HW18

Dr. C. Carney English1301

www.thefire.org

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

--Voltaire

Formal Essay #3:

Free Speech in Higher Education

Overview of the Essay Theme (The Specific Prompt Follows):

First, it is very important to understand the philosophical basis for this assignment, which is the longstanding and well-understood belief (until recently, sadly) that free speech, like freedom of thought and/or freedom of conscience, is aligned synonymously with the very definition of higher education. It is the fundamental belief that one’s college education involves more than just receiving a degree. It involves college students expanding their minds, understanding people different from themselves, moving beyond their comfort zones, and challenging their own beliefs (resulting in either confirming or rejecting such beliefs after they have been tested). Such an experience, a growth experience, naturally includes degrees of discomfort—even to the point of confrontation—with ideas/views that may be diametrically opposed to all that students have known prior to their enrollment at a college or a university. These are not merely my opinions, although I fully embrace them, as much as they have long been embraced by the academic world until quite recently (the past decade has essentially seen a divorce from these ideas by much of the academic world, with the decade prior to it witnessing significant decline).

Of course, beyond the academic world specifically, freedom of speech is the Constitutional right of every American citizen. This means the freedom to constructively express one’s deepest convictions without fear of retaliation by any other means than an opponent’s equally constructive arguments of contrary convictions (“constructively” naturally means legally and intelligently, which obviously means non-violent). And, because it is the First Amendment right of every American, it also happens to be one of the primary ways in which freedom itself has been manifested in this country since the Constitution was first penned. In higher education, the term “academic freedom” for faculty is an extension of this, and academics have long-embraced it for themselves. However, this vital freedom—especially to institutions of higher learning—is now called anything from “unnecessary” to “outdated” to “offensive” to even “dangerous” by many today—and even among seasoned academics who should know better and should know the rich heritage of this Constitutional right.

So, the general assumption in this assignment is that everyone who writes an essay in response to the prompt, as an American and as a college student in the academic world, accepts or even embraces the overarching philosophy of free speech and its relationship to higher education just described. IF, however, you are someone who does not believe this right should be practiced or embraced, then you are free to write an essay that attempts to argue against the heritage of the First Amendment and all that it implies, particularly with regard to higher education. Keep in mind that taking this route, if you hope to write an effective essay, requires you to directly and specifically confront the two major obstacles standing in the way of such a position: 1.The U.S. Constitution, and 2. The history of higher education in America (particularly the arguments made by students and faculty who were members of the many protest groups at the University of California, Berkeley campus and elsewhere in the late 60’s to early 70’s). Interestingly, many of these protesters at the time were young students who have since grown up to become the administrators and faculty members on college/university campuses with the loudest voices demanding censorship of views they personally don’t like.

___________________________________

The Assignment:

Irony Illustrated!

This assignment is heavily associated with the BI-PARTISAN ORGANIZATION called the “Foundation for Individual Rights in Education” (FIRE), and relying on the materials provided by this organization and/or their website is an expectation—not merely a suggestion. So, regardless of the prompt you select, you are required to make frequent references throughout the essay to the multiple cases/examples/documents presented on the F.I.R.E. website. FIRE is the largest organization devoted to, and focused on, the very specific environment of higher education for freedom of speech issues. They offer a gigantic section of videos, links, and written documents pertaining to the cases they have handled over the years (archived). They have a Current Issues section, along with multiple pages explaining their Mission and Purpose. So, just to be clear, essays that are weak in terms of making frequent references to F.I.R.E. will be considered weak papers overall because they will lack the specifics needed for an essay pertaining to freedom issues in higher education that only FIRE provides (in addition to not following directions).

1) In addition to FIRE, you will use material from one or both of the following two organizations that address speech issues: a). Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which leans to the right politically, and/or b). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which leans to the left politically (remember that FIRE is bi-partisan or non-partisan politically, which is both extremely valuable and extremely rare in 2022).

2. This is an MLA-formatted research paper! The MLA needs to be precisely followed in terms of both general formatting and the specific citations of any and all particular sources—both for citations inside the essay and the collection of citations on Works Cited page. Like the use of FIRE, applying correct MLA is not merely a suggestion in this essay; failing to apply MLA correctly will result in significant point loss. Think of this research paper as being somewhat of an MLA exam, as it were, in English 1301. Students’ having a correct understanding of MLA upon exiting this course is very important to me, to the English department, and—quite frankly—to all of the professors of courses you take after this semester that expect students to know how to properly format and cite sources.

3. Citing Methods: In MLA, the dominant mode of citing your sources should be in the form of short, in-text quotations— as opposed to block quotes or paraphrases. With that said, block quotes are allowed if they are both logically justified (logos appeal) and infrequently used overall. Paraphrases are also allowed, even encouraged, if they are done correctly and/or do not put you in a position of accidentally plagiarizing. For help with all things related to MLA and/or citing sources, both in the essay and in the Works Cited page, refer to the MLA resources, including the Purdue OWL website.

