The thesis for my research paper for Honors 101 is “what are
the factors that have contributed to the decline in civility, especially in
politics, and what consequences are there from that decline?” From there I will
look at a few facets of society that effect civility or incivility and comment
on how they impact incivility as well as how incivility impacts that facet. I
think that I will cover incivility in schools, popular culture, as well as
politics. Also I will pay particular attention to how incivility in schools and
popular culture affect incivility in politics. I will discuss how incivility in
politics has changed throughout the years because that is the main part of my
thesis. I will also look at the average American’s perception of incivility and
how that has developed and progressed through the years. I will do this, but I
will also note in my essay that incivility in politics, including the United
States’ politics, is not a new phenomenon, but is being more noticed by the
average American. This means that
incivility is becoming more aggravated for the public to notice it more often
in political discourses particularly. Finally I will discuss consequences from
the decline in civility and how most people are reacting to it. The argument I
intend to support in my final essay is that incivility in politics is affecting
the United States, but further that the problem of incivility is rooted in the
values and concepts of daily living in the United States. In one of the
beginning paragraphs I will use a quote from one of my sources that explains
what civility versus incivility is that way it will be easier to draw from that
definition throughout the rest of my essay. This quote is by Sarah Sobieraj and
Jeffrey Berry from their article, From
Incivility to Outrage, of civility they say that, “Civility has been
defined many ways, but is understood by us in this context as political
argumentation characterized by speakers who present themselves as reasonable
and courteous, treating even those with whom they disagree as though they and
their ideas are worthy of respect.” Whereas they quote another source that said
that incivility, “involves gratuitous asides that show a lack of respect and/or
frustration with the opposition.” Incivility in politics and incivility in
America is a cyclical problem, one feeds into the other to make incivility an
increasingly noticed part of society.
It sounds like you have everything pretty much planned out.I really like how you already know exactly what you're going to use and how you're going to back on that information. You have a great topic that I'm sure you have found great sources and from what you're saying, you know how to use those sources to your advantage. I think it's good that you're starting with schools because this incivility has to start somewhere! It's not like these candidates just wake up one morning and decide to be uncivil to each other, it's the environment that they were raised in and taught in that causes incivility. Using the "average american" will show the negative impact this back and fourth causes . Great job!
ReplyDeleteYou have a really good outline for your paper! I absolutely agree with you in regards to how our society has adopted incivility as something to value. That is a very dangerous thing. We can definitely see the changes that our world has undergone as society becomes more and more uncivil. I think we see a lot of that in politics. You are heading in a very good direction and I agree with how you are setting up your arguments. You also have a very clear thesis. You are off to a really good start! Good luck with your paper!
ReplyDeleteI see you've expanded off of one of our discussion questions for your theses, which I think is pretty appropriate since it's a very rich topic and a question that needs to be answered. I can certainly see this topic being expanded to a research essay length, but you'll need to surely provide some definitive examples of incivility from past and present eras. I'd say it'll take some solid persuasive points to establish your argument (that is, there there is an ongoing descent into incivility as opposed to an undercurrent of incivility which has existed since the birth of American democracy). Either way, I look forward to your analysis.
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