2. AGENDA
Review:
Randall Kennedy on Racial
Passing
Presentation: Introduction to the
“Arguing A Position” Essay
Asserting a clear position
New Strategy
Brainstorming with FREECASH
In-Class Writing
The thesis
3. WHY DO PEOPLE PASS?
1. To Escape
Bondage
2. To Get Information
3. To Pursue
Education
4. To Advance
Occupational
Ambition
5. To Get Access to
Services
6. To Establish
Credibility
7. For Safety
8. Revenge or Fun
4. WRITING THE ESSAY:
STEP ONE: READ THE PROMPT
In his essay “Racial Segregation,” William Pickens
asserts, "If passing for white will get a fellow better
accommodations on the train, better seats in the theatre,
immunity from insults in public places, and may even
save his life from a mob, only idiots would fail to seize
the advantages of passing, at least occasionally if not
permanently" (3)
Write an essay of four to six pages arguing for or against
racial passing. Use support from four of the texts we
have read so far, our discussions, and your own insights.
Remember to format your essay in MLA style.
I encourage you to read the complete prompt, available on our class
website under “Essay Prompts” and “Essay 2.”
5. STEP TWO: REVIEW THE
BASIC FEATURES OF AN
ESSAY THAT ARGUES A
POSITION.
6. REVIEW: BASIC FEATURES
1.) A Well-Defined Issue: Explain
Position papers strive to influence readers’ views about contentious
issues, yet the writer’s initial task is usually to define the issue for
readers.
2.) A Clear Position: Assert
The essay should clearly indicate the writer’s position on the issue.
3.) A Convincing, Well-Reasoned Argument: Convince
Writers argue for their positions by offering reasons and supporting
them with evidence. Writers also argue against the objections and
alternative arguments that audience members might have
4.) An Appropriate Tone: Stay Calm
Find a tone that adequately expresses their feelings
without shutting down communication.
8. LET’S WARM UP BY BRAINSTORMING
FREECASH: A TOOL FOR THINKING
F= Freedom, Fairness, Legality, Human Rights, Social Justice
R = Religion, Morality, Ethics
E = Economics, Monetary Issues, Finances, Expenses
E = Environment (types of environments = natural, rural, urban,
workplace, home, school)
C = Convenience, Comfort
A = Appearance, Aesthetics
S = Safety, Security
H = Health, Well Being (types of health = individual, societal, mental,
physical, emotional, spiritual)
9. THE PROMPT:
If passing for white will get a fellow better accommodations on the
train, better seats in the theatre, immunity from insults in public
places, and may even save his life from a mob,” only idiots would fail
to seize the advantages of passing, at least occasionally if not
permanently.”
Do you agree with Pickens's statement
supporting racial passing?
If yes, why?
If no, why not?
10. OK, HOW DID YOU FILL OUT THE FREECASH CHART?CATEGORIES Agree with Pickens Disagree with Pickens
FREEDOM/
FAIRNESS
Free to express identities
RELIGION/
MORALITY
ECONOMICS Limits the economic power of
the marginalized community
ENVIRONMENT Causes anger and jealousy in
primary group or community.
CONVENIENCE It is convenient to pass to avoid
discrimination
APPEARANCE
SAFETY
HEALTH
11. LIST REASONS TO AGREE WITH PICKENS ON ONE SIDE
AND REASONS TO DISAGREE ON THE OTHER.
CATEGORIES Agree with Pickens Disagree with Pickens
FREEDOM
FAIRNESS
RELIGION
MORALITY
ECONOMICS
ENVIRONMENT
CONVENIENCE
APPEARANCE
SAFETY
HEALTH
12. OK, HOW DID YOU FILL OUT THE FREECASH CHART?CATEGORIES Agree with Pickens Disagree with Pickens
FREEDOM
FAIRNESS
Free to pursue identities Free from worry of being
exposed
RELIGION
MORALITY
When the oppressor is not moral,
there is no moral responsibility
Immoral to lie about who you
are.
