Would our government do the trade? Practice making a controversial comment in a politically-correct way!

Derek Bell's story, The Space Traders, is a science fiction or political fiction story. Derek Bell believes that racism is permanent (or will always remain and affect every decision in our country). Pretend the trade that he writes about actually is about to happen. Our planet faces a disaster. It has no money to function, no more sources of energy to give people basic services such as a running kitchen sink, and the environment is polluted to the point that people can't walk outside. Aliens arrive, and offer the leaders of our government a trade. The Aliens will restore the planet if the government offers up all of the black people. Based off the reading (B.P. 48-65) and your own beliefs about racism, would our government actually do this trade?

Please write a full listserv comment and practice remaining politically correct! Mr. Schuman will grade your response on the five factors we talked about during the first week of class: formal language (no slang) length (an extended paragraph), references to the text, awareness (of everyone else's comments), and originality (try to present a new theory or make a shockingly unique thesis-statement).

LISTSERV DISCUSSION QUESTION FOUR: Would our government ship all Black people to another planet if aliens offered to restore our economy, resources, and otherwise uncurable diseases?

Practice Making Efficiency (LEVEL THREE) Arguments

Please respond to one of the following two debate questions:

1. Should a teacher ever allow students to determine their own final semester grade? Consider how such an action would influence the lives of the students, the life of the teacher, and the running of the school.

2. Recently, Hofstra student, Danmell Ndonye, falsely accused five men of rape, because she feared being a branded a tramp, according to her boyfriend (Fasick 6). You may research this recent current event if you need more background information. Should a person who falsely accuses another person of rape be given the same consequence/punishment received by someone convicted in a real court of law. Consider how such an action would influence the life of the person making the false accusation, the life of the person falsely accused, and the running of the city.

DISCUSSION QUESTION THREE (PLEASE RESPOND): Make the best argument possible concerning either of the above two debate questions. Continue to consult pages BP-8 through BP-10 of your Bulk-Pack Materials to see the most effective types of arguments used in the twenty-first century. Students who post later and build off earlier arguments should use crescendo-type arguments. See BP-7 for a description of this type of argument!

Waffles or Pancakes, Dogs or Computers, Robert Pattison or Ms. Therapy

This week, you are learning that effective arguments talk about the types of people and activities that society values. The way we all live in the year, 2009, differs radically from past times. Now, we have more technology, people live more efficient lives, and our country wants to remain competitive and keep progressing. Arguments that guarantee or promise such progress and efficiency usually cause people to listen! Consider which one of the following two people is more impactful, may benefit society more, and produces better results (I.e., the type of results society values in the twenty-first century):

1. Robert Pattison
(born may 13, 1986) is an English actor, model, and musician. He is best known for playing Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight, based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer, and for the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.


2. Ms. Therapy
Ms. Therapy is married with two kids. She is forty-seven years old. She works as a physical therapist, helping accident survivors to both regain use of their muscles and return to normal lifestyles.

Listserv Discussion Question Two (PLEASE RESPOND):
You have to select one of these two people: Robert Pattison or Ms. Therapy. The person you select to keep remains both in your life and on this planet. In contrast, you or anyone else may never again enjoy/use the person that you do not select. He/she ceases to exist, and nobody knows about him/her. Which person do you select and why?