Assignment Paper

Read chapter 14 “The Paradox of Error” in Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz.
Choose ONE of these prompts:
1. Schulz says tolerance for error is essential to free speech (and democracy) (315). How so? Read about the
campus debates (Links to an external site.)about free speech (Links to an external site.) and hate speech (two
articles; use at least one). Manne and Stanley ask, “When should we say that, although someone had the right
to say what he said, his saying it was a problem? Even the most avid proponent of freedom of speech cannot
avoid this issue.” Does curbing or silencing sexist or racist comments in college spaces represent a
“breakdown or upshot of democracy” (315)? Or does this represent something else connected to the concepts
in ch. 14?
2. Schulz recounts a time when a doctor and hospital did an unusual thing: they apologized for medical error
and told the community about it. Read what you can find online about how to give a good apology and then
read about an apology the U.S. government has made. (I suggest President Reagan’s apology for Japanese
internment (Links to an external site.) or President Clinton’s apology for the Tuskegee experiments on
African Americans (Links to an external site.).) How sincere and thorough is this apology? Is there a sense of
listening (to voices from our history; voices from our present)? What other connection can you make
between official U.S. apologies and ch. 14?
3. Re-read what John Francis did and why, according to Schulz.Then, hold silence for a day. I suggest this be
an average day of interactions with people; not a day at home. But use your judgement. You may have jobs
where this isn’t practical. Offer a note to teachers or co-workers explaining that you won’t be speaking. You
can write when you need to communicate. Afterward, reflect on your experience. What was that day or the
day after like for you? Did your listening change?
Your post should include:
Introduction: Draw your reader in by quoting an article or video you watched for this exercise, telling a brief
anecdote from your own experiences, defining a key concept in Being Wrong or including a surprising
statistic or fact. Please don’t repeat the question you’re responding to or announce: “I’m going to write
about…”
Thesis statement: answer the question in the prompt above with a clear claim. (ie…”Transforming your diet is
not a true conversion for several reasons.”)
Body: Support your argument or analysis with ideas from Being Wrong which you cite with page numbers
(278) and with other things you have read or watched for this exercise. The focus should be on the research
you’ve done and not on your personal experiences.
Conclusion: Why does this matter (to you personally, to your fellow students, to each of us as consumers,
eaters, voters, etc…) What questions or final ideas does this leave you (and your reader) with?
Revise: Make sure you’ve been clear and said exactly what you wanted to say. Check to make sure you’ve
included page number in-text citations and links to outside information if you used it.
Length: Minimum 500 words