Midterm

Name: Roman Matlala

Author: Larry Elder

Title: Where’s Black Lives Matter when you need them?

Topic: Police Brutality

Thesis: The author believes there is no epidemic of racist cops killing black suspects

In the article “Where’s Black Lives Matter when you need them?” by Larry Elder the topic of police brutality is brought up where the author talks about how black people aren’t being brutalized by white officers. Larry Elder thinks that black people aren’t dying to racist cops, then proceeds to compare the victims of police officers in the past. “There is no epidemic of racist cops killing black suspects. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Police killings of black declined almost 80% from the late ‘60s through the 2010s, while police killings of whites have flatlined.” This shows that the author is acting like nothing is going on with police officers and unarmed black people, Instead he thinks white people have it worse when it comes to police victims. “In recent years, The police have averaged killing about 1,000 Americans per year. Of that number, half are white and one-quarter are black, with the race of remaining suspects of another race or unknown.” This proves that Larry Elder doesn’t believe there is an epidemic of racist cops killing black suspects.

 

3. Due Wed 7/22, 7p (Midterm and Essay 1 Feedback)

Due Wed 7/22, 7p

For Wednesday, I want you to do two things: (A) take the midterm exam (instructions below; don’t worry: you will be allowed to revise this test for a re-grade) and (B) read and write feedback on 5 classmates’ Essay 1s.

Mini-Lesson: TOPIC v. THESIS
Last week, we worked on noticing the THESIS of Kaba’s and Meares’ texts.  Remember: a thesis is a debate-able statement (often a writer’s “opinion”) about a topic.  A THESIS is not the same as a TOPIC.  A topic is simply the main idea or content of a text; a thesis is the writer’s opinion or point of view ABOUT the topic.  For instance, in both Kaba’s and Meares’ texts that we read last week, the topic is police brutality and racism.  Kaba’s thesis is her opinion about this topic: what she thinks should be done about racist police brutality (she thinks that we should defund and get rid of police departments).  Make sense?  OK, now you’re ready for the midterm (below).

A) Midterm Exam. This is a test devised and required by the Summer Program. As such, it is slightly different than the assignments I’ve given so far (which will nevertheless have prepared you well for it. The instructions are simple: read an article and identify the author, title, topic, thesis, and the reasons/details supporting the thesis.  Then write a short summary of the article, including therein your response to the article (whether you agree or disagree with it and why).

 15% of final grade

The article I want you to read and do your exam on is:

Larry Elder, “Where’s Black Lives Matter When You Need Them?”

As always, write your work in a Google Doc and save to your Google Drive folder for the course, then paste your work as a comment below, responding to this post.  Format your exam as follows:

Name
Author:
Title:
Topic:
Thesis:
Reasons/Details Supporting Thesis:

Summary (1 paragraph, including all of the above as well as your response to the article—whether you disagree/agree with it and why)

B) Go to Essay 1 Feedback and read 5 classmates’ essays. Respond to each writer’s post with a comment containing feedback (I repeat: do NOT respond to this post with your feedback—respond to each writer’s post individually; see below for requirements). Please choose classmates who have few-to-no comments from other classmates.

Please reply to your classmate’s post with a comment containing…
1 specific sentence you admire (and an explanation of why you like it) and…
1 specific suggestion for revision (and an explanation of how this should be fixed).

10% of final grade (along with Essay 2 feedback you will give next week)