A. Read the following selections from the Margin Notes by clicking on each link.
B. Watch these presentations. When you click on one of the links below, a new screen will pop up. Use the scrollbar on the side of the new screen to navigate.
You need Adobe Reader to view PDF files.
C. (Optional) Read the following chapters from the textbook.
Chapters 10 - 13
D.
The following Optional
Links will help you do better in your course but they are not required.
E. Critical Thinking Essay (20 points)
A critical thinking essay isn't difficult to write but it is a very structured piece of writing so it’s important that you read and follow the
steps below
in order.
-
Read
What
is Critical Thinking? before you do any work on your essay.
We cannot take the time to fully explore what is meant by
critical thinking. You do, however, need to have some general idea what critical thinking means in order to write a good critical thinking essay.
-
Read
What
is A Critical Thinking Essay? before you go any farther.
A critical thinking
essay is very similar to an exploratory essay -- a type of writing with which you may be familiar. It has a specific focus and a specific structure. Don’t try to wing this assignment!
-
Look at your topic carefully and make sure you understand it. Try rewriting it using your own words but keeping the meaning the same
Topic
Herbert Spencer is credited with developing the
survival of the fittest concept and the philosophic approach known as
Social Darwinism. The idea behind this approach is that societies evolve from primitive to civilized and if we help primitive societies we interfere with the natural process of either evolving or becoming extinct. As an example, nations like the US have for decades intervened in sub-Saharan African countries in an attempt to fight AIDS and end poverty with little success.
Topic:
Why haven't the less-developed countries been able to break out of the poverty most of them have experienced since before independence?
-
Look at the information and research
about your topic in the margin notes and power point presentations from your course and in the links below. Use the information from these sources to write your essay. However, do NOT use any
direct quotes, citations or references from these sources. The essay is too short for direct quotes ... use your own words. As for references, I've given you the sources so I'll know where the information came from. (I've tried to give you a wide range of sources and opinions in the reference list below. Inclusion on the list does not constitute an endorsement of either the sources or the opinions.)
Slide Presentation of Herbert Spencer
(PowerPoint): scroll down to the section on nonintervention
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism - HISTORY
Origins of the Myth of Social Darwinism - Princeton University
Social Darwinism and American Laissez-Faire Capitalism
Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age (article) | Khan Academy
Social Darwinism: Science and Myth
A Guide to Spencer's Social Darwinism
What is Social Darwinism?
What is the Theory of
Cultural Evolution?
Cultural Evolution
Evolution
Myths: 'Survival of the Fittest' Justifies ...
Social Darwinism - DePaul University
The
Evolution Deceit
Herbert Spencer's Social Darwinism
Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism
Culture, Democracy
and Development
How Will Greater Foreign Aid Help the Poor This Time? (video)
Escaping Poverty:
Foreign Aid, Private Property and ...
Digital Commons@ IWU - Satish Lohani '04: Effect of ...
Does
Foreign Aid Reduce Poverty? Empirical Evidence (PDF)
African Development: Promise
and Peril
Foreign Aid: Congress Should Shift USAID Funds to the Millennium Challenge Account
An Upside-Down View of Governance
download
free Adobe PDF reader
Online Databases: Some of the links above may take you to an article's abstract rather than the complete article. If you want to see the entire article but the site requires registration and/or payment, try your college library's online database. Almost all articles can be accessed through a database ... that's why colleges purchase databases for student use. Call your college librarian and ask for your username
and password and for directions.
I do not expect you to
use additional sources of information on your topic. If you do, you MUST cite and reference any additional sources
using one of the following formats.
APA (American Psychological Association): regularly used by most social scientists
APSA (American Political Science Association): used (in conjunction with APA) by political science publications
MLA (Modern Language Association): not generally used by social scientists but if you are a humanities major you may be more familiar with this format
CMS (Chicago Manual of Style)
Turabian: a variation of the CMS
You can find style sheets and/or links for each of these styles on the
Writing page, the link for which is at the top of the main
Online Courses page.
-
You may use any font and line spacing you wish when
formatting your essay but the
content of your essay must be a minimum of 750 words. You must also adequately cover your topic, though, and you may find it difficult to completely cover your topic in 750 words unless you are extremely concise. If you feel you need more length to cover your topic, you are welcome to write a longer essay. However, you are only required to write an essay the content of which is 750 (not 749) words in length. If the content (that does not include your name, type of assignment, citations, etc ... only the content of the paper itself) is not at least 750 words in length I will return your paper to you unread.
Your critical thinking essay should follow a specific outline. Before you begin the writing phase of your essay, read
What Makes A Paper Good? and
Critical Thinking Essay Format. The outline given
in the second link is the one you need to follow in your essay. Too, take your time proofing your essay for spelling and grammar mistakes. If spelling and grammar are not among your talents, ask a friend who is good with spelling and grammar to proof your essay. “A” papers do not have spelling and grammar mistakes!
Under the
Optional Links section at the top of this page, I have posted a
link to my grading rubric for the critical thinking essay.