Analyzing Context

It is always important when looking at a controversy to also consider the perspectives and mindsets of those involved. The circumstances may change the way you look at the debate completely or provide a better understanding of the controversy itself. For this blog post, I will do exactly that by answering specific questions from "Writing Public Lives."

Joy Kosik. "Screenshot of Writing Public Lives Questions." 10-27-2015. 

1. Most perspectives agree on one thing: students need to learn throughout high school and it can be beneficial to go to college. The differences are how this happens. Some believe that standardized tests can be used to see how we are doing as a nation in education, while others believe that these tests cause undue stress and don't really help education at all. My debate is specifically about common core, so here the two views are to implement it or continue the traditional way. 
2. Those who want common core believe the new standards will help students learn deeper and more meaningful concepts. Those who believe the opposite, however, feel that common core is silly in that it is unnecessarily complicated and confusing. 
3. The common ground or belief that these groups share is the agreement on education needing to be made better, the questions is just how. 
4. There isn't really any differences in ideologies here, because both groups want the same basic goal: to help students. 
5. Common core is voted in to each state, so when a text makes a point or argument about it the next step is to pass on the information so that common core can be either voted in or kept out. These authors may want people to just spread the word, or they could suggest getting involved yourself by joining the debate, voting a certain way, or publishing your own views on the matter. 
6. People that believe common core will help students, or want significant change in education, will have texts that benefit my argument most. For example, Jessica Lahey from The Atlantic wrote an article called, "Confusing Math Homework? Don’t Blame the Common Core." This article would be a perfect counterargument to the opposing views, as it supports common core and directly discredits another argument. Another article that will be very useful is by Cindy Long, titled "Six Ways the Common Core is Good For Students." I chose this article because it provides nothing but good about common core, and provides good evidence throughout that I can also draw from.
7. The greatest threat will be articles about common core's failures. Of course, there will be some problems in a new system, however, my argument still stands that this is better than the old system. Most arguments against CCSS come from concerned parents, and these articles are usually emotionally charged. These are going to harm me the most. For example, Joy Pullman's "Top Ten Things Parents Hate About Common Core" article argues against common core by addressing many problems parents may face when dealing with common core at home.

Jeralt. "Exchange of Questions." 2014 via pixabay.
Public Domain

After reading Zayla and Austin's posts, I felt like we were all successfully going in the right direction with our projects. It's nice being able to choose what we argue and how. I like how Zayla was concise with her answers. I do think though that it is good to put a lot of detail in these drafting stages to make it easier when writing later. I think for my own post I should have been a little more detailed about the aspects of my argument.