Unit 4: Time to Assert American Values and Rough Justice

Name ______Date ______Class ____

English II

Unit 4: “Time to Assert American Values” and “Rough Justice”

“Time to Assert American Values” from The New York Times

Vocabulary to Know Before Reading

dissidents

exhort

juxtaposition (juxtapose)

pilferage

propagation (review the footnote in the text)

sophistry (review the footnote in the text)

1. To understand the arguments made by both sides of the issue of Michael Fay’s caning, a person must understand the Western and Asian philosophies related to this argument. In the first paragraph, what are the foundational Western and Asian philosophies about the individual and society?
2. Western philosophy about the individual and society –

1. Asian philosophy about the individual and society –

1. Why does the author juxtapose these philosophies? (Hint: What connection does this juxtaposition of these two philosophies have to the argument?)

1. Identify two arguments that those who oppose the writer makes.

1. Identify how the writer refutes an argument made by the opposition.

1. What is the writer’s central argument? (Hint: He or she makes the central argument very clear toward the end of the article.)

1. What supporting claims does the writer make to defend the central argument?

1. On what kind of evidence (empirical, logical, anecdotal) does this article depend?

1. Which persuasive appeal(s) does this article use? How do you know?

1. Which persuasive techniques does this article use? How do you know?

1. Describe the tone of the voice in this article. How do you know it is this tone (identify diction that supports this tone)?

“Rough Justice” by Alejandro Reyes

Vocabulary to Know Before Reading

berserk

circumstantial evidence

delible

dichotomy

discrepancy

draconian

heady

mesmerized

perpetrator

severance

1. What is the author Reyes’s purpose in the first paragraph? (Hint: How are the ideas in the first paragraph related to the issue at hand?)

1. The second and third paragraphs represent a contrast in the viewpoints of U.S. government officials and Singapore government officials. Based on the two paragraphs, what are the viewpoints of each in regard to this issue?
2. U.S. government official viewpoint –

1. Singapore government official viewpoint –

1. Because of U.S. citizens’ general reaction at the time to the caning debate, how do you think U.S. citizens react to Lee Kuan Yew’s critique of “America’s moral decay” in paragraph 5?

1. What is Reyes attempting to show about Singapore’s legal system by including several facts and statistics in paragraphs 6-7? What are some effects on the reader after reading this particular paragraph?

1. Reyes also juxtaposes Western and Asian world views about justice in this article. Identify the different world views about justice in paragraphs 8-9.
2. Western world view about justice –

1. Asian world view about justice –

1. How does juxtaposing these world views contribute to the argument?

1. Why does Reyes include the anecdote about Walter Woon being robbed at gunpoint in Florida? How does it contribute to his argument?

1. Based on how Reyes ends the article (last two paragraphs), what do you think is his stance on this issue? How do you know?

1. On what kind of evidence (empirical, logical, anecdotal) does this article depend?

1. Which persuasive appeal(s) does this article use? How do you know?

1. Which persuasive techniques does this article use? How do you know?

1. Describe the tone of the voice in this article. How do you know it is this tone (identify diction that supports this tone)?

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