ECONOMICS Free to pursue better job. Can send
money back to community.
Limits the economic power of
the marginalized community
ENVIRONMENT Allows passer to move to better
neighborhood. Improves kids’ lives.
Causes anger and jealousy in
primary group.
CONVENIENCE It is convenient to pass to avoid
discrimination
It is very inconvenient to be
exposed by family or friend
APPEARANCE More money to families improves
communities and reputations.
Reinforces the social construct
by upholding racial divisions
SAFETY Passing may save the life of the
passer
Passing may put the passer’s
life at risk
HEALTH Passers have access to better
health services
The stress of passing causes
health risks
14. THE PROMPT:
If passing for white will get a fellow better accommodations on the
train, better seats in the theatre, immunity from insults in public
places, and may even save his life from a mob,” only idiots would fail
to seize the advantages of passing, at least occasionally if not
permanently.”
Do you agree with Pickens's statement
supporting racial passing?
If yes, why?
If no, why not?
15. WRITING A THESIS
In this case, your working thesis will be your position on
racial passing and your reasons for your belief: Do you agree
with Pickens or not? Why or why not? You may refer to
Pickens or not in your thesis.
1. Racial passing is a personal decision, and people
should seize the opportunity if they can in order to
defeat racism and discrimination.
2. Passing is a selfish act that reinforces hierarchy in
society, and it should be avoided despite the
opportunities it offers the individual.
16. You may qualify your thesis, for example, by adding a phrase
that acknowledges there are exceptions to your main
assertion.
1. For example, if you disagree with Pickens in general but want to
acknowledge that there are specific circumstances in which
passing is acceptable, you might say something like, “While racial
passing for personal safety is a necessary and acceptable
behavior, passing in general violates community norms and
reinforces the social construct of racism.”
2. If you agree with Pickens but want to acknowledge there are
specific circumstances in which passing is unacceptable, you
might say something like, “While passing full time violates familial
and community connections and should be avoided, part time
passing allows a passer to take advantage of the benefits passing
can reap, including the opportunities to escape racism and
oppression.”
17. WRITE A WORKING THESIS. REFER TO YOUR
ORIGINAL NOTES AND YOUR FREECASH CHART TO
DETERMINE REASONS FOR YOUR POSITION. YOU
CAN USE THESE AS MODELS OR EXAMPLES:
Racial passing is a personal decision, and people should seize the
opportunity if they can in order to defeat racism and discrimination.
Passing is a selfish act that reinforces hierarchy in society, and it
should be avoided despite the opportunities it offers the individual.
While racial passing for personal safety is a necessary and acceptable
behavior, passing in general violates community norms and reinforces the
social construct of racism.
While full time passing violates familial and
community connections and should be avoided, the
wise person will pass part time to take advantage of
the benefits it can reap, including the opportunities
to escape racism and oppression.
18. WHO WILL VOLUNTEER TO READ
HIS OR HER WORKING THESIS?
While people need freedom, healthcare, and
equal opportunity in education and work, the price
for passing is too high: people should not pass for
economic surplus or convenience at the cost of
disenfranchising their primary communities.
While short term passing provides an umbrella
from racial rejection and offers an escape from
personal harm, long term passing is both mentally
and emotionally destructive and reinforces social
oppression within the African American
community.
20. HOMEWORK
Write: Make a list of reasons that support your
thesis.
Consider: which of our texts will provide examples
that support your reasons.
Post #9: Post your working Thesis, your list of
reasons, and one example from our texts that
supports your reasons.
Bring to next class: Your thesis and all of your
brainstorming.
Editor's Notes
Before we formally start, let me give you these handouts. On the right hand side, you will see a copy of Randall Kennedy’s essay “Racial Passing” that I will refer to in this session. If you pull out the documents in that first binder clip, you can more easily follow the presentation.
