The Myth of Education and Empowerment

175 words.   In Chapter 2 of They Say, I Say, Graff and Birkenstein explain the how to accurately summarize a text. Summarizing a text is more of an art than it might seem at first glance. They note that it is important to balance what the original author says with your own focus (31) and that you need to accurately represent what the original author says so that your reader can assess that author’s case. At the same time, you want to your point or argument to come through.  Chapter 3 of They Say, I Say focuses on how to effectively quote an author. Graff and Birkenstein note that “Quoting someone else’s words gives a tremendous amount of credibility to your summary and helps ensure that it is fair and accurate. In a sense, then, quotations function as a kind of evidence” (42). Quoting allows you to sound authoritative and reliable. In order to quote well, Graff and Birkenstein suggest the following: Pick quotations that are relevant to your purpose. Make sure the quotations you pick support your argument (43). Do not expect a quotation to speak for itself. Remember to frame a quotation by introducing it and explaining it in a follow-up statement (a quotation sandwich) (46).  Use the templates they provide on 46 and 47. I would add that it is very important that you remember to tell your reader who you are quoting, what the source is (the book title or article), and the page number (if there is a page number). After you do the readings in Rereading America for the week, think about Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle’s Introduction to “Learning Power: The Myth of Education and Empowerment” and John Taylor Gatto’s article “Against School.” Both of these articles are entering the conversation about the history and purpose of education in the United States. Write a paragraph in which you explain the argument that Gatto makes about mandatory public education. What is his point? How does he support it? Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Does Covid-19’s disruption of K-12 education influence what you think about Gatto’s argument? Make sure to briefly summarize and quote Gatto to make your case.  Explain one way in which his argument either supports or conflicts with Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle’s “Learning Power: The Myth of Education and Empowerment.” Your paragraph should be at least 175 words. After you have written your own paragraph, respond to at least two other people’s postings explaining if you agree or disagree with a point they make and why. The discussion assignment is worth 5 points of your Online Discussions and Homework grade and will be graded according to the D2L Discusison Assignment Rubric located under “Content,” and then “Important Course Materials.” The objectives of this discussion assignment are that students will be able to construct logical and coherent arguments; gather factual information and apply it to a given problem; analyze the logical connections among the facts, goals, and implicit assumptions relevant to a problem or claim, and generate and evaluate implications that follow from them; and recognize and articulate the value assumptions which underlie and affect decisions, interpretations, analyses, and evaluations made by ourselves and others.