Text Analysis #3 – Student Protest
Who wrote it:Doc #1 “Student Power” – Edward Schwartz
Doc #2 “Columbia Strike” – SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)
Doc #3 “Counterthrust on Student Power” – Counterthrust (a conservative group at Wayne State University in Michigan)
Who is the audience:Doc #1- fellow peers/classmates, college professors, educational board, anyone that would be interested in listening to their cause in hopes of recruiting more supporters.
Doc #2- fellow peers/classmates, Columbia trustees, Columbia professors, Columbia officials, anyone willing to listen to their cause or reason why they were protesting or using the actions that they were and why.
Doc#3- the audience is towards other students who are protesting.
Who do the writers represents:Doc #1- Edward Schwartz is a student activist who represents the views of the National Student Association which happened to be the largest college student organization in the 1960’s. Edward also represents many other fellow peers who believe that they deserve more rights as a student and who also deserve a say in what goes on in regards to their educational curricular policy.
Doc #2- The Students for a Democratic Society aka SDS represent the many radical students who were engaging in protests and also the many people who supported them. The SDS represented individuals who believed in establishing a participatory democracy and had a vision for post Vietnam War America and called for students to join them to represent a higher value, which applied to equality for all.
Doc #3- Counterthrust was a large conservative group at Wayne State University in Michigan who were opposed to the many students who were choosing to express their freedom to protest. Counterthrust believed in the complete opposite of the SDS and the NSA. They felt that these protest groups were negative and even harmful to campuses at Universities.
What is being said:Doc #1- Edward Schwartz and many other NSA members believed that students deserved a say in what their curricular policy should be. He goes on to say that “Let this principle apply – he who must obey the rules should make it.” Meaning that since the students are the ones who are attending the school and taking part on campus that they should be the ones to dictate what it is they are able to do and not able to do with the time that they spend here. He later follows by saying that “Faculty and administrators should advise – attempt to persuade, even.” “Yet the student should bear the burden of choice.” He ends by stating that student power does not eliminate authority but rather makes things more democratic for everyone.
Doc #2- The Students for a Democratic Society argued that Columbia University is corrupted too much by the government and influenced into doing things that outraged many SDS members and fellow students who found it not only unmoral but injustice. Take for example the many evictions of tenants, refusal to grant a decent wage to Puerto Rican workers, secret work for the IDA and the CIA. Although many professors will claim that Columbia is a neutral institution student protestors see right through that which is why in this document student protestors explain their actions and reasoning behind the five seized buildings at Columbia University.
Doc #3- The conservative group Counterthrust argues that student organizations such as SDS and NSA want to radically alter the university community, and that “Student power” is a Left-Wing catchword symbolizing campus militancy and radicalism instead of democracy on campus like they claim it means. They further argue that these specific organizations are ruining college education and that private enterprise is the biggest single taxpayer for schools and that they should just honor the opportunity that they were given by the school to come and learn instead of trying to radically alter the university community.
How is it being said:Doc #1- In the first Document Edward Schwartz speaks in a very professional and academic tone. He is very well spoken and makes many good claims and arguments to back up his opinion on the subject. He also uses great persuasion and refutes any counterarguments that individuals may have preconceived. He not only speaks on behalf of the NSA and his fellow peers but also speaks to the entire universities faculty as well.
Doc #2- In the second Document the members of the SDS explain the corrupt behavior of the Columbia university. Many students are outraged by the many injustice acts that were committed over the years. They continue to expose the university of not being a neutral institution by saying things like “Columbia standing at the top of a hill, looked down on Harlem…People who survived in Harlem had been evicted by the Trustees from Morningside or still paid rent to Columbia…We walked to our classrooms across land that had been privatized; we studied in buildings that had once been homes in a city that is under housed; and we listened to the apologies for cold war and capital in our classes.” You can sense the disgust in their tone and outrage that they felt having to go to class in a building that they knew the university had evicted tenants from in order for them to learn in.
Doc #3- In the third Document you can feel Counterthrust’s criticism throughout the document. They continue to attack other organizations like SDS and NFA by using words like lie, alter, sinister, incapable, narrow, etc. They are out on a goal to prevent these organizations from furthering any of their protests or goals. They seem pretty angry and upset that these organizations in their opinion are trying to “alter the university community.”
What proof:
Doc #1- He is a student who is attending the university which means he is somewhat knowledgeable and well spoken. He makes many good points like I stated earlier he says things like “Let this principle apply – he who must obey the rules should make it.” and “Faculty and administrators should advise – attempt to persuade, even.” “Yet the student should bear the burden of choice.” And refutes any counterarguments such as, stating that student power does not eliminate authority but rather makes things more democratic for everyone.
Doc #2- Throughout the whole second document the SDS give example after example of incriminating evidence of how their school is corrupted by not only the government but also by the unjust choices that they make in the process as well. They are very specific about exactly what outrages acts that their school has committed such as, evicting tenants, firing workers for trying to form a union, secret work for the IDA and CIA, etc. They use all of these examples of incriminating evidence to justify their actions in their participation in their student protest against their school.
Doc #3- The Counterthrust organization uses much of their own opinions and arguments to support and justify their claim that the organizations SDS and NSA want to radically alter the university community. They use many words to discredit their opposing organizations such as, lie, alter, sinister, incapable, narrow, etc.
Historical significance:Doc #1 – Edward Schwartz was definitely a student activist who represented not only the National Student Association but also many other fellow peers. The historical significance behind this document was that during the 1960’s student protest occurred and the document portrays the view of a student but an actual activist who represented many other students who were looking for the same equality and freedom in the universities.
Doc #2 – The members of the Students for a Democratic Society were one of the longest and most violent student protests occurred in New York City during the 1960’s. They also represented many peers who wanted to expose their university of the corrupted behavior that the school was committing. They used many examples to justify their behavior during the protest.
Doc #3 – The Counterthrust organization was one of the few organizations out there that had opposing views on student protest. While many student organizations were protesting for equality in the dorms and classrooms the opposing organizations like Counterthrust were arguing that the student protests were trying to radically alter the university community and that they shouldn’t try and interfere with the education that they were invited to receive.
How does it fit:The following documents fit into the historical context that I’m reading about currently in my textbook which is “Student Rebellion, the New Left, and the Counterculture.” It shows how student rebellion helped students fight for the equality and freedom and co-decide curricular policy. Not to mention that they were against the Viet Nam war. Against big monopolistic government. Against "big brother" behavior by the government, and for free speech.
