Summary Of 'These Doors Are Open !'

The Argumentative Strength of “These Doors are Open!”
When an author is attempting to push an idea, a thesis and arguments are used to convey information and gather support for a certain viewpoint. In “These Doors are Open!” by Achinstein, Athanases, Curry, Ogawa, and de Oliveira, a thesis is used to clarify the main topic of the paper—that communities are essential for the success of disadvantaged students. Alongside this thesis, the authors provide an argument that pushes their thesis forward. By supporting their thesis with information about the students and school, as well as providing explanations and evidence for their argument, the authors of “These Doors are Open!” are able to support their claims, and present their information and …show more content…
To support their claim, the authors explain the practices, and included evidence about how each practice influences the school and the students. The authors discus how first practice, the confrontation of socio-economic difficulties, helps to create a relay and a day of service that connects community members and officials with the students to combat crime and poverty (Achinstein et al. 31-32). To support how the second practice, the creation of a connection between community and school, benefits the students, evidence is provided to show how certain school-led events, including a community film festival, tie the town and school together (Achinstein et al. 32-33). The inclusion of the discussion about a student government organization at Mario Molina supports the third practice—the engagement of students in the community (Achinstein et al. 33). Finally, to support the idea of the fourth practice, the focus on health in the school, the authors provide information on how the school puts emphasis on the health curriculum by providing not only free medical care to students, but internships to local hospitals and medical centers to allow students to gain work experience (Achinstein et al. 33). During the course of the article, the authors are able to explain each practice well and …show more content…
When making a claim, an author should use one or more explanations to provide a structure to the document, which would allow for a reader to understand the information that was presented (Brem and Rips 575). The authors of “These Doors are Open!” provide numerous explanations for the claims that were made—each practice described is thoroughly explained, with the reasoning behind and actions taken on the events that the school created being covered. The use of explanations also provides a way to see the cause and effect between events in a document (Brem and Rips 576). By explaining the policies that Mario Molina instituted (the causes), the authors make it easy for the reader to understand that the school events are the effects of the projects put into place by the school’s administration. Much like explanations, evidence is crucial for the support of an author’s claim. Evidence is used to support the explanations, and the claim as a whole itself (Brem and Rips 575). To support their claim the authors use various pieces of evidence throughout the article, including quotes from students and staff, to provide more information to the writing. Without evidence the claim made by the authors would be unsupported, as explanations alone will make the argument as a whole weaker (Brem and Rips