TIPP has taken flight! I have heard from many of you already with your selections. Some fine choices--ones I never would have thought to consider. I like what most of you are coming up with. When you send me your selections and brief explanations, however, be sure that you have given your selection some thought. A couple of you apparently emailed me half asleep, spelling names incorrectly and offering weak and confusing explanations of influence. Needless to say, those cursory attempts were not accepted. You also want to be sure you don't pick someone just because you have a fondness for him or her. Make sure he/she has demonstrated influence.
Something I want to be sure to drive home about this paper is the need for you to focus on the individual's influence and not merely on his/her accomplishments. Without the accomplishments the influence would most likely vanish, but accomplishments alone do not equate to influence. Your task on this paper is to find hard, researched evidence to show that your selected individual deserves a seat at the Table of Influence, NOT a seat at the Table of Doing Really Cool Things.
I also will keep reminding you all of the need to have a counter-argument in your paper. After offering reasons and evidence to support your selection, you will share a counter-argument and then explain why that counter-argument is not a valid reason for keeping your individual off the Table of Influence. As you start researching, be on the lookout for any weaknesses in your selection or contradictory opinions which could be used as counter-arguments. Here is a link to more information on counter-arguments. It is for a college course but it is written in a very accessible, easy to understand way. If you have any questions on counter-arguments, give this link a look and then see me with any follow-up questions.
Period two students are just about finished with their presentations and will be spending a day or two doing some in house research for TIPP as well as researching on their own. Periods one and six should complete the presentations early this week, but should be spending some time outside of class getting the research rolling.
I have more selections to review. See you soon.
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