English 102

Prof. Ahrenhoerster

Summer 2008

Response Paper 1

            Chapter 12 of Perspectives on Contemporary Issues raises some concerns about the American education system.  As a current college student who has been through at least twelve years of education so far, you are something of an expert on this topic, so you should have some insights worth sharing.

            Thinking about what you have read in Chapter 12, as well as your own experiences, write an essay that argues what we should be doing to improve education in the United States.

            Remember that your thesis statement should make a specific claim that answers the assignment and sets up the paper.  Each body paragraph should contain a claim (topic sentence) that supports the thesis, evidence (from the readings and your own experience) that supports the topic sentence, and some “so what?” explanation.

            Your paper could address some (certainly not all) of the following issues that have been raised:

• What should the goals of education be?
• How should/can we measure whether or not an educational institution is succeeding?
• How much should the government support higher education?
• Who should control the content of what is taught (teachers or the government)?
• What role should religion have in public education?
• Is America an anti-intellectual society? Is this a problem? What, if anything, should be done to change this?

It is fine to bring in other education issues as well, as long as you are able to make connections to the readings in your essay.

Requirements:

• The paper should follow MLA formatting guidelines as explained in chapter 29 of A Writer’s Resource (for an example, see the sample paper in chapter 30)
• Follow MLA rules for documentation as covered in chapters 26 and 27 of A Writer’s Resource.
• Bring in ideas and evidence from chapter 12 of Perspectives on Contemporary Issues in a significant way.

Bring a draft of paper 1 to class on Monday, June 16.

The paper is due on Wednesday, June 18^th.