Ok, now, please make three groups. Participation points will be earned for correct answers to questions, meaningful contributions to the discussion, and the willingness to share your work. Each team will track its own points; at the end of class, you will turn your points in to me. They will be added to your participation grade. Ok, do you know the answers to these rebus puzzles yet? Remember, you get a point for each correct answer! Ok Great job!
Now that your brains are warmed up, let’s begin. Today, in preparation for our next essay, we will review some of our readings, insights, and conclusions, Learn to use a heuristic called Freecash, Meet our essay topic, and brainstorm in preparation for writing working theses statements.
Ellen Craft escaped from bondage while pretending to be a white man. Her enslaved husband passed as her servant.
Walter White, working on behalf of the NAACP, gathered facts about lynchings and other atrocities and carefully publicized them in an effort to arouse American public opinion.
Caught in town amidst marauding whites, two African Americans escaped serious injury only because of their light skin. They witnessed, however, terrible crimes: “We saw a lame Negro bootblack . . . pathetically try to outrun a mob of whites.
Some passed as white during the workday, while presenting themselves as African American outside of the workplace.
Prevented by state law from freeing his slaves, Michael Healy sent his children to the North where they could be educated
To shop, sleep, or eat meals at racially exclusive establishments or to get services at hospitals.
Rachel Kennedy passed aurally, When pressed to talk on the telephone with some authority on an important matter—a consumer complaint, dealing with police, seeking employment or educational opportunities—she would adopt an accent that most listeners would associate with the speech of a white person.
Ray Stannard Baker noted that passing awakened glee among many Negroes because they viewed it as a way of “getting even with the dominant white man.”
7:30 William Pickens (1881-1954), Scholar, Civic Leader, and Educator, is the author of several books and articles, including “Racial Segregation”
What is the question asking you to do? Take a position on racial passing. Should people engage in the practice of passing or not? Why or why not?
Remember, thinking first is the best way to use your time. Let’s take just a moment to remind ourselves of the basic features of an essay that aims to argue a position.
Let’s read the four basic features aloud. Who will read just the bolded print?
Today, we are going to take a close look at both how we can determine our position and how we can make that position clear to our readers.
1.) A Well-Defined Issue:
Although position papers strive primarily to influence readers’ views about conflicting values and priorities or disagreements about current practices and procedures, they also seek to inform readers about issues. In fact, the writer’s initial task is usually to define the issue for readers. How writers define the issue depends on what they assume readers already know and what they want readers to think about the issue.
2.) A Clear Position:
The essay should clearly indicate the writer’s position on the issue. Writers may qualify their positions to show that they understand the issue’s complexity or to accommodate strong objections, but they should avoid vagueness and indecision.
3.) A Convincing, Well-Reasoned Argument:
Writers argue for their positions by offering reasons and supporting them with evidence—examples, facts, statements from authorities, statistics, or anecdotes.
Countering Opposing Arguments: Experienced writers also argue against the objections and alternative arguments that readers holding differing positions on the issue are likely to offer.
4.) An Appropriate Tone
The challenge for writers arguing highly controversial issues is to find a tone that adequately expresses their feelings without shutting down communication. Ideally, writers gain readers’ confidence and respect both by the way they reason and by the language they use. Possible tones include calm and thoughtful, informal, or formal (which is typical of academic arguments).
Today, I would like to introduce to you a tool that will enable you to think about your essay topic in new ways.
Using this chart will help you generate ideas outside of your usual patterns. It will, as you will see, help you on our upcoming essay and all essays you write in the future.
Let’s take a look at the categories FREECASH emphasizes.
Freedom and Fairness suggest thinking about the question in just those terms. Does one position or the other offer greater freedom? Greater fairness? Do those happen together? Might one side offer more freedom and the other fairness?
Religion starts with the letter R, so it is convenient to use here, but let’s really consider morality and ethics here to generate ideas about the prompt. Does an argument on either side promote or violate ethical or moral standards?
