Awesome!

For Tuesday...

Read "Rip Van Winkle" on page 153 of the text. Annotate by pointing out one example of Irving's use of satire, slapstick and hyperbole. As well as examples of emphasizing setting or time.

Debate Topics: Debate Four

In the virtual video game "Fallout 3," creators depict a post-apocalyptic Washington DC, where landmarks like the US Capitol and Lincoln Memorial lie in ruins. Maybe feeling threatened, Capitol Hill has used the game as a catalyst for re-opening the video game/free-expression debate. With video games so obviously marketed to young people (who have more time on their hands), many believe that artistic freedom and the First Ammendment that has protected video games as art thus far, should be reconsidered. Congress is proposing a bill that would create movie-like ratings for video games, and therefore make it illegal for people under the age of 17 to buy certain games. Games that make millions, like "Grand Theft Auto" and "Bully," claim that such restrictions violate their rights and would cripple their industry.

Debate Topics: Debate Three

Despite the current technological revolution, the

American public at large is still rather confused and shocked by the extent to which their private data is used online. In light of The Social Network, much has been made about the ways in which Facebook sells and extends user data to companies that in turn market to its billions (or something) of users. It raises questions about all of the myriad of ways in which companies can use personal data compiled on-line. As the internet creates a more personalized, more convenient service (moreover, as people become addicted to such things), the privacy debate may wind up in the Supreme Court.

FOR: Users should be able to make their own decisions about online privacies. Some people enjoy the services such experiences provide. Users get a lot back from Google and Facebook, for instance, because they are unregulated.

Debate Topics: Debate Two

Affirmative action, an issue most hotly debated in terms of collegiate admissions, is a state-held law that allows for "limited consideration of race in terms of creating more diverse communities." In other words, it allows colleges, employers and other such entities "some" ability to provide opportunities to individuals within certain minority groups.

The largest examples of such opportunities include minority based achievement scholarships and specialized programs. By contrast, "quotas," an old employment law that mandated work forces "had to" have an equal distribution of ethnic diversity have been outlawed. 

FOR: Affirmative action in New Jersey is necessary and should be upheld.

AGAINST: Affirmative action in New Jersey is reverse-discrimination and should be illegal.  

The Debate Topics: Debate One

Chapters 2 & 3 of A People's...deal with racism. Specifically, his thesis addresses the contrived and government-motivated nature of relations among colonial American white Europeans, African blacks and continental natives. Whether or not you agree with the nuances of Zinn's position, and they are certainly debatable, the consensus should hold that part and parcel to the story of America are atrocities toward African Americans, Native Americans, and let's face it, most dark skinned human beings in general.

This point is NOT debatable. But some modern discussions in race relations, many of which contain relevance to early America, are.

For Nick Murphy

A better answer than mine.