Entering the Conversation

1. Suppose you are part of a community group deciding whether to experiment with single-sex classrooms in grades 9–12 in an effort to raise the achievement level and character development of boys. Based on the readings in this Conversation and your own knowledge and experience, discuss the three or four major issues that you believe should be taken into consideration.

   Chapter 8 - Entering the Conversation: Suppose you are part of a community group deciding whether to experiment with single-sex classrooms in grades 9–12 in an effort to raise the achievement level and character development of boys. Based on the readings in this Conversation and your own knowledge and experience, discuss the three or four major issues that you believe should be taken into consideration.
2. Using the readings presented here and your own knowledge and research, write an argument defining what you see as the central issue facing boys and young men in our society. Recommend at least one way to address the issue.

   Chapter 8 - Entering the Conversation: Using the readings presented here and your own knowledge and research, write an argument defining what you see as the central issue facing boys and young men in our society. Recommend at least one way to address the issue.
3. Rebecca Walker edited the anthology What Makes a Man. Write an essay answering that question. Cite authors in this Conversation on Defining Masculinity who support your point of view, or explain why you disagree with authors in the Conversation.

   Chapter 8 - Entering the Conversation: Rebecca Walker edited the anthology What Makes a Man. Write an essay answering that question. Cite authors in this Conversation on Defining Masculinity who support your point of view, or explain why you disagree with authors in the Conversation.
4. Choose one or two assertions that authors in this Conversation section make that you believe are questionable, perhaps even stereotypes. Write an essay illustrating how popular culture and the media promote or reinforce such beliefs. For example, David Brooks writes, “[W]omen are better students than men” (para. 2); Rebecca Walker speculates that boys’ choices “boiled down to two options: fight actually in sport, or fight virtually on the computer” (para. 13).

   Chapter 8 - Entering the Conversation: Choose one or two assertions that authors in this Conversation section make that you believe are questionable, perhaps even stereotypes. Write an essay illustrating how popular culture and the media promote or reinforce such beliefs. For example, David Brooks writes, “[W]omen are better students than men” (para. 2); Rebecca Walker speculates that boys’ choices “boiled down to two options: fight actually in sport, or fight virtually on the computer” (para. 13).