Instructions: Answer ALL THREE Essay questions and submit your take-home final exam
1) On the following topic give (A) one argument for and (B) one argument against; label each part 1A) and 1B): Should the United States legalize marijuana?
2) The following passage below is taken from The Second Sex (first published in 1952), written by the French feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir. (A) Identify the main idea of the following passage. (B) List the reasons that support the main idea. Label each part 2A) and 2B). “According to French law, obedience is no longer included among the duties of a wife, and each woman citizen has the right to vote; but these civil liberties remain theoretical as long as they are unaccompanied by economic freedom. A woman supported by a man—wife or courtesan—is not emancipated from the male because she has a ballot in her hand; if custom imposes less constraint upon her than formerly, the negative freedom implied has not profoundly modified her situation; she remains bound in her condition of vassalage. It is through gainful employment that woman has traversed most of the distance that separated her from the male; and nothing else can guarantee her liberty in practice. Once she ceases to be a parasite, the system based on her dependence crumbles; between her and the universe there is no longer any need for a masculine mediator.”
3) Discuss the problems, if any, with the arguments given below. If questions must be asked to ascertain the validity of the statements, what are those questions? If something is wrong with the arguments, what is it? If you think the statements are valid, explain why. Label each one 3A) – 3C).
A) “The New York Times reported that the Secretary of the Army says we need more nuclear warheads, and who better to know than the Secretary of the Army?”
B) “My boyfriend never shows any real concern for my feelings. Men are selfish, insensitive, and emotionally immature.”
C) “Boxing is less dangerous than other sports. A survey of sports-related deaths in New York City over thirty years revealed that baseball, with 43 deaths, led both football (22 deaths) and boxing (21 deaths) in terms of mortality.”