August 9, 2023

Develop an argument utilizing a variety of writing techniques, rhetorical strategies and appeals Incorporate outside sources by summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting

Develop an argument utilizing a variety of writing techniques, rhetorical strategies and appeals

Incorporate outside sources by summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting

Document sources using MLA

The researched argument is an 8-10 page (2000-2500 words) argument examining an issue you have identified earlier in the course.

In this assignment you must demonstrate that you have implemented a research plan; used a rhetorically effective method of organization; formulated, developed and supported a claim using sound evidence, reasoning and appropriate appeals; and incorporated alternate positions into a sustained argument.

Instructions:

In this paper, you will write your argument in response to your chosen topic. This is not an informational paper. This paper should develop your argument on your topic. Your paper should clearly identify your issue. It should have a clear claim and well developed reasons. It should use at least 4 appropriately cited quotes, at least 4 appropriately cited paraphrases (you may use more as needed).

Requirements: 2000-2500 words

Kathleen King

Professor Paul Baker

ENGL 102

Thesis: Montgomery College should create a free speech environment for students because it builds their confidence of expression, equips community members in an ever-changing society, and creates a space for students to experience other’s viewpoints.

Intro: Grabs the reader attention

All students should have an environment for speech.

Background/descriptive/how big is MC/Rating of MC/How students go to 4-year institutions.

Flagship

Main Reason: According to “” explain and analyze the quote

Second Reason: Similarly- paraphrase / cite

Third Reason: finally,

Fourth: opponent position

Conclusion/Punch Line: In summary, Mongomery College should create a free speech environment. These 3 benefit/results will happen

I could build their confidence and determination of expressing their views, become a future community member

Students have the opportunity/privilege through

Learn/empathize

Confidence / Determination

Community member / society member

Kathleen King

Professor Paul Baker

ENGL 102

“College Students Suing Over Free Speech Get a Powerful Ally.”, Gurman, Sadie, and Michelle Hackman. 2018. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, . Accessed 18 June 2023.

“If we can’t have a free and open discourse–and a free and open discourse on campus–then we can’t have it anywhere,” said John Gore, acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division

“Colleges and universities have this dual obligation to create a more diverse community without compromising free expression,” said Suzanne Nossel, chief executive of Pen America, a left-leaning group advocating for open expression.

“Last year, student demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley prompted the school to cancel an event with conservative speakers Ann Coulter and David Horowitz. And universities across the country are wrestling with protecting safety while allowing legitimate protests–a balance that can require costly security measures.”

“Hurt Feelings? Too Bad. Don’t Coddle College Kids.” USA TODAY, 09/17 2015. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, . Accessed 18 June 2023.

– “President Obama criticized such oversensitivity at a town hall meeting in Des Moines on Monday, saying he disagreed with college students who “have to be coddled and protected from different points of view.”

– “If students aren’t smart enough or mature enough to understand the values of free speech, it’s up to institutions in the business of education to teach them.”

– “But recently, a desire by students to protect themselves and others from speech they consider hurtful is driving new assaults on academic freedom and freewheeling debate.”

“Support for Diverse Voices Or a Witch Hunt for Liberals?” Los Angeles Times, 07/08 2022. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, . Accessed 18 June 2023.

“There have been increasing complaints of self-censorship — students keeping silent because they’re afraid their opinions will be attacked, put down by professors or even subject them to retaliation on social media.”

“The new Florida law threatens to turn universities into spy-and-sue zones based on speech. It would require annual surveys of students to check on “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity.”

“A 2020 poll by UCLA found that at least 80% of students from every part of the political spectrum felt their colleges encouraged them to share their ideas openly. They were much less satisfied with the campus “atmosphere for the expression of diverse beliefs.”

“The Right Way to Protect Free Speech on Campus.” Patton, Laurie L., 2017. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, . Accessed 18 June 2023.

“As a community of learners, we must extend the same privileges and rights of speech to others as we would ask others to extend to us.”

“A campus where a majority of students are fearful to speak openly because they know a minority will jump on them is no longer an intellectually free campus in any meaningful sense.”

“We must prepare young Americans, whatever their background, to take on arguments that offend them; to enter the public square with better ideas supported with better reason, better research, better logic, and better data; to risk being offended and to argue back even when they might feel afraid.”

