King Journal and Mini Essay
King Journal and Mini Essay
Instructions:
Find ten pieces of textual evidence that you will analyze in a two column journal. In the left column place the textual evidence you chose from the reading. On the right, you will either analyze King’s purpose for using this evidence (analysis of its intended impact on the audience) OR you will argue how and why the argument in the example that you have chosen is or is not relevant today. We will review examples of how to accomplish this in class this week, so bring a copy of the reading with you.
You will also be held accountable for a thesis statement and dense body paragraph (one page) where you analyze King’s use of specific examples, arguments, etc.
Thesis:
Analysis: In King’s essay, he argues (summarize the main argument) in order to (analyze the purpose of his argument).
Argumentation: In King’s essay, he argues (summarize the main argument), which is…true false relevant irrelevant…because….
Sample paragraph:
In paragraph 2, King argues that…. in order to/which is relevant because.
For example, he insists/maintains/asserts/claims that “embedded quote,” which is… because
This is important because….
Furthermore, this is also significant because…
Ultimately, King wanted…., which is… because….
Evidence |
Analysis |
| In paragraph 1 King explains There are twice as many white poor as Negro poor in the United States | King reiterates that the problem of poverty should be addressed from a different perspective that differentiates it from racial discrimination as it affects both black and white. |
| Poverty is a consequence of multiple evils: lack of education restricting job opportunities; poor housing which stultified home life and suppressed initiative; fragile family relationships which distorted personality development.
|
In his essay, King posits that poverty is caused by evils such as lack of education, poor housing, and fragile family relations which had a gross contribution to the problem by impacting negatively on job opportunities, home life and distorted personality respectively.
|
| We have come to the point where we must make the nonproducer a consumer or we will find ourselves drowning in a sea of consumer goods
|
King mentions the growing rift between the rich and the poor. He observes that the state is in a high standard of production but most citizens have less access to this goods and services as they have low purchase power. |
| . We must create full employment or we must create incomes | King observes the need to make non-producers to be consumers which would be achieved by improving their purchase power. He sees an increase of job opportunities as a way to purge out poverty as it contributes highly to people’s income. |
| work of men who perform it for their own sake, and not that they may get more to eat or drink, or wear, or display. In a state of society where want is abolished, work of this sort could be enormously increased. We are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding the elimination | King thinks that people should be made to see the positivity of working rather than the ancient though of colonial purposes of work which included masters and slaves. |
| a host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security | King explains that economic security was responsible for positive psychological changes which would lead to the flourishing of individual dignity. |
| Two conditions are indispensable if we are to ensure that the guaranteed income operates as a consistently progressive measure – Guarantee and dynamicity | King proposes the best ways by which poverty can be fought through job creation |
| This proposal is not a “civil rights” program, in the sense that that term is currently used | King uses this proponent to create to explain the purpose of his proposal. Civil rights was a then discriminative term against racial lines. He argues that the benefits of the proposal will cross racial lines and should be supported by everyone. |
| Nearly forty years two groups in our society have already been enjoying a guaranteed income – symptom of our confused social values that these two groups turn out to be the richest and the poorest | King describes the endless rift between the poor and the rich which is seemingly progressing against time limits. He uses this evidence to explain the need for change of thought on the way things are done. |
| John Kenneth Galbraith has estimated that $20 billion a year would effect a guaranteed income | King uses this evidence to second the financial benefits of his proposal and the good it would have done. |
Argumentation
Thesis: Poverty is a crisis that affects both white and black citizens of the nation and should face indiscriminate measures to purge it. Working interventions should be considered in making efforts to fight poverty
King observes the trends of poverty as a national crisis. His argument is relevant as he relates it on the ration of the poor whites to poor blacks in the state concluding that there were twice as many poor whites as poor black. In paragraph two, King relates the causes of poverty as a lack of education, poor housing and fragile family relations. It is logical that poor education fired up high poverty levels as it denied access to job opportunities, fragile family relationships distorted the development of people’s personality and poor housing stultified home lives. An evaluation of these problems draws relevance from the positive consequences of implementing working interventions. In paragraph 8, King insists on the need to alter people’s mindsets from the canonized production venture to develop a consideration to create consumers for their end products. He explains that raising the living standards of people, more so the poor would increase the number of consumers hence opening up distribution channels for the producers.
King cites Henry George’s perspective of work which should be adopted by people in order to be motivated. King wants people to view work as their activities that are performed for their own sake rather than the previous master and slave relationships. The relevance of changing people’s perspectives towards work was to give chance to fight poverty by increasing the zeal of working people. King’s arguments on ways to purge poverty are relevant and would still be useful in the present day strife to fight poverty. It is commendable that most of his wishes for this drive are already under implementation as states have made significant steps in assessing the utilitarianism of the education systems. The increase of job opportunities and consumers has been on the rise with laws like the Minimum Wage Act. In a gross evaluation of King’s implications, proposed innervations can be used to fight poverty in the present situation.
