Reading 3: “There’s Nothing Naive about Moral Clarity” – Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (5th Edition) or “Making Conversation” and “The Primacy of Practice” – Kwame Anthony Appiah (4th Edition)
Write an essay in which you apply Reading 3 as a lens through which to analyze a specific example….
Johnson and Outside Example
Johnson argues the simplicity in thinking sometimes found among youth, the idea that “some things are simply right and some things are simply wrong” is not the same as naivete and encourages all to confront social issues with that kind of moral clarity (185-6). This essay asks you to identify a youth led or assisted movement that is actively working to end/bring awareness to an issue of social injustice.
Write an essay in which you identify a youth led movement for social justice. Identify an organization, group or movement that is working to resolve an issue of social injustice (e.g. climate change, environmental racism, over policing, homelessness, food insecurity, war/conflict, etc.). In the essay you will discuss their mission as well as their limitations along with the impact that youth activism has had or is having on your chosen movement. How can/do the efforts of young people lead to meaningful change?
Your essay should depend primarily on specific details from your selected example as well as the assigned reading
Appiah and Outside Example
Appiah claims that we can “get used to one another” and by doing so also begin to make incremental changes in seemingly deep ideological divides. In fact, he uses the example of the gradual acceptance of homosexuality in the United States to show us that this “getting used to” can lead to significant social change while also reducing ideological divides. Therefore, this essay asks you to consider Appiah’s argument with regard to a social or cultural divide in our society that might be addressed or resolved through Appiah’s definition of “conversation.”
For this essay, you will apply Appiah’s reading as a “lens” to analyze a current social issue and determine whether Appiah’s definition of “conversation” could potentially help to resolve it. In other words, can engaging with others in conversation offer a productive solution to the conflicts presented by the issue you have selected? What would those conversations look like, and what would make them possible? Your essay should depend primarily on specific details from your selected example as well as the assigned reading.
