A02: Cookie Boycott

A California teen hopes to spearhead a national boycott of Girl Scout cookies after the Scouts’ controversial decision to admit a 7-year-old transgender child to a Colorado troop last October.

The girl argues that money raised through the efforts of millions of Scouts is being used to promote “the desires of a small handful of people.”

I’m not interested in whether you agree with her or not, but I’m very interested to know what you think of her detailed argument and the evidence she cites to support it.

VIDEO HAS BEEN DELETED BY OWNER

Attention, procrastinators. I’ve had to scramble twice to find copies of the video online and change the link to keep it available. After receiving considerable backlash, the owners of the video have pulled it from Youtube, making it very hard to link. At the moment, I can’t find another copy. So, if you’ve waited this long to start the assignment, you’ll have to work from the transcript thoughtfully provided by a blogger who was afraid just such a takedown might occur.

Link to transcript at The Thang Blog.

Link to the transcript on the course blog.

Assignment Notes: Be specific. General observations such as “that’s just crazy” and “I wish they had let girls join the Boy Scouts!” while entertaining, don’t qualify as academic responses.

Does she make a good case? Does the evidence she cites prove her points? Does she contradict herself? Does the boycott make sense? Are the alternative fundraising suggestions helpful?

In a new post of several paragraphs, identify the Girl Scout’s overall argument and the evidence she offers to support her individual points. Analyze her arguments for effectiveness, the relevance of her evidence, the fairness of her characterizations, her logic, and her rhetorical skills in persuading listeners to agree with her. She makes a call to action. How likely are listeners to heed that call?

GRADE DETAILS

• DUE TUE JAN 24 before class.
• Customary late penalties. (0-24 hours 10%) (24-48 hours 20%) (48+ hours, 0 grade)
• Quizzes and Exercises category (10%)