Imagine that you are a reader of a newspaper that has a sectionthat allows ‘letters to the editor.’ (This is where readers areable to write and submit a short article arguing for some point ofview). Three such hypothetical letters are below. Imagine that youare writing a response to these letters. Write a response in whichyou use your social psychology knowledge to argue against theletter writer.
(3) Last week, Dr. Ellen Cortez mentioned in an article in thispaper that the world is becoming less and less violent. Hogwash!Every day you turn on the news you see examples of violence –everybody knows that violence is increasing (except the doctor,apparently)! In fact, just last week I heard about an incident inwhich a man was stabbed on the street and he just laid there for 30minutes and no one did anything! We as a society are becoming lessand less caring all the time. In my day, people weren’t violent –that’s because I’m from a different generation where we werespanked if we did anything wrong – we learned quickly not to beviolent! People are born with a propensity for violence – we needto be able to identify violent people and then keep an eye on them.Obviously, this doctor’s studies are flawed. These professors arealways trying to pull the wool over the public’s eyes – they areobviously promoting their own personal agenda! -Anthony Marlowe
