How to write and respond to a Discussion Post
Here’s what to do:
Read or listen to the assigned materials. Use the reading notes to know what to pay attention to.
Read the prompt closely. Usually, it will ask you to draw on but extend what you learned from the reading and lectures.
Before you post, take a look at the posts that are already there.
Your post should be about two paragraphs long. Try to be concise while also answering the prompt. Remember to draw on the readings. You do not have to quote anything but try to understand the authors’ main arguments and then relate them to the prompt. In addition, unless you are the first person to post to your group, you should either a)identify a theme in the discussion; b)answer a question that a TA or another group member has asked; or c) ask a question of your own. You can do all three if you’d like! The goal is to encourage discussion.
Respond to other people’s posts. Be friendly and curious and willing to disagree. Remember that none of us has the full answer
RUBRIC: You can receive a total of 3 points each week: 2 points for your initial post and 1 point for your response(s). A 2-point post responds to the prompt in a way that shows you have engaged the assigned materials (a 1-point post responds to the prompt but does not clearly show you have engaged the assigned materials). Your response should do more than thank another poster; it should engage the discussion. Your fellow group members and TA’s will thank you for writing as clearly, accessibly, and briefly as possible.
Week 4 Discussion: Social Movements
This is your chance to be a movement strategist. In reading the Walter Nicholls excerpt, I’ve asked you to think about the political opportunities that made possible the rise of the Dreamers movement on behalf of immigrant young people. But I’d like you to focus your discussion on the two other elements of the political process framework that Neal Caren talks about: mobilizing structures and persuasive frames. Were Dreamer activists able to rely on preexisting mobilizing structures like the civil rights movement did–that is, 1. mobilizing structures like the church and Black colleges that already existed? 2. If not, what did they do instead to keep people participating in the movement? 3. And what do you think of Dreamers’ framing strategy? 4. How did organizers represent the young people who were seeking the right to live and work in this country? 5. If you were a leader of the movement, would you have described those young people the same way movement leaders did? 6. If not, what would you have done differently?
Your Discussion post should use the readings to respond thoughtfully to a question about social problems in real life. In addition, your post should either a) identify a theme or an area of agreement or disagreement you see in the discussion; b) respond to a question that your TA or another group member has asked; or c) ask a question that relates to the unfolding discussion. If you are the first to post to your group, you cannot comment on the unfolding discussion, of course, so in addition to responding to the prompt, pose a question.
We look forward to reading your discussions!