Argumentative Essay: Public Schools and Students’ Autonomy

Argumentative Essay: Public Schools and Students’ Autonomy

Please write an essay in response to the following question:

Critics of religious and home schools in the U.S. contend that these schools sometimes practice indoctrination and undermine their students’ autonomy. Yet as Harry Brighouse argues, public schools are not immune to these criticisms. What are some of the ways in which public schools typically undermine their own students’ autonomy? And in your view, what can/should be done about it?

The essay should be between 1750 and 2000 words, and should take the form of a critical analysis of the readings.  This means that the focus of the essay should be on articulating your own views, and providing a well-reasoned defense of those views.  Do not merely summarize the readings.  You are welcome to quote from the readings in order to clarify or bolster your own arguments, but you should not quote excessively.  (Generally speaking, you should shoot for no more than two quotations per page of writing… and the quotations should be no longer than two lines in length.)  After each quotation, you should cite the author by last name and the page number in parenthesis.

At the end of the essay, you also should provide a list of “works cited.”  You may use the same citation format that is used in the syllabus.

You will be graded on the clarity of your writing and the quality of your argumentation. Your paper should be free of careless typos and grammatical mistakes, so please, proofread carefully!