Introduction
Poverty is defined as a serious lack of needs in order to exist. Of course, we're not talking about Jordans and the latest Chief Keef album, were talking about food, water, a roof over your head, heat and hot water, and so on.
While poverty is present all over the world, the United States has one of the highest percentages of child poverty. Isnt this weird since our country is supposed to be so advanced? The only country with a higher percentage of child poverty than us is Romania.. not exactly a world power.
Today we are going to take a look at what poverty looks like in places like Silicon Valley, where huge, multi-billion dollar companies drive up costs around them and forcing families with otherwise middle-class income into poverty.
Take a look at the following link to see what I'm talking about. After that we're going to look into the effects that the incoming MGM casino might have on Springfield. For example, what do you think the effect on your life would be if you lived downtown and the casino was being built?
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2015/03/opinion/ctl-child-poverty/#52
Task
Hopefully you've been thinking about what effects the casino might have on you if you lived in downtown Springfield. Here, we're going to take a closer look and form an opinion for ourselves. Is the casino a good thing for Springfield?
Below is an argument by the American Gaming Association (the group that represents the casino's). Listen to what they have to say about the benefits of a casino, and record their main ideas or arguments by performing an Annotated Reading (like we've practiced).
http://www.americangaming.org/industry-resources/faq/do-communities-cas…
Hopefully you have recorded the main arguments from the previous website performing an Annotated reading. Does the American Gaming Comission have you convinced? Read the following article arguing the opposite points and record the main arguments from each paragraph, performing an annotated reading.
http://m.theweek.com/articles/444009/want-increase-crime-poverty-addict…
Process
Now that you have recorded the main arguments in each section, decide which argument you side with. Write a convincing argument for or against the casino in Springfield using the "Evaluation" section to guide your writing.
Type it up on word and be prepared to print it by the end of the day.
Evaluation
| 4 | Clear argument that argues one position over another. | Your consider the other side's argument in your paper | You use evidence from the articles in your response as quotes |
| 3 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 1 | I cannot tell what your argument is. | You do not include the other side's argument | You do not use quotes to back up your arguments. |