“If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter.” -Washington, address to the officers of the Army, March 15, 1783
UNIT 4 DISTANCE LEARNING ASSIGNMENTS:
PENNINO EMAIL: apennino@shufsd.org
All work for this class will be now posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Complete the following assignments at your own pace.
CLASS PARTICIPATION: After you read or watch videos, email me questions or comments. I hope to hear from you.
Periods 3 and 8: Finish reading Brave New World during this unit.
Review the BNW study guide. The next test (second week of May) will have questions on the book. Email me any questions you may have.
8. EXAM POSTED 5/14:
STRENGTH AND HONOR
7. WORK POSTED 5/12: Unit 4 Test Thursday 5/14
posted on our google classroom.
STUDY FOR THE TEST. Email me if you have questions!
Review the notes packet. Make sure you have watched all assigned videos.
Extra Credit REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS due 5/14. You should absolutely use the review assignment to prepare and study. You do not have to complete and turn in. If you do, use the materials provided by this class to answer the questions. If you copy-paste answers from google I will stop reading and give you no credit!
Periods 3 and 8: review the Brave New World study guide and our assigned unit readings to prepare for the test..
6. WORK POSTED 5/7:
In the context of politics,bias means presenting information in a way that is meant to influence the conclusions drawn by the viewer or reader. Keeping informed is a basic requirement of civic virtue and self government. How do we know that our source is telling the whole story? What if we gravitate to bias sources that simply confirm our own views? If we are in a confirmation bubble where we consume only biased information and opinion, how can we relate with people who think different from us?
Bias is a huge problem and is getting worse. My advise to you, Whitman Students, is always seek opposing views! From opposing sources! (Never leave it to a source on the Left to explain conservative positions, and vice versa). Be consumers of information, but make sure you learn and try to understand views that are different from your own. This does require taking time to do it right. But no one said a republic is an easy form of government! Watch both Fox News and CNN. Read different perspectives from left leaning sources and right leaning ones: www.realclearpolitics.com makes that a bit easier for us. Use logic and evidence to come to your own conclusions. Sometimes that might mean you'll agree with the "other" side! Or you might see both sides have some valid points. We're supposed to be Americans first, not soldiers for Team Red or Team Blue. OK here are your tasks:
The first short videos were made when the Trump-Russia collusion story dominated the media:
The second set of videos offer different perspectives about media bias:
Periods 3 and 8: Read the following. Two recent perspective on President Trump's handling of the Pandemic. Be ready for a QUIZ TUESDAY 5/12:
5. WORK POSTED 5/5: Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
The next threat to civic virtue and self-government we will look at more closely is social division. There have always been power structures in societies, in which some are privileged and others artificially disadvantaged. This is also true for America, even though it goes against our founding principles of natural equality and natural rights. Abolition, women's suffrage, and civil rights movements here were mostly based on realizing our founding principles, summarized by Martin Luther King Jr: that we should be judged as individuals by the "content of our character, not the color of our skin" or other features we have no control over. Today we are greatly divided between those who see MLK's call as the answer, versus those who demand "political correctness." PC defines you not as an individual but as a member of either a victim or oppressor group. This affects issues of free speech, education, politics, and how we see and treat each other in society. Can free speech and political pluralism survive in a "politically correct" society? Review pages 17-19 in the notes packet. Watch and think about these short videos: (warning: bad language on Vice).
Periods 3 and 8: EXTRA CREDIT: Read the following. It's another long reading but probably the best explanation of political correctness you can get.
EXTRA CREDIT QUIZ POSTED THURSDAY 5/7:
4. WORK POSTED 4/30/20:
The next threat to civic virtue and self-government we will look at more closely is poor reasoning skills. Review that section in the notes packet. Our ability to deal with challenges in life, our ability to listen to other people with different opinions, and to comprehend reasonable versus invalid arguments, all have profound implications on the future success of free society. Watch and think about these short videos: (warning: bad language on Bill Maher).
Periods 3 and 8: Read the following. It's long but very worth your time and remains a big topic today. Read to end, don't skip common cognitive distortions. Be ready for a QUIZ TUESDAY 5/5:
3. WORK POSTED 4/28/20:
After you finish reading and thinking about the Unit 4 notes, we will consider some of the threats to civic virtue that we were warned about. Let's start with ignorance: lack of knowlege. Read the following and watch the video. Do you think Americans are informed enough about politics and history to keep our republic? What should we do to protect ourselves from the threat of ignorance? I hope you email me your thoughts!
2. WORK POSTED 4/23/20:
Carefullt read the Unit 4 Notes: Civic Virtue Today. It's advised that you write your own notes on looseleaf or type on a Word Document, but this is not required. At the end of the unit you can email me these annotations for extra credit.
1. WORK POSTED TUESDAY 4/21/20:
Go to google classroom and study the GOOGLE SLIDE PRESENTATION on the concept of the cult of personality. This is our introduction to Unit 4. Your task is to watch.
Move to the next slide by clicking the right arrow on your keyboard. Click the vids to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuwG75M5YHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOZ0irgLwxU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3744gW7iUY
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/abc-news-reporter-brian-ross-suspended-serious-error-flynn-reporting-n825966
https://newrepublic.com/article/145731/liberals-becoming-knee-jerk-anti-trumpists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT6qlk7iHbE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6xBrp44_rg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pzZvMzotMc
