i pMajor Assignment: Social Debate—W. E. B. Du Bois vs. Booker T. Washington
• Inappropriate use of resource material that results in plagiarism will disqualify your work.
• Inappropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI) will disqualify your work.
• Failure to participate in the assigned online debate will disqualify your work.
• Afull citation page is required for this assignment.
For this assignment you will be assigned to an online debate group with members from your class. After actively participating in the online debate, you will need to review the comments from your group’s debate online and then formulate an official response to the entire discussion. You will format your paper in this order. Opening Argument
• Your introduction(opening argument) will articulate your general position for either Booker T. Washington or for W. E. B. Du Bois(approximately 175-200 words) using information you have researched in a source other than our textbook—The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. In your general position you will state why you agree with this particular philosophy and what its merits are. You must support your opening argument with a direct quote from one of your sources. Indirect quotes are not acceptable. Put your word count in parenthesis at the end of the introduction.
o Thesis statement:
Your thesis statement will clearly identify whose philosophy you agree with.
o Historical Support:
Your introduction will show that you are familiar with both sides of the argument.
Arguments/Rebuttals
• Choose four arguments from your debate group with which you disagree. Formulate a solid rebuttal (approximately 150-200 words)to each of those four arguments. In each of your four rebuttals, you will support your answer with a quotedirectly cited from a source other than our textbook.This means that you must have an in-text citation with each rebuttal. Your rebuttals will not be the same as from the discussion board. The discussion board is a semi-casual debate. The final paper is a formal debate. Put your word count in parenthesis at the end of each rebuttal.
Formatting
• Choose a comment from your group with which you disagree. Copy it into your paper and label it Argument #__. Properly cite it according to MLA (including quotes of four lines or more). Formulate aresponse to that argument. Label your response as Rebuttal #_. Support your rebuttal with a direct quote indicating your use of research material. Continue this process until you have responded to four arguments from your designated group.
Do not bold print your labels.
Choosing Arguments
• The arguments that you use in your paper should disagree with your position. Do not choose comments that agree with your position. When quoting your group members’ arguments, you should not exceed six lines. Quotations of seven and eight lines are excessive.
You are not responsible for proofreading your group members’ arguments.
Closing Argument
• Your conclusion paragraph will function like a closing argument. In a well-developed paragraph (approximately 125-150 words), you will make a final appeal for why your philosopher (Washington or Du Bois) had the best plan. Your final argument will be supported by a direct quote from one of your outside sources. Sample Paper excerpt:
Sample StudentSample 1
Professor Carlos Bolton
English 2202-U50
June 22, 2015
samplestudent@memphis.edu
Two Nations under God
Opening Argument
In a time when the country could have aptly been called two nations under God black Americafound itself once again the question of social debate. At the apex of this debate was the issue of whose responsibility it was to provide social welfare for black people. While trying to unstack the odds that were set up against them, blacks looked to their two most prominent leaders, Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. These odds consisted of: unemployment, illiteracy, displacement, racial division, social despair and more. As Du Bois so appropriately notes in the forethought to The Souls of Black Folks, “The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line” (626). In response to this dilemma, he proposed that blacks identify the most talented ten percent of its community to become its leaders. Washington, however, believed that the South should have helped itself up by its own merits. In response to Du Bois’ observation, Washington would simply say, “Cast down your buckets where you are” (Up from Slavery 595). Both men led well, but which of these philosophies would actually work? Du Bois had commendable ideas but Washington’s philosophy was the most expedient solution for the racist South.(204 words)
Sample2
Argument #1:
“Du Bois’ theory suggested that we take from among the ex-slaves those that were intellectual and thought-led and make them leaders for the whole, not just for individual gain. The talented tenth would ensure that all would be represented, all would enjoy the same equality of the white man, and that all could feel secure within their race” (Jackson).