“Free Speech Controversies Erupt on Today’s College Campuses.” Persons, Sally, and Alexandria Hoff. Fox News, 12 May 2023, .

This article supports my viewpoints and thesis statement.

Exposure of different viewpoints

Prepares student for the reality of the world

Determination = confidence in self

“The point of college is to get [students] to a place where they can go out into the real world and engage with these tough topics without that sort of soft landing place of a college campus,” she said. “And so the worst thing that colleges can is lean in to that victim mentality.”

“Morey said many colleges foster an environment that only accepts one viewpoint, which she said goes against the purpose of higher education.”

“Morey said the key to maintaining free speech is to engage with people of varying ideas rather than censoring them.”

“Speech on Campus.” American Civil Liberties Union, . Accessed 3 July 2023.

This article is informative and credible

“The ACLU believes that instead of symbolic gestures to silence ugly viewpoints, colleges and universities have to step up their efforts to recruit diverse faculty, students, and administrators; increase resources for student counseling; and raise awareness about bigotry and its history.”

“Universities are obligated to create an environment that fosters tolerance and mutual respect among members of the campus community, an environment in which all students can exercise their right to participate meaningfully in campus life without being subject to discrimination. Universities are obligated to create an environment that fosters tolerance and mutual respect among members of the campus community, an environment in which all students can exercise their right to participate meaningfully in campus life without being subject to discrimination.”

“When schools shut down speakers who espouse bigoted views, they deprive their students of the opportunity to confront those views themselves.”

Shields, Jon A. “I Was Wrong to Oppose Safe Spaces.” New York Times, 04/10 2022. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

“…we need to take the comfort of students far more seriously”

“Regrettably, too many on the right who advocate free speech have embraced a normless public square, one that celebrates transgression as an antidote to cancel culture.”

“… community will require safe spaces in our college classrooms”

Tully, Tracey. “Debate Erupts at Rutgers Law School After White Student Quotes..” New York Times, 05/04 2021. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

“Adam Scales, a Black professor at Rutgers Law who has signed the statement of support for Professor Bergelson, said he opposed even voluntary limits on speech. But he said the number of his colleagues who believe racial epithets should never be spoken, regardless of the context, is “not insignificant.” – “I am very sensitive to how a word can trigger painful episodes.”

“The head of the journalism department at Central Michigan University was fired last year after using the same slur when quoting from a lawsuit. An Emory University law school professor was placed on administrative leave for more than a year after using the word in discussions with students about race.”

Rauch, Neil. “Fact-Free Speech Is Not Free Speech.” Baltimore Sun (Online), 08/05 2022. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

“Free speech by disseminating disinformation, representing unproven theories as being factual, or engaging in personal attacks without any substantiation should be sanctioned and eventually made to lose their credentials as a news organization.”

“The weaponization of fact-free speech should be criminalized and offenders penalized by either removing the bully pulpit from which they perpetuate their lies or by streamlining legal channels by which the target of such attacks can extract monetary damages more easily.”

Buruma, Ian. “Freedom of Speech Can Also Mean Freedom of Hateful Speech.” Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon), 02/18 2015. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

“”Freedom of speech, in other words, should mean freedom of hateful speech”

“It would be naive, of course, to believe that religious or political extremists are interested in an exchange of views.”

“In 1977, the American Nazi Party planned to stage a demonstration in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago with a large Jewish population. A local court, prompted by shocked and fearful public opinion, decided that the display of swastikas, distribution of leaflets, and the wearing of Nazi uniforms should be banned. Such a demonstration, it was quite plausibly argued, would be an insult to a community that included Holocaust survivors.”

Hill, Steven. “Biden Should Revoke Section 230 Before We Lose Our Democracy.” TCA News Service, 1/28/21. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

“Revoking Section 230 is not a perfect solution, but it would make these companies somewhat more responsible, deliberative and potentially liable for the worst of their toxic content, including illegal content. Just like traditional media is liable.”

“While President Donald Trump’s inciting speech to the mob about a stolen election was false and provocative, other media outlets publish untrue nonsense all the time.”

Intro: Grabs the reader attention

All students should have an environment for speech.

Background/descriptive/how big is MC/Rating of MC/How students go to 4-year institutions.

