Home Random Page


CATEGORIES:

BiologyChemistryConstructionCultureEcologyEconomyElectronicsFinanceGeographyHistoryInformaticsLawMathematicsMechanicsMedicineOtherPedagogyPhilosophyPhysicsPolicyPsychologySociologySportTourism






DOES/SAYS ANALYSIS OF MURRAY

Paragraphs 1-2: Does: Introduces problem and uses comparison of presentillegitimacy birth rates with earlier rates to underscore significance of problem.Says: Illegitimacy birth rates have soared in recent years, far exceeding the 25percent danger level that prompted Daniel Moynihan in the 1960s to prophesy thebreakdown of the black family.

Paragraph 3: Does; Lends presence to his claim by drawing an analogy be­tween communities full of fatherless adolescents and a novel about adolescent boys marooned on an island. Says: Like the boys in Lord of the Flies, contempo­rary illegitimate children will create a savage society.

Paragraph 4: Does: Provides a transition from discussion of black illegiti­macy rates to white illegitimacy rates. Says: The white illegitimacy problem is growing but there's still time to get it under control.

Paragraphs 5-7: Does: Supports and limits the claim that white illegiti­macy rate is growing. Says: Although 22 percent of white births are illegitimate, the proportions are much larger among working class whites.

Paragraph 8: Does: Defines the illegitimacy problem as a part of the larger problem of an "emergent white underclass." Says: The white underclass is now large enough to constitute a "critical mass."

Paragraphs 9 and 11: Does: Compares white illegitimacy rate to historical black rates and predicts bad consequences. Says: As white illegitimacy rates ap­proach 25 percent, we can expect to see crime and unemployment figures rise dra­matically as they did when black rates achieved a similar level.

Paragraph 10: Does: Claims a causal connection between illegitimacy rates and social problems. Says: While admitting the connection is "murky," Murray identifies "social policy"—not changes in sexual mores or cultural economic shifts—as the key to illegitimacy rates.

Paragraph 12: Does: Sums up and restates problem. Says: Illegitimacy is the "single most important social issue of our time" because it drives other social problems.

Paragraphs 23-25: Does: Anticipates objection 'that not all mothers will find aid or place children for adoption voluntarily. Says: When mothers don't act responsibly, we have the legal means to remove them and place them in sound families, if we ease adoption restrictions.

Paragraphs 26-27:Does: Predicts large numbers of children will be given up for adoption and offers an alternative for those who are not placed. Says: For those illegitimate children not adopted, we need to provide "24-hour-a-day preschools" (orphanages).

Paragraphs 28-32: Does: Offers second prong of proposal, rewarding mar­riage. Says: In addition to penalizing illegitimacy, we need to reward marriage by favoring it in the tax code and in civil laws defining parental rights and re­sponsibilities.

Paragraph 33:Does: Cites a precedent for the current proposal. Says: Most aspects of the current proposal were law of the land in the Kennedy era.

Paragraph 34:Does: Underscores significance by returning to earlier prece­dents. Says: If we don't act, we can look for the same sorts of problems in the white underclass that we've already seen in the black underclass.



 

3. After you've analyzed the essay paragraph by paragraph, try locating the main divisions or parts of the argument. At the largest level, Murray's article di­vides into two major parts: the first part (paragraphs 1-12) describes the problem, whereas the second part (paragraphs 13-35) explains Murray's proposed solution. Subdividing the essay further, we identified the following main sections (different readers might subdivide the sections in slightly different ways):

■ an introductory section describing the problem of illegitimacy amonginner-city blacks and showing that the illegitimacy rate is also risingamong lower-class whites (paragraphs 1-7)

■ a section showing how the increase in the illegitimacy rate among lower-class whites is reaching a critical mass that will lead to the emergence of awhite underclass and a dramatic increase in crime, unemployment, druguse (paragraphs 8-12)

■ an overview paragraph saying that we must rebuild the "walls" that restrict childbirth to married couples (paragraph 13)

■ a section giving the ethical and social justification for his proposal (para­graphs 14-16)section showing the three "good" results of ending all economic aid to m single mothers (paragraphs 17-27). This section also includes a subsection on improving the process of adoption (paragraphs 23-27)

■ a section showing that we must reestablish the rewards for marriage (para­graphs 28-32)

■ a conclusion showing the importance of the proposal and claiming that this proposal is not radical.

4. Turn your list, outline, flowchart, or diagram into a prose summary. Typi­cally, writers do this in one of two ways. Some start with a lengthy paragraph-by-paragraph summary and then prune it in successive drafts. Others start with a one-sentence summary of the argument's thesis and major supporting reasons and then gradually flesh it out with more supporting ideas.

5. Continue writing drafts until your summary is the desired length and is sufficiently clear, complete, and concise that someone who hasn't read the origi­nal could read your summary and explain the original to a third party.

 

As Illustrations/ consider the following three summaries of Murray's article.


Date: 2015-02-03; view: 875


<== previous page | next page ==>
The Coming White Underclass | WORD SUMMARY
doclecture.net - lectures - 2014-2024 year. Copyright infringement or personal data (0.009 sec.)