Overview
Choose and Respond to one of the following. I also provide some possible ways you might chose to answer this question. Please feel free to chose one. However, also feel free to make your own connections or to combine. As always just make sure you have a clear thesis statement and that your evidence supports your answer/argument.
Why am I doing this? Figuring out how to respond to more open-ended questions is difficult and a skill that is important to develop for your section discussions, and especially for those of you interested in taking an upper level undergraduate seminar course or graduate school training. These are the types of discussion questions, response, and essay prompts you will face when you get there! My hope is that modeling different ways of tackling open-ended questions will be helpful training.
1) How might we relate Wacquant's analysis with the Black Panthers, which formed at the turning point between the Communal Ghetto and Hyperghetto?
- (a) The connection between Wacquant’s analysis of Welfare State Retrenchment and Bloom’s/documentary's historical recounting of Black Panthers mutual aid efforts and politicization.
- (b) Situating the Black Panther’s revolutionary response to ghetto conditions depicted in Bloom/documentary within Wacquant’s historical analysis of deteriorating conditions in the ghetto.
- (c) The relationship between concentrated black poverty + welfare retrenchment depicted in Wacquant and the police control and discrimination depicted in Bloom/documentary.
2) Compare and Contrast Logan and Molotch's conception of the state to Wacquant's in relation to its role in shaping urban inequality.
- (a) Compare and contrast the role of the state in white flight and black outmigration in the works. Logan and Molotch cover more in-depth the ways the state facilitated white flight, Wacquant focuses and adds a lot more in explaining the state's role and subsequent impact of Black outmigration.
- (b) Logan and Molotch focus on how different 'place entrepreneurs' and elites use the state to facilitate suburban stratification, Wacquant brings the role of varying federal administrations (Johnson --> Nixon --> Reagan).
- (c) Both discuss a range of "urban policies," but Wacquant also adds the role of changes in welfare policies that compound urban inequality and deprivation in the inner city
- Reading Response Guidelines
- (250-400 words)
- The reading responses for this section are designed towards (a) invigorating and sharpening class discussions, (b) providing an opportunity for those of us who feel strongest through the written word and perhaps uncomfortable speaking in class, and (c) train you into writing freely and clearly, without the stakes and formalism of required graded assignments. In this course, they should also be seen as germinations and notations that are parts and parcels building towards your midterm essays and final papers, rather than as a separate or extra assignment.Components of a good reading response:Thesis Statement: Each response should have an identifiable thesis statement somewhere in the first few sentences. This should sum up your overall answer or argument to the given prompt. The summaries that follow should be evidence directed to supporting this point.Depth vs. Breadth: For a 250–400-word response there is no way to be comprehensive. Instead of briefly listing allthe evidence supporting an answer, instead focus on selecting one-three points in the text, summarizing them with a specific example, and reflecting on their implications and relationship to the prompt and other readings.Key Quote: Each response should includeat least one key quote. This quote should not simply be a stand-in for a summarizing point, but should rather exemplify an author’s argument or position in relation to the prompt and the point you’re making with your response.Specificity: Try to be as specific as possible in these responses. Provide specific examples in the text to back up your response. Provide page number citations where possible.Question: After each response include a question that the reading raised that you’d like to discuss in seminar. This does not have to relate to the reading response, although it can. This can be aimed at a confusion in comprehending the text or towards a critique of comparison with another text in the course. The question does not count toward the word count.Word Limit: Aim for 250 - 400 words. 400is a HARD limit. Being concise is a challenge and is encouraged through this practice.