Answering discussion boards
Patrolling the Borders
These discussion boards have been designed to explore controversial topics. Often these debates have the potential to become heated. In the act of creating ideas, heat can be a good thing, but not at the expense of hurt feelings or frustration. Remember that any argument asks that we change something about ourselves. If we are asking our readers to change, we need to be civil about it. Likewise, when we are challenged by others with a different opinion, we need to keep an open mind. Remember, we are not changing the world here, only examining it.
Some important rules to follow:
-
You may not attack other people or their ideas in this course. To do so may result in failure of the assignment. You may, however, disagree with the ideas of others, but do so in a constructive manner. (e.g. “I don’t agree with your post. I think instead that . . . ” NOT “That’s a dumb way of looking at this.” Debate in academia is important, but let’s all be adults here.
-
Ask open-ended questions (e. g. “What if we thought about things this way?”), and avoid making statements meant to be absolute or closed-ended questions (“There is no other way to think about this,” or “Do you agree with me?”).
-
Remember to consider the lessons we’ve worked on throughout the rest of the class. Rather than simply reacting to the readings and the responses of your classmates, think about the arguments being made. Really consider the effectiveness of these arguments.
Go to the EBSCOhost database, find and read the following articles, then, using the questions below as a guide, write a 75-100 word response about the issue being discussed. Next, please take the time to respond to your classmates.
Read
Go to the resources tab and use the EBSCOhost link to search for the following articles:
- Politzer, M. (2007). It’s our job to stop that dream. Reason, 38(11), 40-49.
- Silko, L. (1994). The border patrol state. (Cover story). Nation, 255(12), 412-416
Respond
It is easy to think about the illegal alien issue as a non-human problem, but every day there are plenty of good, hard-working, and otherwise law abiding people illegally crossing America’s borders just looking for a better way to support their families, to be safe in their communities, and to have better opportunities for themselves and for their children. Of course, there are also plenty of people illegally crossing America’a borders who have less than noble intentions.
- After reading the above articles, how has your impression of this issue changed?
- How have our efforts at controlling the border backfired? How have they been successful?
- Of all of the plans to thwart the illegal problem presented by our various leaders, what seems to be the more logical plan? Why?
- As a nation built of immigrants, do we truly have a right to prevent other hard-working, industrious people from migrating to our nation? If so, how do we choose who deserves access and who should be denied a place in American society?
