In Class Blog: Primary Source Analysis

This assignment was somewhat challenging. For my particular topic it was not so difficult to find primary sources as it was to analyze them. I found it somewhat difficult to decide who the "author" even was in some cases and it was also difficult to analyze what they were trying to argue in addition to analyzing whether the argument was good or not. I found it hard to keep myself from summarizing my sources and I had to keep refocusing in on the nature of the argument itself as opposed to just analyzing what was being argued. I think I got better at doing these with each subsequent source but it was difficult.
Another difficulty I had was making my own central, controlling claim in the beginning of each analysis. I sometimes forgot to have a central claim to guide my analysis. I think I got better at doing this also with each successive source but I do not think that I have fully overcome it and it is something I feel I need to go back and fix in my sources.

Unit 2 Proposal

For my topic, I chose an event that happened in December of 2008 in my hometown of Bellaire, Texas. It is the controversial shooting of young Bellaire resident named Robbie Tolan, son of former baseball player Bobby Tolan. I chose this because there is a lot of controversy surrounding why this young man was shot in his own driveway by a Bellaire police officer. It created a huge buzz around the neighborhood and further more was seen as a terrible incidence of racial profiling in the community. This a general description of this event but there are more details and many different arguments surrounding the outcome of the case which was taken to court. There was and still remains a lot of controversy over the ruling made about the case in court which resulted in the police officer being charged not guilty for aggrevated assault by a public servant. Additionally, Tolan has filed a federal civil lawsuit against the city, claiming his civil rights were violated and no longer wants to live in the city of bellaire. 

This incident brought up a lot of underlying issues in my small home town community. It raised the importance of awareness of apparent racial profiling that many people were not aware of. The argument and controversy surrounding this issue is still being talked about in the community today. I chose it because it particularly surprises me as an issue that would come up in my home town and I think it was a surprise to many other residents. Thus, it is an issue that has been looked into a good deal since the incident and there continues to be research and discussion regarding racial profiling in my small hometown of Bellaire. As a result, there have been and continue to be many opinions, blogs, articles, and other sources written about this particular shooting. So, for my primary sources, I plan to use some of these first hand news articles from local papers in my hometown as well as other blogs, editorials, and position pieces regarding this shooting. I plan to get these sources from local places around my hometown that carry them as well as over the internet.