Background: Jane Addams’s “The Devil Baby at Hull House” challenges us to rethink some large conceptions that we, and other members of society both past and present, might hold—or might have held—but also some ways in which we approach situations in our daily lives. Thetis R. Cromie’s “Jane Addams and the ‘Devil Baby Tales’: The Usefulness of Perplexity in ‘Sympathetic Understanding,’ A Tool in Learning Empathy” corroborates our read of Addams’s work.
Task: Select a they-say statement from below. Then, craft an I-say against your selected they-say statement. You must disagree with one of the they-statements below in order to do so. If you agree with all of the they-say statements below, contact me so that we can discuss what you might use for a they-say statement. Your essay must argue against this they-say statement using Addams’s work to frame the conversation and citing both Addams’s essay and Cromie’s article for support.
They-Say Point: · Understanding theory is more important than having experience.
I – Say Point: Disagree. Because how can you know if that theory works if you don’t have experiences? The theory is also based on experiences.
Format: Your essay should have an introduction, multiple body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Introduction: Your introduction must provide context to the they-say that you have selected. You must clearly identify the they-say and the I-say. Also, you must explain why Addams’s essay is an effective piece for supporting your I-say argument. Craft a thesis statement that contains your main arguments, in other words, your main reasons as to why you believe your I-say statement is true.
Body Paragraphs: Each body paragraph must begin with a topic sentence that identifies the specific reason you will discuss in that corresponding body paragraph. Present claims about the topic. Use Addams’s essay and Cromie’s piece to support your claims. You do not need to use both sources for every claim. For example, you might use evidence from Addams’s essay for one claim and then evidence from Cromie’s article for the next. One of your paragraphs might require evidence from Cromie’s article only, and the next paragraph might exclusively need evidence from Addams’s essay. You might find that you use more material from one of the documents than from the other, but they do both need to appear in the essay at some point. See what works for your argument! After you provide evidence, offer a developed explanation as to how the evidence that you cited supports the claim to which that piece of evidence is attached.
Conclusion: Do not simply restate your thesis. Instead, identify the most important elements to take away from this discussion. Ask yourself what the significance of this topic is. Consider how we could use the perspectives from your essay, along with Addams’s essay and Cromie’s article, now. For example, what might readers do if they agree with your I-say and want to take the next step?
Here are the links for 2 required readings:
Addam’s essay https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1916/10/the-devil-baby-at-hull-house/305428/
Cromie’s article: Link below