The Fourth Challenge: Citizen Participation”

First, I want you to summarize the the main topic and main argument of the text in an opening paragraph. You should be able to summarize the main argument in one or two sentences. Authors usually write books or articles in order to convince the reader of something. As you read, keep asking yourself, “What is the main point? What is the author trying to convince me of?” No matter how complicated and long the argument is, there is always a main point that can be summarized briefly. Caution: Telling me what the text is about is not the same as telling me what the author is arguing!Second, react to the argument in some thoughtful manner. Your reaction can take many forms. For instance: What is interesting to you about the reading? Does it remind you of anything that you have experienced or read about in another context (or perhaps in our class)? Does the argument have implications that are interesting to you? Are their parts of the argument you strongly agree or disagree with? Explain. What other questions are raised by the argument, sub-arguments, or proposals? Explain.In short, what I am asking you to do is (1) to figure out what the author is saying, (2) to really think about it, then (3) to make a written report on the results of that thinking.