STRATEGY FOR STRATEGICALLY

STRATEGY FOR STRATEGICALLY READING ASSIGNED ARTICLES, WRITING A
THESIS/AN ARGUMENT, AND MORE EASILY WRITING A 23 LINE PAPER
1. Underline data from the article as you read the article for class. Data means
the observations made by scholars about the empirical world before them
and about which they write in their articles. Only particular facts, names,
dates, locations, numbering, percentages, and other such particular items are
data. Examples of data are: “Brown vs. Board of Education partially
dismantled exclusionary educational policy,” “The case was fought by the
Mendez family,” “The Bilingual Education Act of 1968,” “The court case took
place in Corpus Christi, Texas,” “Only 10% of Chicana/o students enroll in
higher education,” etc. Note that this data is observable and can be identified
to illustrate a more general idea.
2. Group similar data in individual boxes. Do this in a word document as you
read. To illustrate this see the following:
Phrases/
Premises 
Court Cases to
Oppose Racist
Exclusion
People Who
Opposed
Racism in
Schools
Students at the
Forefront of
Educational
Justice
People Who
Pursued Racism
in Schools
Explain 2 or 3 sentences
that explain the
similarity
between and
among each of
the data that
you include
below
2 or 3
sentences that
explain the
similarity
between and
among each of
the data that
you include
below
2 or 3
sentences that
explain the
similarity
between and
among each of
the data that
you include
below
2 or 3
sentences that
explain the
similarity
between and
among each of
the data that
you include
below
Data 
“Mendez v.
Westminister
was a case
fought in the
1940s…”
“Brown v.
Topeka, Kansas
Board of
Education was
fought in the
1950s…”
“Thurgood
Marshal was
very attentive
to the Mendez
case because
he wanted to
launch a
comparable
court attack
against racist
whites in
Kansas…”
“George I.
Sanchez was a
“Sylvia Mendez,
Gerónimo
Medez, and
Gonzalo
Mendez were
the children for
whom advocacy
was
immediately
pursued…”
“The Little Rock
9, as the came
to be called,
were the youth
“Judge Stephens
upheld Plessy v.
Ferguson in the
9
th circuit
court…”
“Joel Ogle, who
was a lawyer
for Orange
County,
California,
opposed the
dismantling of
wooden barnhouse schools
spokesperson
…”
that
spearheaded
attack on Jim
Crow
education…”
for Mexican
children in
Westminister…”
3. Identify phrases (which will be the premises) for each collection of data. See
how this is done in the table above.
4. Select two phrases and couple them as premises. To illustrate this see the
following: “Because students were at the forefront of the fight for
educational justice and because there were people who opposed racism in
schools,..”
5. Identify a conclusion based on the coupling of these two premises. To
illustrate this see the following: “Because students were at the forefront of
the fight for educational justice and because there were people who opposed
racism in schools, court cases to oppose racist exclusion in schooling was
pursued.”
Now, follow the instructions for writing the one page paper.