Essay 2

Prompt

Percy and Freire, each in their own way, ask us to consider the problem of authority within systems or experiences of education. Write an essay that synthesizes their thinking, explaining how they both investigate the nature of this problem, examine its consequences, and offer solutions.

To begin, review your close reading exercises, annotations, and other field note entries for Percy and Freire’s essays. Using these items as resources—and by returning to the full texts again—examine Percy and Freire’s arguments for evidence of mutual interest. If we imagine that these texts are broadly in dialogue with each other, what main concerns or problems lie at the heart of these arguments? And what are the positions, arguments, ideas, and terminology that the two sources seem to share in response? Do the authors articulate identical concerns? Or do they differ in important ways? What reasoning supports their arguments? Do they offer similar conclusions or are there significant differences in their thought? And why do those differences matter?

Throughout this essay we should hear your voice; it should be clear that there is a thinking mind orchestrating this deeply comparative analysis for a purpose of his/her own design. Why is all of this important? What concerns do you share with these two thinkers? What are the consequences for failing to have the right view on these problems or refusing to take the appropriate action? In short, it should be clear what you think in this essay.

Special Note

Synthesis is very textual in nature: you must show explicit textual evidence for each of the claims you attribute to the authors. Like our close reading work in class, your job here is to clearly explain the ideas and arguments of these thinkers, using their words and terms as evidence. Using summary, paraphrase, and quotation, explain the two arguments to your audience, comparing and contrasting the authors’ viewpoints. Make sure to cite any reference to the text appropriately. Use clear signal phrases to transition between your presentations of the various author’s ideas or works.

Use the MLA format

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