Civil Rights Opposing Viewpoints

Civil Rights Issue: Should student debt be abolished?

Day 1:

● Find and save 4 articles on a civil rights issue. Each article should be a different
viewpoint on the SAME topic.
● Copy and paste the headline and hyperlink of each article.
● Write a thorough summary for each article.

Day 2:

● Use the AP Argument Writing Scoring Rubric to evaluate each article. Give it a number
score, but more importantly, justify why you scored it that way. The more detailed and
specific you are, the better.
● Finally, answer the question at the end of the assignment.

Headline & Link:

Give strained student loan borrowers their fresh start

From: The Hill

Article Summary: This author believes that it would be difficult to actually abolish most
student debt. They propose the solution of abolishing student debt
on bankruptcy, which would give executive action to people who
actually need it. They take an opposing stance on giving blanket
relief to all federal borrowers.

Thesis “Rather than forgive $10,000 or $50,000, executive action to allow

borrowers to have student loan debt forgiven through bankruptcy
means the borrowers who truly need it could find relief.”

This thesis responds to the argument and establishes a line of

reasoning. It is a decent thesis and deserves the point, but could be
easily improved by setting up organization within the text.

Evidence & The evidence and commentary within this is decent, but its
Commentary organization is a little hard to follow. It gives good evidence, with
statistics and numbers that prove the thesis. The commentary is the
most developed in the last two paragraphs, and could be more
complex towards the beginning. A lot of this essay has subtle hints at
what Biden is doing wrong, which is not really the point of the
argument. I would give the evidence and commentary 3 points.

Sophistication The argument acknowledges outside arguments, and the style is

really effective. However, the organization is somewhat lacking, so I
wouldn’t award this point.
Headline & Link:

POV: Student Debt Is Hurting Our

Wallets and Our Health
10 things we need to do to rein it in
From: Boston University

Article Summary: This article summarizes the main issues surrounding student debt,
and how there are more than 1.5 trillion dollars in student debt
currently. It explains how most students end up with significant debt,
and can’t pay it off for decades. The article gives 10 thorough
solutions: capping income percentage of debt, greater loan flexibility,
teaching financial literacy, teaching about alternatives to college
(trade school), scholarships and other financial aid, and more.

Thesis “Managing this sprawling financial-health crisis demands a

multipronged solution.”

Although this thesis is not very descriptive, it responds to the ‘prompt’

with a defensible argument- that this crisis demands a solution.
There are 6 paragraphs of background information before this thesis,
so it works within the context.

Evidence & The evidence within this is superb. There are 6 paragraphs of
Commentary background information that show compelling statistics, facts, and
studies about student debt. Then, all of this background information
and evidence leads to the thesis, which makes a point that must be
addressed. Then, they elaborate on 10 solutions that establish
reasoning and commentary based on the significant evidence. This
article deserves all four points.

Sophistication This article is extremely sophisticated in their thesis, the style/tone,

the rhetorical choices, and the context. This article deserves this
point.

Headline & Link:

5 Reasons Not To Cancel Student

Loans
From: Forbes.com
Article Summary: The article starts out by acknowledging the other arguments, and
says that people want students to be able to ‘start out fresh’ and
get saving on other things. Then, it gives 5 reasons not to cancel
student debt. One reason is that taxpayers don’t want to subsidize
student debt. Another is that cancelling debt benefits those with
graduate degrees. They say that stimulus checks and unemployment
benefits are better ways to stimulate the economy, and that
cancelling student debts doesn’t combat the high cost of education.

Thesis “Here’swhat you need to know—and what it means for

your student loans.”

This thesis is terrible. This article is clearly biased, but the thesis is
not defensible, but instead appears to simply portray other
arguments other than the author’s own line of reasoning. 0/1 points
for them.

Evidence & This evidence is really good, with excellent statistics, facts, and links
Commentary to other sites that corroborate what it is saying. Nevertheless, it
does not support the thesis, since the thesis is terrible. I would give it
2/4 points since it is great evidence, but it doesn’t really support the
thesis.

Sophistication The sophistication in this article is adequate. It does give complex

evidence, and it has a nice prose style, it just doesn’t have a great
thesis. I would still give it the point it deserves.

Headline & Link:

6 Reasons Student Loan Forgiveness

Might Not Be Worth It
From: studentloanhero.com

Article Summary: This author agrees with student loan cancellation, but wants readers
to decide if it is best for them. They give 6 downsides, including a
long wait for forgiveness, increasing interest rates, individual
circumstances change, big taxes, most don’t receive forgiveness,
and finally, you may not be eligible. They like forgiving student debt,
unlike Forbes, but want students to know they also have other
options.

Thesis “Getting your student loan balance forgiven is the dream, but
unfortunately, the road to forgiveness isn’t without its twists and
turns. Before pinning your hopes on getting your debt discharged,
consider these six potential downsides to student loan forgiveness
programs.”

This thesis responds to the prompt with a line of reasoning, by

asking the reader to consider potential downsides. It’s not strong at
all, but it qualifies for the point.
Evidence & The evidence is great, with plenty of examples, statistics, and
Commentary reasoning. It supports the thesis with all six downsides to cancelling
student debt. I would give it a ¾ because it wasn’t perfect, but it was
still good.

Sophistication This article just isn’t sophisticated. It is good, but it could have been
written better. 0/1 points.

Finally, according to the rubric (not your own personal views), which article
presented the most effective argument? Explain.

The article that presented the most effective argument was a Boston
University article called, “POV: Student debt is hurting our wallets and our
health- 10 things we need to do to reign it in”. This is because it has a clear and
defensible thesis that establishes a line of reasoning. The thesis is strong, with
good background information tailored to bring the thesis in smoothly. Then, it
gives excellent reasoning and evidence to support the claim. The solutions the
article provides are rational changes that could be relatively small scale but
could have a huge impact. It ends with a subtle call to action and is very
convincing.