4. Your Words MUST Dominate the Essay! Sources supplement what you say; they do NOT replace what you say. Keep in mind that no more than 23% – 25% of all words in the essay can be from voices other than your own. In other words, roughly 75% of all the words in the essay MUST BE YOUR WORDS! And, naturally, plagiarism of any sort will not be tolerated in this assignment. Failure to give credit to any source you use is plagiarism by definition, and it will automatically result in a failing grade that cannot be repaired.

5. Sources of Disagreement: Because you are writing an argument essay, it is vitally important to find opinions among your sources that are in disagreement with your claim. Such disagreements may not necessarily be representative of broad-brushed macro positions, such as being entirely for or against free speech, but rather look for particular points of disagreement with the specifics of your claim on more of a micro level—from people who might agree with much of your position, but who disagree with particular things.

6. Persuade your readers through three forms of appeal: The argument you write, based on a strong claim, will need to appeal to your audience on the basis of three forms of appeal, which date back to Aristotle (the “father of argument”), and they are: the ethos appeal, the logos appeal, and the pathos appeal. “Ethos” refers to “credibility”, which translates into this question readers will have in their minds as they read your argument: “ why should I believe you?”; “Logos” refers to “logic”, which translates into this question readers will have as they read your argument: “ why and how does this argument make sense?”; “Pathos” refers to “emotion”, which translates into this question readers will have as they read your argument: “ How and why is this argument moving me emotionally?”

8. Following the very specific topic boundaries established in all of the assignment prompts is vital to the success or failure of this essay, as the prompt is not merely a suggestion to take in whatever direction you wish, as some sort of a generic springboard. Rather, it is a very specific area, with very specific perimeters, that must be specifically addressed with a strong “claim” statement. Thus, a claim statement answers a very specific question: “What am I trying to prove?” (i.e. what am I trying to prove regarding the very specific prompt area option I have selected?) Also, it is very important to make sure your claim statement is debatable, and not merely stating agreeable, settled, and non-disputable facts (i.e. you must clearly imagine that a certain number of people would certainly disagree with it).

Prompt Options: Indicate which prompt you select by placing the prompt number in parenthesis next to your name in the heading of your essay

Choose ONE PROMPT and develop your own claim based upon it by asking the vital claim question, which is: What am I trying to prove?

P1. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me” was once a very common expression used among kids on schoolyards everywhere. Both adults and children knew what this meant, which is that there is a difference between rhetoric/language and physical violence. However, some people today equivocate the two things and blur the line of distinction between words and actions (physical harm), rendering them both as equally damaging. Is it responsible to make this equivocation?

P2. The acceptance and embrace of free speech on college and university campuses does not equate to an acceptance and celebration, necessarily, of anything or everything that might be expressed by individuals who exercise their Constitutional right to free speech. However, some people today cannot see this distinction, and they automatically assume that whatever they hear expressed by someone or some group has the full blessing of the institution upon them (which is usually not the case), and thus call for censorship or removal of anyone expressing anything that some might offensive. Should institutions of higher education cave to the demands and pressures of those promoting censorship, despite the intellectual cost of this decision?

P3. Many believe that self-censoring from within is equally as harmful as externally-imposed speech codes or censorship by authorities. In fact, one might argue that self-inflicted censorship in a free society is more damaging to one’s own soul and conscience than externally-enforced censorship. Is self-censoring as bad as externally-imposed censorship?

P4. Speech codes and “safe spaces” are restrictions of free speech on college and university campuses, and they ultimately treat young adults as being “too weak to live with freedom” (Dr. Alan Kors, Co-founder of FIRE). In other words, they declare by their existence that college students are too weak to respond to speech they oppose with speech of their own to counter it. Are college students too weak to live with freedom?

P5. Maturity is not merely biological growth; it is also intellectual, emotional, and relational. Thus, restrictions to free speech and free thought on college and university campuses stunt growth in the latter three areas at a time in young peoples’ lives when these areas are most in need of developing effectively. Does freedom of speech promote growth of individuals?

Essay Requirements:

· 5+ Pages (essays of less than five full pages will receive deductions per the percentage of the missing pages); the 5 FULL PAGES minimum (no maximum) does NOT include the *MANDATORY “Works Cited” page. Essays without a Works Cited page will not be accepted, and essays not formatted in MLA format will lose 20 points.

· Sources Required: 1. The F.I.R.E. website should be your primary source, regardless of your selected prompt; 2. At least TWO ARTICLES from academic/professional journals obtained through the HCC library databases; 3. One of the two organizations named in #1 of the requirements (ADF or the ACLU). Thus, the total number of sources will be four.

· MLA Format— See #2 under “requirements”

· Third person voice only. There will be SIGNIFICANT deductions for using first or second person point-of-view pronoun usage (i.e. – NO I, me, we, our, us, or you pronouns). First and second person voice are NOT ACADEMIC; essays with first or second person voice will lose 20 points.

NOTE: Essays that are not formatted in MLA will lose 20 points; essays missing the required “Works Cited” page included with them will NOT BE GRADED!

NOTE: As with all assignments in this class, I have ZERO TOLERANCE position towards PLAGIARISM. See my policy in the syllabus and the HCC policy for more on this form of academic theft and/or cheating.