Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis Final Essay
Paper details:
On page 31 of Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, Robert Putnam asks whether youth in the United States from “different social and economic backgrounds have roughly equal” opportunities to pursue the education, career, and standard of living they desire. Over the course of the book, Putnam argues that there is an “opportunity gap” between children born into different economic classes in America that has widened in recent decades. Putnam thinks this is a problem, and in the final chapter presents a number of ways this problem might be addressed.
In your 5 – 8 page response essay, do both of the following:
1. Summarize the book. Be precise about what arguments Putnam is making. Be sure to include both his assessment of the problem and his proposed solutions. In order to leave yourself space to respond fully, I recommend you devote only about half of your essay, at most, to pure summary.
Since we are not discussing Chapter 5 in this course, it is acceptable to cover its main points in less detail than the other chapters.
2. Respond to the book’s arguments and proposals. Explain your agreement or disagreement with Putnam’s arguments and proposals. Be specific about why you agree or disagree with certain claims, and clearly state your own stance on the topic of the book. Respond to the aspects of the book that you see as most important.
Doing some additional research will help you develop your stance and find facts and quotes you can use to support your points (or to represent a point of view to argue against). In particular, I encourage you to use Putnam’s endnotes to look at the online sources for data that you would like to learn about in more detail.
Whenever you quote or paraphrase words from Our Kids or another source, you must follow MLA format by providing an in-text citation. All sources that you quote or paraphrase from must have an entry in your Works Cited list. Include Our Kids in your Works Cited list whether you quote it or not.
Length Required: 5 – 8 pages double-spaced (at least 1,750 words). Please use standard MLA formatting of size 12 Times New Roman font, one-inch maximum margins, and double (2.0) spacing.
Due Date: Please drop off a paper copy on Wednesday, May 16th. My mailbox is in the English Department Office on the second floor of Miller Hall.
What Your Grade Will Be Based On: Accuracy and level of detail of summary; depth of thought of analysis; adherence to correct grammar, word usage, and spelling; adherence to MLA format (make sure to use in text citations whenever necessary).
Lateness: This paper will not be accepted past the due date without an approved extension for an emergency circumstance.
