The following is a take-home argument essay prompt from an actual question presented on an AP exam a few years back. I handed out hard copies in class on Friday in case you have extra time this weekend to begin brainstorming. You will plan and write an original essay response, taking a clear position with at least two pieces of specific evidence in a minimum of four to five well-written paragraphs. You'll upload your final draft to Turnitin.com before January 19, Monday night, at 11:59 p.m.
We will discuss the prompt on Monday and will work on it in class throughout the week. Here it is:
Read the following excerpt from The Decline of Radicalism (1969) by Daniel J. Boorstin and consider the implications of the distinction Boorstin makes between dissent and disagreement. Then, using appropriate evidence, write a carefully reasoned essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify Boorstin’s distinction.
Dissent is the great problem of America today. It overshadows all others. It is
a symptom, an expression, a consequence, and a cause of all others.
I say dissent and not disagreement. And it is the distinction between dissent and
disagreement which I really want to make. Disagreement produces debate but dissent
produces dissension. Dissent (which comes from the Latin, dis and sentire) means
originally to feel apart from others.
People who disagree have an argument, but people who dissent have a quarrel. People may disagree and both may count themselves in the majority. But a person who dissents is by definition in a minority. A liberal society thrives on disagreement but is killed by dissension. Disagreement is the life blood of democracy, dissension is its cancer.
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