A critical thinking essay is
not 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.
1. 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 CRITICAL
THINKING?
before you do any work on your essay.
2. 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. Read
WHAT IS A CRITICAL THINKING ESSAY? before you go any farther … Don’t try
to wing this assignment!
3. 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 that to
help primitive societies interferes 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.
QUESTION:
Does aid to poor societies help
them develop or does it only create dependency in societies not meant to
survive?
|
BASED ON MISTAKES BY
PAST STUDENTS, HERE ARE
SOME IDEAS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU
START:
Hitler and
others misused the ideas of Social Darwinism. Just because an
idea has been misused has nothing to do with whether or not it
has merit. (Certainly the ideas in the Bible have been misused
through out history.)`
Spencer is
not referring to groups or individuals in a society
… or even relief for a natural
disaster. His theory
concerns the evolution of primitive societies … whether or not
they should be able to develop into modern societies on their
own as was the case with today’s modern societies.
Social
Darwinism is not a theory held by social scientists. It is one
of many, many ideas that some social scientists have considered.
The phrase
is “survival of the fittest,” not “survival of the strongest.”
The fittest could be the strongest, the smartest, the quietest,
the most cooperative, the most aggressive, the most inventive,
etc.
Interdependency is
not at all the same as dependency. The former springs from
strength and success. The latter – especially over a long period
of time – happens only when weakness and failure exist. |
[NOTE: There is no right or wrong answer to the
question posed by your topic. I'm not interested in what your answer is but
in your rationale. Go back to an example I used earlier. You start out in favor
of the death penalty because you believe it has a deterrent effect but all
of the research shows there is no deterrent effect. If you end your
essay still in favor of the death penalty, that's okay. If you end your
essay still in favor of the death penalty because it has a deterrent effect,
that's not okay since your rationale is not consistent with factual
information.]
4. Look at the information and
research about your topic in the margin notes & 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.)
Herbert Spencer:
The Evolution of Society
Slide Presentation of Herbert Spencer
(PowerPoint) - scroll down to the section on nonintervention
Social Darwinism
What is Social Darwinism
What is the theory of
Cultural Evolution?
Cultural
Evolution
Evolution myths: 'Survival of
the fittest' justifies ...
Nonintervention and the Survival of the Fittest
The
Evolution Deceit
Therefore Alternatives:
Survival of the Fittest
Culture, Democracy and Development
How Will Greater Foreign Aid Help the Poor This Time?
(video)
Escaping
Poverty: Foreign Aid,
Private Property, and ...
Foreign Aid, Development
Strategies and Poverty (PDF)
USAID: Foreign
Aid in the National Interest
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 9.3
download RESOURCE LIST - This is an Excel file of current articles from popular
magazines and anthologies that I update at least weekly. The articles
are sorted by course. If you would like to download the file but do not
have Excel, you can download
Excel Viewer 2003 free. It allows you to open, view and print Excel
workbooks, even if you don't have Excel installed.
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. I've checked and all of your colleges have databases that
you can access online. Call your college librarian and ask for your
username & 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 the following format.
Last, First. year. Book
Title. City: Publisher.
Last, First, and First Last.
year. Book Title. City: Publisher.
Last, First. year. "Article
Title." Journal Name volume (issue): pages.
For additional details, see
HOW DO YOUR
FORMAT YOUR REFERENCES USING THE APSA FORMAT?
5. 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 actual 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 CRITICAL THINKING ESSAY FORMAT.
The outline given 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 Downloads section at
the top of this page, I have posted a copy of my grading rubric for the
critical thinking essay.
6. By the deadline shown in the Course Schedule on the
main page of the syllabus:
Send your Critical Thinking Essay in the
body of a new email to dramyglenn@earthlink.net.
Put only your name and Essay at
the beginning of your email.
Use the correct subject line.
Late essays will lose one point per day
late, including weekends and holidays.
READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION FROM THE MARGIN NOTES.
