DePaul University American Police Reform in Minority Essay

Thesis Statement: Following the protest over the death of George Floyd and many that have followed after that, policing method in America needs reform particularly in areas where minorities lives to prevent civilian death in the hands of the police and mass protests across the country.

Paper 1: Making an ArgumentOverview

In Unit I for this course, we introduced a basic framework for argument. This frameworkconsists of a perspective on argument as democratic practice, different levels of argument(product, process, controversy), standardization as a means of modeling argument, cogency as anorientation toward argument evaluation, the ARG conditions as a tool for argument evaluation,and judgment as an important argument practice.

This first paper gives you an opportunity to put this framework into practice in a written format.As with the first speech, your paper will be a discrete, stand-alone argument, so you should focusyour attention in this assignment on argument as product.

First paper versus first speech

Your first paper will address the same topic and thesis statement from your first speech.However, this first paper will different from your speech in four important ways:

1. Revision of argument: Based on your experience of delivering the first speech and your self-evaluations, you may decide that you need to revise and refine your argument. Perhaps yourthesis statement was too broad, or you judged one of your main points to be tangentiallyconnected to your thesis, or you felt that some of your evidence was not compelling. This paperoffers you the opportunity to reconsider aspects of your argument and try to strengthen it.

2. Focus, focus, focus: Given that you can write this paper over several different writing sessions(unlike delivering the speech once when it was your turn during the discussion sections), youshould use this opportunity to sharpen your focus in your argument. Make sure that your thesisstatement addresses your topic in a manageable way. For example, don’t argue for the need forcitizen supervision of police departments generally. Instead, focus on a specific department, or apractice that has been used successfully somewhere. Make sure the connections between yourmain points and thesis, as well as your evidence and main points, are clear.

3. Development of your argument: You will have significantly more space in this paper todevelop your argument further and to provide additional details. As a way of thinking about this,recall that we have explained that a good rule-of-thumb for speaking from a speech manuscript isthat each double-spaced page takes about two minutes to present. Since this paper will be 4-5pages, it is the equivalent of delivering an 8-10 minute speech! In other words, you cannotsimply convert your speech outline into a paper; it would be too short. Use the extra space topursue points you did not have time to develop fully in your speech and/or to add additionalmain points. Your evidence can be discussed with greater specificity as well. For instance, astudy or survey you may have only referenced in your speech can be explored in greater detail.Or, you can share the experiences or story of someone who may be relevant to and providesupport for your argument. Etc.

4. Different modalities: Oral and written arguments enact two different modalities ofcommunication. As such, they present different opportunities to advance arguments. In a writtenpaper, you can make your argument more specific and precise. In terms of specificity, you canaddress more contextual details; you can be more nuanced in your use of quotations, weavingback and forth between sharing relevant quotes and offering your interpretations of these quotes; you can discuss statistics in greater detail; etc. With regard to precision, you can write andrewrite portions of your argument. This may include more significant parts, like refocusing thesisstatements and replacing main points, as well as more specific details, like adding evidence andrefining your word choices. Take advantage of these opportunities as you engage the modality ofwritten argumentation.

Structure and sections of the first paper

The structure of your paper should include the key components we discussed for your firstspeech. However, the specific development of these components will differ from the speech asexplained above. As a reminder, here are these components:

Thesis statement: The overall conclusion to your speechMain points: The key reasons that support your conclusion

Evidence: More specific reasons and additional information (e.g., statistics, quotes from experts,stories of particular individuals, descriptions of events, personal experience, commonly sharedvalues and principles, etc.) that support your main points

In addition, your paper should include the following sections:

Introduction: The introduction should be one or two paragraphs. It should provide relevantcontextual information for your argument, address the significance of your argument, clearlyarticulate your thesis statement, and preview your main points.

Main section: In the main section of your paper, you should clearly articulate and develop yourmain points. Each main point should be acceptable, relevant to your thesis, and sufficiently well-developed. Each main point should address a significant aspect of your thesis. If your mainpoints are linked, you should explain their connections. The evidence supporting your mainpoints should be acceptable, relevant, and sufficiently developed. Your evidence should also bereliable and, when applicable, you should cite the sources for your evidence. The length of themain section will vary depending on the length of your introduction and conclusion.

Conclusion: The conclusion should be one paragraph that summarizes your thesis statement andmain points.

Bibliography: Using a consistent citation style (MLA, APA, or Chicago), your bibliographyshould provide full information for each source. Your paper should have a minimum of 6sources. As the librarian introduced us to two databases—Opposing Viewpoints in Context andAcademic Search—your bibliography should include at least 2 sources from each database.Indicate in your bibliography which sources are drawn from which database.

As you prepare your paper, use the ARG conditions as a self-check to consider the cogency ofyour argument.

Outline

Your outline should represent the logical structure of your argument by focusing on your thesisstatement, main points, and evidence. Your outline should not be a word-for-word representationof your speech. Here is a sample outline, with the references cited, based on a portion of theKareem Abdul-Jabbar essay:

Thesis statement: College athletes should be paid.
I. Colleges, coaches and programs make millions on the efforts of student athletes.

A. The NCAA tournament made $900 million and generated $9.2 billion in gambling (Parker).

B. My athletic activities earned UCLA millions of dollars.

1. We generated cash for the university as well as advertising that recruited new students.

C. College coaches makes millions of dollars (“How much”)

1. Top college coaches can make between $4-9 million per yearD. UT football made $92 million in 2015 (Wadlington).

II. Athletes from modest backgrounds struggle financially in college

A. When I was at UCLA, I struggled to get by financially.

1. I worked during the summer to save a little money for school.

2. I basically just studied, practiced, and played.

B. In 2014, former UConn basketball player Shabazz Napier talked about going hungry some nights(Waldron)

1. Napier said: “We do have hungry nights that we don’t have enough money to get food in…. Sometimes, there’s hungry nights where I’m not able to eat, but I still gotta play up to mycapabilities.”

2. This reminded me of my experience at UCLA

References

“How much are college sports coaches paid?” [n.d.] College Sports Scholarships.https://www.collegesportsscholarships.com/college-…

Parker, Tim. 2016, March 15. How much does the NCAA make off March Madness? Investopedia.https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/03…

Wadlington, Paul. 2016, August 22. University of Texas football more profitable than most NFL teams.Barking Carnival. https://www.barkingcarnival.com/2016/8/22/12584762/university-of-texas-football-more-profitable-than-most-nfl-teams-college-football-revenue-profit

Waldron, Travis. 2017, March 17. Black Americans support paying college athletes. Huffington Post.https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paying-college-athl…