The Perils of Obedience

Are We Really Cruel?

Some people believe that it is human nature to be cruel to others.  These people might argue that this cruelty is why Stanley Milgram’s subjects acted as they did, and why no one helped Kitty Genovese.  Do you accept this explanation of human psychology?  Yes?  No?  Somewhat? And why do you see it like you do? What kinds of circumstances induce cruel behavior?  What does this tell you about how cruelty fits into our human nature?  Use the cases we read about to help you construct your argument.

In coming up with your own position on this issue, I encourage you to think about all that you’ve learned about in the cases we have read about for this assignment:

· “The Perils of Obedience” by Stanley Milgram,

·  The Kitty Genovese case as discussed in Chapter 4 of Lauren Slater’s Opening Skinner’s Box “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing: Darley and Latane’s Training Manual—A Five Stage Approach”

· Darley and Latane’s experiments as discussed in Chapter 4 of Lauren Slater’s Opening Skinner’s Box “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing: Darley and Latane’s Training Manual—A Five Stage Approach”

Consider the grey areas, rather than arguing strictly on one side or the other.  Instead of saying YES we are cruel, or NO we are not, try to come up with a more complex answer to explain human behavior in these cases.

In your essay, be sure to include:

· Support for your argument with relevant ideas, information, and quotations from Milgram’s essay

· Support for your argument with relevant ideas, information, and quotations from Slater’s Chapter 4

Things to Shoot For:

·  Show that you have carefully read the texts from this unit, and that you have fully digested and considered the different viewpoints and evidence.

· Show you are really thinking about the topic—these are complex questions, so don’t settle for easy answers.  And don’t feel that you have to take an either-or position.

·  Write so that someone not in our class could understand it.  Assume your audience has not read these texts.  That means you’ll need to briefly summarize key ideas/information and explain any unfamiliar terms.

·  Write at least 4 complete pages, typed, 12 point font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins.

Turn-in Procedures:

·  Your final draft is due Friday, May 2nd

·  Submit the essay to Turnitin.com via Blackboard by 11:59 PM on Friday, May 2nd

·  Bring a hard copy to class with the following documents in one pocket of your assignment folder:

o   Writing Center Signature form

o   Draft you reviewed during your Writing Center conference

o   Any drafts you brought to class for peer review, conferences, etc.

o   A blank rubric

Writing Center Signature Sheet                                                Writing Conference Instructor: ________________

EXP 389/Dr. Knoll                                                      Writing Conference Instructor’s Initials:_________

Fall 2013                                                                     Date and time of your visit: ___________________

Remember,

·  The signature form must be complete by Thursday, May 1st

·  You must bring the prompt, this signature sheet, and any writing you have completed to get credit for a formal conference in WR 380.

·  This sheet must be signed, dated, and complete in order to receive credit for your conference in EXP 389.

·  You can only get credit for one formal conference per writing assignment, but I encourage you to meet with an instructor more than once during your writing process.

Complete this portion before your conference:

1. What is working well for you and what are you struggling with in Essay 5?

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2. What specific questions do you have about Essay 5?

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Complete this portion after your conference:

1. Identify the specific elements of your draft you discussed in your conference.

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2. Explain what you learned from your conference.

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Focus Questions for Essay 5

“The Perils of Obedience” by Stanley Milgram

· Explain Milgram’s experiment and the reactions of the participants in the experiment as well as Milgram’s analysis of  reasons why subjects responded as they did

“In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing: Darley and Latane’s Training Manual—A Five Stage Approach” (Chapter 4 of Opening Skinner’s Box) by Lauren Slater

· Explain the Kitty Genovese case and Darley and Latane’s experiment and discuss the various theories about what causes a bystander to avoid action in an emergency.

Reading Activities for Essay 5

“The Perils of Obedience” by Stanley Milgram

For this reading assignment, I would like you to annotate the text, focusing on three main areas:

· Note any areas where Milgram explains how the experiment worked

· Note any areas that discuss the reactions of the participants in the experiment.

· Note any areas where Milgram analyzes the reasons why subjects responded as they did.

As you are annotating, be sure you are also noting your reactions to the text in the margins.

“In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing” by Lauren Slater

For this reading assignment, I would like you to annotate the text, focusing on four main areas:

·  Note any areas where Slater describes what happened in the Kitty Genovese experiment

·  Note any areas where Slater explains or analyzes bystander’s reactions in the Kitty Genovese experiment

· Note any areas where Slater explains how Darley and Latane’s experiment worked

· Note any areas where Slater explains or analyzes people’s reactions in the Darley and Latane experiment.

As you are annotating, be sure you are also noting your reactions to the text in the margins.

Blog Posts for Essay 5

Week 12:

· Write about a time in which you behaved cruelly towards another person.  What did you do?  Why?  What were the circumstances around your behavior?  Did you intend to behave cruelly, or did something else spur the behavior?  Explain the situation, and connect your analysis with Milgram’s text.

Week 13:

· Choose one reaction of a participant in the Milgram experiment and explain what this shows readers about human nature.

Week 14:

·  Have you ever been in a situation similar to that of Kitty Genovese, when something bad was happening to someone else and people around hesitated to help?  Or have you been in the opposite situation, where something bad was happening and everyone clamored to help?  Describe one of these situations from your own life and reflect on the reasons why people acted as they did.  Are there similarities or differences between your situation and that described in “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing”?

Essay 5 Rubric                                                                                                                      Grade:

Additional Comments:

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
• Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
• Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.