Homework for Thursday, March 1

Write one page in response to one of the following prompts:

At the end of the chapter on earning, Shklar claims that the right to work should be on par with any other right that contributes to one's standing as a citizen. Should we have a right to work in the same way that we have a right to vote

Also, click here for the civics questions on the U.S. citizenship naturalization test.

Lastly, you don't have to write anything about this, but consider the following passage from Shklar's chapter on earning:

The defender of the helpless poor wants to protect them against an army of predatory aristocrats who are denying them their rights and sustenance. The poor are social victims who are being denied racial equality, opportunities for decent work and education, and access to normal public goods. If more were done for them, they too would become upstanding laborers. The opposing party of individual effort, like Frederick Douglass, hopes that government will do nothing more than ensure fair play for all. Anyone who truly wants to work, they argue, can find employment, and with it will come standing and self-respect. Both parties deeply believe in self-discipline, in independence, in work as the primary source of all value and all dignity, and in the ideal of a society of self-supporting democratic citizens. Each one sees the other as a threat to democracy and to the values of work and independence which they so profoundly share. (pp. 96-97) 

After we discuss Shklar's chapter on earning, we will use this passage as our point of departure for discussing American political ideologies.

Finish Judith Shklar's American Citizenship...

...over the break. As you read, keep track of her argument, but try not to get lost in the details. As I said in class, this book, as a scholarly book, is all logos, which makes it dry. She will not make emotional appeals(well, that's a bit of an oversimplification, but we'll talk about that after the break), and the book's ethical aspects are framed in analytic terms. Be sure to read the footnotes and make note of the different purposes the footnotes serve.

Homework for Friday, Feb. 17

Read and annotate the introduction to Judith Shklar's American Citizenship. If you missed class, stop by to pick up the book. If I'm not in my room, take one from the top of the filing cabinet behind my desk.

Homework for Wednesday, Feb. 15

Read and annotate Lanchester, I.O.U., pp. 213-250. Please bring the AP-exam style questions you prepared for Monday class; when I looked at my notes and saw "review questions," I thought that referred to the questions I asked you to come up with about ch. 5, not the AP-exam questions. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. Sorry about the mixup.

Homework for Monday, Feb. 13

Read and annotate Lanchester, I.O.U., pp. 169-212. You do not have a writing component with this assignment. Also, finish developing the three AP-exam style questions that you started in class on Thursday. If you missed class, the handout with questions about I.O.U. distributed in class is posted to the right, under "Syllabus and Assignments."

Homework for Tuesday, Feb. 7

Read and annotate Lanchester's I.O.U., pp. 81-132, and respond to the following prompts:

1. Write a summary of chapter 3, "Boom and Bust" (a paragraph).
2. Paraphrase a passage from chapter 4, "Enter the Geniuses" (not more than about half a page of I.O.U.).
3. At the end of chapter 4, how does Lanchester want the reader to feel? Why? How does he try to elicit that emotion from the reader? (A few sentences will suffice.)


Writing a paraphrase: 1. A paraphrase conveys all ideas in the original source. 2. Use a paraphrase when quoting an original source may not be useful to your audience because its language or subject matter is too difficult or specific. 3. Write the paraphrase in your own words, making it clearer than the original for your audience--in essence, translate it into ordinary language. 4. A paraphrase is about the same length as the original passage it is based on. (When actually incorporating a paraphrase in a larger writing piece, you must signal that you are paraphrasing a writer with an appropriate introductory phrase such as, "To paraphrase Lanchester, ...")

Writing a summary: 1. A summary conveys the gist of the original source. 2. A summary restates only the most relevant idea or ideas from the source. 3. A summary will be briefer than the original. (When actually incorporating a summary in a larger writing piece, you msut signal that you are summarizing a writer with an appropriate introductory phrase such as, "To summarize Lanchester's argument, ...")
Source: Floyd Watkins, et al. Practical English Handbook, 11th Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001), pp. 365-366.

Homework for Friday, Feb. 3

Read and annotate Lanchester's I.O.U., pp. 45-80; you do not have a writing assignment with this reading, but pay attention to how Lanchester continues to build his "story."