English 126: Essay #1 Paper Topics: Free Speech Analysis (15%)
Two draft versions of an introduction for essay 1 are due on Thurs. 2/14. The full draft of
essay #1 is due on Mon. 2/25. Submit your draft, and once youve submitted it, you will
be randomly assigned two classmates drafts to peer review on that same folder. The final
essay is due on Thurs. 3/7. This paper should be 5 pages long (not including Works
Cited). Please type the essay in 12 point font, double spaced, with 1 margins all around.
Limit the scope of you paper. You need to make sure you have a thesis statement, which
is a central argument in your introductory paragraph which you support throughout the
essay, and which you revisit in your conclusion.
Close analysis of specific passages from the class reading are important. Use MLA
format for documenting sources (see handout). Include a Works Cited page at the end of
your essay, including the essay you analyze and any other sources you make use of
(sources not required).
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the issue of free speech by demonstrating that
you have carefully read and understood in depth the readings we have done in class.
Outside information is not required; you may bring in current events, but all sources need
to be well-documented, and outside sources should only be supplemental to the focus on
materials I have assigned for class. Part of your grade for each essay includes the writing
process: turning in drafts, revising, and workshopping according to course deadlines.
Keep all of your drafts and comments from other students together in a folder to turn in
with your final essay.
Note that Canvas has a plagiarism-checking software, so be careful not to copy
sentences from elsewhere without giving credit and quotations.
Questions taken from
Elements of Argument
page 597 (Are Limits on Free Speech Ever
Justified? handout). Also take note of the online resources provided in the book for
further research (Are Limits on Free Speech 598).
Please choose one the following choices for your paper topic. A significant part of how
well you carry out an assignment relates to following instructions, so carefully read this
handout and specifically, the topic you choose. Ask me if you are planning to bring in
supplemental information; however, outside research does not take the place of the
focused analysis I would like to see of readings we have done in class.
Choice 1: What are the limits of free speech? In Bethel School District No. 403 v.
Fraser (583-586), the US Supreme Court ruled that children in a public school do not
have the same rights as adults to use sexual speech in a public forum. What reasons did
the Court give for making a distinction? What reason did Justice Marshall give for his
dissent? The case was argued in 1986. Do you think the case would be treated in the same
way today? (583) Consider how key terms, such as offensive and disruptive, were
debated over and defined in the court opinions. You may also want to draw upon the
handout readings on free speech to see how free speech has been defined in various
contexts. Also note the web resources (598). Please pay close attention to and quote from
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Bethel School District and other relevant texts.
Choice 2: In Student Sues School District (582-) and Bethel School District (583-),
we see public school to be a flash point for free speech controversies. Do you find the
cases discussed in Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser and in Student Sues
District for Banning Anti-War T-Shirt to be similar, or are there significant differences
between the two cases? Explain. (582-583). Consider how key terms, such as offensive,
disruptive, and political speech were debated over and defined. You may also want
to draw upon the handout readings on free speech to see how free speech has been
defined in various contexts. Also note the web resources. Please pay close attention to
and quote from Bethel School District, Student Sues School District, and other
relevant texts.
Choice 3: In Student Sues School District (582-), how do you feel the court should
decide in the case of the student who wore the anti-war T-shirt? (582) Consider how key
terms, such as disruption and political speech were debated over and defined. You
may also want to draw upon the handout readings on free speech to see how free speech
has been defined in various contexts. Note the web resources (598). Please pay close
attention to and quote from Student Sues School District, and other relevant texts.
Choice 4: In Ice-T: The Issue is Creative Freedom (586-), Barbara Ehrenreich argues
that Cop Killer is not seditious and creative freedom should be protected. Are there
circumstances where creative freedom should bow to social responsibility? What
evidence does Ehrenreich use to prove that Cop Killer is not dangerous? Is it
convincing? (586) Consider how key terms, such as sedition and creative freedom
are debated over and defined. You may also want to draw upon the handout readings on
free speech to see how free speech has been defined in various contexts. Note the web
resources (598). Please pay close attention to and quote from Ice-T and other relevant
texts.
Choice 5: In Why We Need to Abolish the FCC (589-), Robert Garmong criticizes the
FCC as violating free speech. Explain your position on how much control there should be
on what is broadcast over the airwaves, and who should control it (589). Consider how
key terms, such as free speech, offensive, and indecency are debated over and
defined. You may also want to draw upon the handout readings on free speech to see how
free speech has been defined in various contexts. Note the web resources (Are Limits on
Free Speech 598). Please pay close attention to and quote from Why We Need to
Abolish and other relevant texts.
Choice 6: While we may not see the do-not-call registry as controversial, in Freedom of
Speech and My Right to Silence at Bath Time, Patti Waldmeir explains that there are
two sides to the controversy. Write an essay in which you take a position, although this is
not a clear-cut case of one group being right and the other wrong (591-). Consider how
key terms, such as privacy, free speech, and commercial speech are debated over
and defined. You may also want to draw upon the handout readings on free speech to see
how free speech has been defined in various contexts. Note the web resources (Are
Limits on Free Speech 598). Please pay close attention to and quote from Freedom of
Speech and My Right to Silence and other relevant texts.
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Choice 7: In Under Attack (handout), the editors of
The Economist
look at how free
speech is being threatened by repressive governments, non-state actors, and a general
idea that people have a right not to be offended. Do you think there are times it is right to
censor speech to maintain order or to protect peoples feelings? Do you agree with the
editors underlying premise that the protection of free speech is vital for a liberal
democracy? Consider how key terms, such as offence, hate speech, and incitement
to violence are defined. Please take a position in your essay and pay close attention to
and quote from Under Attack and other relevant texts.