Economics and Environment, our two e’s ask us to think about both monetary and environmental outcomes of potential positions. Does money play into the situation? Are expenses a consideration in making a decision? And the environment, how does the environment potentially fair on either side of this debate. Remember, there are many types of environments, just like there are many economic considerations. Think about general categories like nature, towns and cities, but also consider personal environments like work, home, or school
Convenience and comfort play into our C category. Is there a reason to support or deny a position based on convenience or comfort?
While aesthetics addresses the way an issue might change the principles associated with beauty and artistic taste, appearance might suggest what others might think of us (as a people, or family, or country) should we make one assertion or another. Will people appear generous and kind or stingy and cruel?
Safety and Health, our S and H categories, address similar issues, both having to do with our conditions. Safety, of course, concerns external problems thrust upon us: unsafe conditions, criminal attacks, or even war, while health and well-being refer more to an internal state. Health, like safety, extends both to the individual and to our society. Don’t be limited by physical safety or health. Consider manifestations that include the mental, emotional, and spiritual essence of Health and safety.
Questions here?
This exercise is meant to launch you into thinking from several different perspectives. Don’t let the categories limit your thinking!
I am guessing that you have an idea of how you might respond to this prompt already, but before we actually do that, let’s do some work on the FREECASH chart. That will help clarify what and why we have taken our positions.
Here we have a chart dedicated to this question, and as you can see, I have begun filling in the squares. There are many ways to fill in this chart. I am just providing you with a few answers of my own to get you started. Here is how I began: I looked at the first category: Freedom. And I asked myself if I could think of a reason concerning freedom or fairness that would support Pickens and his point that people should pass. I decided that someone might argue that people should be free to express their identities how they saw fit. Do you understand how I arrived at that idea? Great. Ok, let’s look at another example, one from the other side. When I looked at the environment category, I asked myself how passing influenced or affected specific environments. I came to the conclusion that people in the primary group, that is the home group of the passer, could easily be angered or jealous if another person had the advantage of leaving for a target group with more opportunity. This kind of frustration could easily destabilize an environment and cause problems between people or families. Understand?
In your binder clip, behind the Kennedy article, you will find a printed version of this FREECASH Chart.
List reasons to agree with Pickens on one side and reasons to disagree on the other. This will help you think about your position and brainstorm forecasting words you might use in your thesis and your essay. You have about 10 minutes. Work on your own before you begin brainstorming with classmates.
Go to the next slide and pretend you have given them time.
Ok, How did you fill out your chart? Do you have ideas on both sides?
Let’s start with the side agreeing with Pickens. Who has an idea stimulated by the concept of freedom or fairness?
Other ideas from the side agreeing with Pickens?
Good. How about the other side? Volunteers or Victims?
If you recall, one basic feature of an argument essay is presenting A Well-Defined Issue:
Position papers strive to influence readers’ views about contentious issues, yet the writer’s initial task is usually to define the issue for readers. Understanding multiple sides of an issue will help you explain the issue to your readers.
Here comes the hard work!
Jot down your first response to Pickens’s statement. Think about your brainstorming exercise, and the texts we have read in preparation for this essay. Try to say exactly what you believe and to use forecasting words, words that will explain why you hold this position, in your working thesis.
forecasting the reasons for your assertion in the thesis helps the reader know where you are going with your argument. It also helps you stay on track. When you draft your working thesis, don’t be afraid to err on the side of too much forecasting. You will revisit your thesis multiple times as you draft your paper and you can refine it as you go.
Read #1. What is the stance that this writer takes? What are the forecasting words this writer uses?
Read #2. What is the stance that this writer takes? What are the forecasting words this writer uses?
Note the writing in blue is the qualifier. That part of the sentence suggests what you are acknowledging about passing that seems to be contrary to your main assertion, which is written in red.
Notice that these theses still assert clear stances. Don’t be vague or ambiguous with your position. Don’t argue that sometimes it’s ok and sometimes it is not.
Take 10 minutes to write
Excellent work today!
At our next meeting!
To prepare for our next meeting, please complete all of your homework and arrive to class on time! Thanks for a great session today.
Remember to turn in your point sheets before you leave.