Flagship

Main Reason: According to “” explain and analyze the quote

Second Reason: Similarly- paraphrase / cite

Third Reason: finally,

Fourth: opponent position

Conclusion/Punch Line: In summary, Mongomery College should create a free speech environment. These 3 benefit/results will happen

I could build their confidence and determination of expressing their views, become a future community member

Students have the opportunity/privilege through

Learn/empathize

Confidence / Determination

Community member / society member

“College Students Suing Over Free Speech Get a Powerful Ally.”, Gurman, Sadie, and Michelle Hackman. 2018. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher,

Summary: “The Trump administration is using its legal muscle to aid college students who say their free-speech rights have been violated on campus, diving into a politically charged battle over whether school discipline and safety policies are hindering expression. Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has decried colleges for becoming an ‘echo chamber of political correctness,’ the Justice Department has been inserting itself into lawsuits on behalf of students who say their views are silenced when administrators restrict where they can protest or who can speak on campus.” (Wall Street Journal Online) This article reveals that this “effort reflects an assertive role the Trump administration has taken in promoting conservative social priorities across agencies, transforming policy on sensitive issues such as immigration, reproductive health, gay rights and religious freedom.”

“Hurt Feelings? Too Bad. Don’t Coddle College Kids.” USA TODAY, 09/17 2015. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, . Accessed 18 June 2023.

Summary: “Give leaders at the University of Chicago an ‘A’ for standing up for much-beleaguered freedom of speech on campus, and hand an ‘F’ to many of the nation’s colleges and universities for running in the opposite direction. Sometimes their motive is liberal political correctness that seeks to scrub colleges of conservative ideas. But recently, a desire by students to protect themselves and others from speech they consider hurtful is driving new assaults on academic freedom and freewheeling debate.” (USA TODAY) This pro/con article argues college students should understand the importance of freedom of speech early on.

– “If students aren’t smart enough or mature enough to understand the values of free speech, it’s up to institutions in the business of education to teach them.”

– “But recently, a desire by students to protect themselves and others from speech they consider hurtful is driving new assaults on academic freedom and freewheeling debate.”

“Support for Diverse Voices Or a Witch Hunt for Liberals?” Los Angeles Times, 07/08 2022. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, . Accessed 18 June 2023.

Summary: “College isn’t what it used to be, that’s for sure. Compared with a decade or two ago, it’s way more expensive and students are shunning liberal arts in favor of majors with more immediate and obvious relevance to jobs such as engineering or environmental science. And although long-ignored voices of people of color are finally more likely to be heard, college is overall less welcoming to widely differing opinions and raucous but respectful debate from various points along the political and social spectrum. In recent years–especially during the Trump administration–sizable numbers of students began expressing an inability to cope with opinions they found objectionable. Feeling discomfited evolved into feeling threatened, and some student groups tried to stop speeches by provocative voices with which they disagree. There have been increasing complaints of self-censorship–students keeping silent because they’re afraid their opinions will be attacked, put down by professors or even subject them to retaliation on social media. A new law in Florida, pushed through by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is likely to make the academic climate even less inviting. Though it would purportedly make campuses more open to a diversity of opinion, the law is likely to be used primarily as a tool for hunting down liberal professors, encouraging lawsuits and discouraging true freedom of expression.” (Los Angeles Times) This editorial is critical of the new Florida law.

“The Right Way to Protect Free Speech on Campus.” Patton, Laurie L., 2017. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, . Accessed 18 June 2023.

Summary: “Embrace freedom of expression and inquiry as an educational value for everyone, regardless of their background or political views. Controversial speech is especially difficult at a time when issues that should be addressed and debated become the exclusive province of the left or the right. In our current state of high tension, it is hard to explore vital, fraught topics such as the history of oppression or the nature of freedom, but we have a responsibility to teach and discuss them openly and honestly, with mutual respect.” (Wall Street Journal Online) In this point-of-view article, read responses by Dr. Laurie Patton, President of Middlebury College, and Charles Murray about the events at Middlebury College when students disrupted a Charles Murray talk.

“As a community of learners, we must extend the same privileges and rights of speech to others as we would ask others to extend to us.”

“A campus where a majority of students are fearful to speak openly because they know a minority will jump on them is no longer an intellectually free campus in any meaningful sense.”

“Free Speech Controversies Erupt on Today’s College Campuses.” Persons, Sally, and Alexandria Hoff. Fox News, 12 May 2023, .

This article supports my viewpoints and thesis statement.