Choice 8: In A Case the Scouts Had to Win (596-), what distinction does Johnson make
between the right to a job or an education and the right to associate with particular
people? Explain why Johnson believes that the Scouts are protected by the First
Amendment (596). Consider how key terms, such as free association and
discrimination are debated over and defined. You may also want to draw upon the
handout readings on free speech to see how free speech has been defined in various
contexts. Note the web resources (598). Please pay close attention to and quote A Case
the Scouts Had to Win and other relevant texts.
Choice 9: Is Hate Speech Free Speech? (handout from Texts and Contexts, 372-389)
Write an essay in which you discuss the issue of free speech versus hate speech on
college campuses. You may come to the conclusion that some form of censorship (you
should specify the form it should take) or some form of punishment should be instituted
to prevent the abuses of hate speech, or, conversely, you may wish to argue that we will
have to accept abuses of free speech in order to protect free speech. You also have the
option of shedding light on the issue rather than taking one position or another. Consider
how key terms, such as free speech, hate speech, offensive, fighting words,
protected vs. unprotected speech, obscene speech, and harassment are debated over
and defined. Include a specific thesis in your introduction that argues or explains your
main point, and focus your analysis on quotes and evidence from the handout, pages 372-
389
, focusing on one or two of the articles assigned for class in the packet, Is Hate
Speech Free Speech
. Note that there is a particular definition for hate speech, so that
wearing a political t-shirt or making an obscene speech wouldnt be considered hate
speech.
Choice 10: In The Free SpeechHate Speech Trade Off, Professor Chemerinsky
addresses the issue of hate speech as free speech on college campuses in light of recent
incidents with controversial speakers. When should the freedom to say offensive things
be protected, and when should it be limited? Consider key terms, such as harm,
offend, free speech, and hate speech. You may need to do some additional research
to find out more. Please take a position in your paper and pay close attention to and quote
The Free SpeechHate Speech Trade Off and other relevant texts.
Choice 11: In Free Speech in the Age of YouTube, Somini Sengupta looks at how free
speech policies are made by internet companies. What do you think their policies should
be in banning certain content? Consider how key terms, such as hate speech, inciting
violent acts, free expression, and public safety are debated and defined. Please take a
position in your paper and pay close attention to and quote from Free Speech in the Age
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of YouTube and other relevant texts.
For your information: More Free Speech Cases
Schools may set codes to punish expressions of racism, sexism,
homophobia, and other kinds of bias, but courts may ask them to
modify these speech codes so as not to violate the First Amendment
right to free speech.
Is the truth offensive to some groups? What should the attitude of
the university be, as an institution based on the search for truth?
To what extent should feelings and arguments that could be
offensive be allowed in academic discussion? (Rottenberg and
Winchell, Resources for Teaching 65)
The University of Massachusetts created a speech code that ensured
freedom from harassment based on race, color, national, or ethnic
origin, gender, sexual orientation, age religion, marital status, military
service status, and disability (Rottenberg and Winchell 66). The
Graduate Student Employees Organization wanted to extend this
definition to include citizenship, culture, HIV status, language,
parental status, political affiliation or belief, and pregnancy status,
but the faculty thought this went too far in terms of impeding
discussion of social issues in the classroom (Rottenberg and Winchell
66).
Freedom of speech may be treated differently on campus than on the
street. The President of Emory University stated that hate speech
should not be allowed on campus because these are places that foster
the habits and manners of civil society (66). In contrast, New York
States highest court ruled that on the street, abusive language is
protected under free speech, in relation to an incident where a
retarded woman was called names by her neighbor (66).
Teenagers in Miami went to jail for distributing a pamphlet that
contained racist comments, obscene cartoons, and a veiled threat
against the principal. Their defense claimed it was a satire, but the
superintendent of the school states, free speech doesnt give anyone
the right to use a word that would inflame (66). The US Supreme
Court has upheld students right to expression but also allowed
schools to censor school newspapers and discipline students making
suggestive comments (66).
Should offensive ideas, such as the denial of the Holocaust, be
allowed to be taught in schools?
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In Pennsylvania, a court ruled against a schools antiharassment
policy that prohibited jokes, name-calling, graffiti, innuendo, making
fun of a students clothing, social skills or surname (66).
Is labeling albums that contain offensive lyrics a violation of free
speech rights?
Was it censorship for radio executives to ask their program
directors not to broadcast certain songs after 9/11 like When Youre
Falling by Peter Gabriel which could be taken the wrong way? (67)
In 1996 Congress passed the Communications Decency Act which
outlawed distribution of indecent material to minors on the Internet
(67). But in 1999 the Supreme Court ruled this Act unconstitutional.
John McCain sponsored a bill to require that schools and libraries that
receive federal funding for the internet must install antipornography
filters.
To what extent should schools be allowed to control school
newspapers on the web. What if they incite violence?
Terrorists put up propaganda and plan attacks on the web. Should
they be controlled and censored, or does this violate their rights?
Sources:
Coles, Robert. Safety Lessons for the Internet. New York Times 11
Oct 1997: A23.
This articles asks for protection for children from pornography on
the Internet.
Hanna, Judith Lynne, Wrapping Nudity in a Cloak of Law. New York
Times 29 July
2001: E14.
Hentoff, Nat. Living the Bill of Rights. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.
Rottenberg, Annette and Donna Winchell. Resources for Teaching
Elements of
Argument. Boston: Bedford, 2006.
Tribe, Laurence H. The Internet vs. The First Amendment. New
York Times 28 April
1999: A27. This article argues that surveilling the internet is
unlikely to prevent violent crimes like the school massacre in
Littleton Colorado.
