. • Poor are oppressed…depends on your definition but you can’t ignore that as a nation we have welfare, food stamps, free public education through 12th grade, grants for FREE college, etc…Again, we need to keep a global & historical view. Even though there is most certainly a growing economic disparity, think of other nations and other historical times and avoid the sweeping overstatements.

8. Faulty, Uniformed or Skewed Arguments • Crime rates are soaring? In actuality, in many places and with many types of crimes, they are dropping. • There is most certainly “tumult” but rampant riots? As pretty much everyone pointed out, there was/is Occupy Wall Street and as fewer stated SOPA, etc., but are these really riots? Some of them occasionally strayed to that level, but mostly these are/were peaceful demonstrations that are allowed because we have that right (Yea us!) But can you think of a whole bunch of other riots?

9. My Kingdom for Some Proof! • Give SPECIFIC EXAMPLES! • AND since you were to show the extent to which Paine’s ideas hold true today, then those examples have to be about current events – last decade or so. • You could have given historical progression, but without the current examples, you didn’t answer the prompt. • You had the advantage of advanced knowledge of the prompt, you should have come to the timed writing with examples in mind.

10. Seriously, I’m begging for some PROOF! • You are going to have to step out of your teenage bubble – scary, I know  • You have to know what’s going on in the world around you. You are going to be running it soon. • Watch the news, read (reliable) online news articles • Be cautious repeating things from Facebook etc. • Keep up with political campaigns. These people are going to be running the world until you get old enough to do it. Know what they are doing. • Have a general knowledge of economics. We don’t have to be economists, just some basic ideas.

11. …but there is some good news  • Wording for most is clearer, more essay-appropriate than where we started this year • There were some really interesting ideas – even if many of them weren’t supported well • Most papers had a clear organization • Few real mechanical problems • This wasn’t May 18th. You still have time to correct the problems • AND most importantly, I still love you  even though you depressed me…