Exposure of different viewpoints

Prepares student for the reality of the world

Determination = confidence in self

“Morey said many colleges foster an environment that only accepts one viewpoint, which she said goes against the purpose of higher education.”

“Morey said the key to maintaining free speech is to engage with people of varying ideas rather than censoring them.”

“Speech on Campus.” American Civil Liberties Union, . Accessed 3 July 2023.

This article is informative and credible

“When schools shut down speakers who espouse bigoted views, they deprive their students of the opportunity to confront those views themselves.”

Shields, Jon A. “I Was Wrong to Oppose Safe Spaces.” New York Times, 04/10 2022. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

Summary: “Like other conservative professors who are advocates of free speech on campus, I once opposed efforts to create a classroom climate in which students are protected from speech they find emotionally upsetting, ranging from ‘microaggressions’ to political perspectives that diverge from current liberal orthodoxy. Efforts to create these ‘safe spaces’ seemed, to me, to infantilize students by insulating them from speech they found the least bit upsetting. After all, an unquestioned objective of a liberal education, I supposed, was to make students uncomfortable. Now I think that while we certainly shouldn’t be preoccupied with policing microaggressions or silencing contrarian viewpoints, we need to take the comfort of students far more seriously.” (New York Times) The author explains his change of opinion regarding safe spaces in college classrooms.

“…we need to take the comfort of students far more seriously”

“Regrettably, too many on the right who advocate free speech have embraced a normless public square, one that celebrates transgression as an antidote to cancel culture.”

“… community will require safe spaces in our college classrooms”

Tully, Tracey. “Debate Erupts at Rutgers Law School After White Student Quotes..” New York Times, 05/04 2021. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

Summary: “A Rutgers Law student repeated an epithet from a legal case, and now Black students at the New Jersey school are calling for a policy on slurs–and apologies. The controversy over the use of a racial slur that has embroiled a public law school in New Jersey began with a student quoting from case law during a professor’s virtual office hours. The first-year student at Rutgers Law School in Newark, who is white, repeated a line from a 1993 legal opinion, including the epithet, when discussing a case. What followed has jolted the state institution, unleashing a polarizing debate over the constitutional right to free speech on campus and the power of a hateful word at a moment of intense national introspection over race, equity and systemic bias.” (New York Times) This article provides details of the incident and reaction to it.

Rauch, Neil. “Fact-Free Speech Is Not Free Speech.” Baltimore Sun (Online), 08/05 2022. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

Summary: “The proliferation of lying in the body politic and certain news media has reached proportions so great that America finds itself on the brink of a revolution that threatens our entire system of government. The weaponization of fact-free speech should be criminalized and offenders penalized by either removing the bully pulpit from which they perpetuate their lies or by streamlining legal channels by which the target of such attacks can extract monetary damages more easily.” (Baltimore Sun (Online)) In this point of view article, the author argues that freedom of speech doesn’t apply to the spread of disinformation and lies.

Buruma, Ian. “Freedom of Speech Can Also Mean Freedom of Hateful Speech.” Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon), 02/18 2015. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

Summary: “Freedom of speech, in other words, should mean freedom of hateful speech, too, as long as it does not threaten or promote violence. Most European governments already take a stricter view of public insults than the U.S. Constitution does. It would be a great mistake to add even more restrictions. Terrorist attacks are doing enough damage, in lives and property. There is no reason for governments to make things worse by tampering with their citizens’ liberties.” (Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon)) This editorial proposes freedom of speech should include freedom of hateful speech as long as it does not promote violence.

“”Freedom of speech, in other words, should mean freedom of hateful speech”

“It would be naive, of course, to believe that religious or political extremists are interested in an exchange of views.”

Hill, Steven. “Biden Should Revoke Section 230 Before We Lose Our Democracy.” TCA News Service, 1/28/21. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, .

Summary: “Since the birth of the Big Tech media platforms 15 years ago, democracies around the world have been subjected to a grand experiment: Can a nation’s news and information infrastructure, which is the lifeblood of any democracy, be dependent on digital technologies that allow a global free speech zone of unlimited audience size, combined with algorithmic (nonhuman) curation of massive volumes of mis/disinformation, that can be spread with unprecedented ease and reach? The evidence has become frighteningly clear that this experiment has veered off course, like a Frankenstein monster marauding across the landscape.” (TCA News Service) In this viewpoint article, the author argues that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act needs to be removed, as it is too dangerous to be left intact.