My Rebuttal #1:
Darrell Jackson’s point is a good observation, I agree. However, it should also be considered that blacks in the South had to pourout a substantial foundation for theirown future. The most sensible way to accomplish this was to begin with the skills in which they were most equipped to perform. Washington’s plan was ingenious because he recognized that “whites had lost their thrift”—their ability to work for themselves. One man’s loss—or should I say ‘refusal to work’—is another man’s gain. It is understandable that wearing the mask is another form of struggling, but “If there is no struggle, there is no progress” (Douglass). Therefore, if those ex-slaves were willing to “wear the mask” for a while, long enough to dominate the South by numbers, then blacks would eventually have taken over those former slave states.Washington’s plan was justified by the old adage, “There is strength in numbers.” (152 words)
Paper Length:
This assignment requires a non-traditional format.It does not follow the pattern of a traditional essay, but rather it requires aspecific template. The acceptable word counts for each section are noted above. Works Cited:
Your Works Cited page will include entries for each person whomyou have quoted from your designated group as well as every outside source you use in your paper. This will primarily be the sources you use to set the stage for your opening argument, the sources you use to develop your support material for each of your rebuttals and the support material you use for your closing argument. Ideally, your Works Cited page will consist of seven to eight sources: four (4) outside sources and three to four (3-4) group member citations. Tips:
If you are interested in maximizing your grade on this assignment, these are the things to take into consideration. • I will be looking for your rebuttals to show that you have a good understanding of both philosophies. Good citations that show historical data and factual information will help your paper.
• When quoting your group members, you only need to quote a small section of what they have said—three to four sentences per person is sufficient.
• Personal pronouns such as we, us, and our are inappropriate for this assignment. In place of these, you should say “the black community,” or “blacks” or “black people” or “former slaves,” etc. • This paper is not an opportunity to express your frustrations about America’s history. We are debating philosophies only.
• This assignment requires a specific template in order for me to grade your paper more efficiently. Do not create your own format for this assignment. Traditional essays will not be accepted.
• Do not relate your paper to contemporary issues. Stay within the time frame of the debate.
• Absolutely no ad hominem (personal) attacks will be allowed. Grammar: For a maximum grade you should proofread your paper for grammaticalerrors such as spelling, capitalization and punctuation before you submit it. Format:
• MLA heading with an email address is required (See the sample above.)
• Create an original title for your paper (See the sample above.)
• Page numbers are required
• 12 point Times New Roman font is required
• Double-space your paper
• A Works Cited page is required
• Please label your comments as either Argument #_ and your responses asMy Rebuttal #_ according to the sample above
Value: (This paper is worth 15% of your final grade.)
Discussion Board Participation:
Everyone’s continual participation in the online debate is required for this assignment to be a success. Your group members’ final paper is dependant upon your support by way of what you say in the online debate. Therefore, to ensure that everyone cooperates, the following requirement is expected for this assignment:
Each person must contribute at least four comments to the group discussion to which he or she is assigned.
Deductions in the following amount will be taken for a lack of participation:
• Only four comments = zero deductions (0) from your final paper • Only three comments = a five point deduction (-5) from your final paper
• Only two comments = a ten point deduction (-10) from your final paper
• Only one comment = a fifteen point deduction (-15) from your final paper
• No comments=your paper will not be accepted
Grading Rubric (for the final paper):
• Heading and title are worth5 points
• Introductory paragraph is worth10 points (directcitation is included)
• Rebuttal#1 isworth15 points(direct citation is included)
• Rebuttal#2 is worth15 points (direct citation is included)
• Rebuttal#3 is worth15 points (direct citation is included)
• Rebuttal#4 is worth15 points (direct citation is included)
• Concluding paragraph is worth5 points(direct citation is included)
• Works Cited page is worth10 points (MLA formatting is evident)
• Grammar (spelling, punctuation, etc.) 5-10 points
GRADING PROCEDURE: The student’s work will be graded in Canvas. All major papers and major quizzes require a citation page. When grading major papers, the instructor will check for a valid citation page (e.g. Works Cited, Bibliography) first. If the citation page is missing, the student will receive a temporary grade of 25pts. This is to alert the student that there is a major issue with the submission that needs to be addressed before the instructor can complete its grading. The temporary grade will continue to decrease incrementally by five points (e.g. 25pts., 20pts., 15pts., 10pts., 5pts., 0pts.) until the major issue is corrected. Upon correction of the issue, the student’s work will be regraded. The student will be allowed a week to address the major issue.
Due Date: Refer to Canvas
Useful Citation Notes:
The following instructions for how to cite a posting to an online group have been excerpted from owl.purdue.edu and provided for you below.
A LISTSERV, DISCUSSION GROUP, OR BLOG POSTING
Cite web postings as you would a standard web entry. Provide the author of the work, the title of the posting in quotation marks, the web site name in italics, the publisher, and the posting date. Follow with the date of access. Include screen names as author names when author name is not known. If both names are known, placethe author’s name in brackets.
Author or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site, Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL. Date of access.
Sample:
Works Cited
Doe, Jane. “Du Bois Understood the Assignment.”Canvas, University of Memphis, https://memphis.instructure.com/courses/85938/discussion_topics/460875. 25 January 2024.
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