Structuring a Proposal Argument

Currently, there is a parking shortage on the northwest campus of Santa Fe  College campus, a problem that can be solved with a few blueprints and a local construction company. Santa Fe enrolls nearly 24,000 degree seeking students yearly; imagine all 24,000 of those students trying to cram into one tiny parking lot. In society today, everyone is trying to find the fastest way possible to get to places, including classes. Most students drive to school, meaning they need a place to park their car. Obviously, there are not enough parking spots for all the students who attend the college. There is, however, a solution to this troubling situation; construct another parking lot on the land that Santa Fe is not using for anything at the moment. Some might say that implementing the solution suggested is a bad idea because Santa Fe does not possess the funding for such a project at the current time. One might also suggest that the land could be put to better use. While both negative ideas are understandable, the parking lot is simply a necessity in order to accommodate those who attend the school. The benefits of the proposed plan are: 1. Students will spend less time searching for a parking spot and more time in class. 2. The parking lot will add convenience to students lives and with all the stress put on them in this day in age, convenience is most definitely a necessity. In modern day society, convenience is something that everyone strives for. Santa Fe should help their students feel more comfortable by providing another convenient parking lot for the otherwise stressed out students.

Exercise 15.7

The subject of underage drinking is a very complicated and controversial topic. A number of problems arise during the discussion of underage drinking. For example, some believe since at the age of 18 one can join the military that at the same age, one should be allowed to consume alcohol. In addition, the younger generation sees drinking as a social activity that should be allowed at social gatherings. However, underage drinking is an issue that should be viewed in a different light and be taken very seriously. The risk of alcohol abuse increases as the beginning age for drinking decrease. Another reason is younger drinkers are less experienced in all aspects of life and therefore, tend to make unwise decisions while under the influence of alcohol. Also, underage drinkers tend to binge drink, meaning that they drink more than four cups of alcohol in one evening. They also seem to exhibit higher risks for alcohol poisoning because they drink so much in one sitting. Finally, underage drinking leads to unreasonable and destructive activity. For these reasons, I believe that underage drinking should taken more seriously and the consequences should be strongly enforced. 

Ad Analysis

Analyze the ad at the end of this section. 

The ad at the end of the section is what seems to be a section of a website concerning human sexuality. The site is the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality. It provides a mission statement as well as criteria they use to determine appropriate sites and information that they will provide on their site. They seem to be adamant in making sure that every piece of information they obtain and display are as accurate as possible and as factual as possible. The site provides all the information needed in order to be deemed an acceptable site for a legitimate research paper as well as for factual evidence.

 What is its causal argument? 

The causal argument is To disseminate knowledge about all aspects of human sexuality to the widest possible international community at moderate cost. 

 What does it identify as main causes?  

Trying to prove the factual information about articles as well as any other publication uses for the Electronic Journal Of Human Sexuality.

Does it identify contributory causes?

No, it seems as if the site in question mainly focuses on the topic at hand including Human Sexuality and all that it entails.

"Do employers using facebook for background checks face legal risks?"

1. What steps would you take to determine whether Elefant's information is accurate?
I would check for the accuracy by checking for errors, checking the references, checking the links, and verifying the information. I would also check for credibility by looking for a list of authors, directors, or editors, checking to see if the site was refereed, checking for grammatical errors, and organized sponsors. I would also look for objectivity, currency, and comprehensiveness.
2. How could you determine whether Elefant is respected in her field?
I would look Elefant up and be sure to check the references she provided in the blog.
3. Is Elefant's blog written for and audience that is knowledgeable about her subjects? How can you tell?
The blog is written for a well informed audience because there is a lot of basic information that is left out. The information is mainly that of what Facebook is and why employers would want to look up a future employers Facebook.
4. Do you think this blog post is a suitable research source? Why or why not?
I think that this blog post is objective and provides both sides by providing the comments. If the comments were not used though, I would say the entire blog post was pretty bias.
5. What insight about this blog post do the comments that accompany it give you?
The comments give a different perspective and  different ideas concerning the subject to think about.

Lower Concerns

Overall, I wrote a good essay. My concerns are grammar, inclusion of the date the speaker spoke and the style of my essay. Concerning grammar, I intend to look up and review the basic rules for grammar. I also intend to enlist some people to review my essay before I turn it in. I also want to take my essay to the writing lab and have them take a look at it before I turn it in completely. I have revised the first paragraph and added the date that Kerry Healey spoke at the Republican National Convention. My rubric also suggested my essay had engaging style but lacked variety. In order to fix this problem I intend to review my essay and revise some of the sentences to add variety to my writing. I will also ask people working at the writing lab for some suggestions on variety in my writing. I can also use the Bedford hand book to look up some variety to add to my style. I can use these exercises to not only help revise this essay but they will help me when I am writing future papers for this class as well as other classes.

Revised Paragraph

 In order to be successful, a politician must win over the hearts and minds of their voters. The appeal to pathos convinces voters that he/she cares about the community in which they live. The appeal to logos helps the audience understand logically that one person will do a better job than another. Kerry Healey uses pathos and logos in her speech to the Republican National Convention. Appeals to pathos and logos are applied by Healey in order to convince the audience that Mitt Romney is the best candidate for President of the United Sates of America because he cares about the American people and can run the country effectively while boosting the economy.

Revised:             In order to be successful, a politician must win over the hearts and minds of their voters. The appeal to pathos convinces voters that he/she cares about the community in which they live. The appeal to logos helps the audience understand logically that one person will do a better job than another. Kerry Healey uses pathos and logos in her speech to the Republican National Convention on August 30, 2012. Appeals to pathos and logos are applied by Healey in order to convince the audience that Mitt Romney is the best candidate for President of the United Sates of America because he cares about the American people and can run the country effectively while boosting the economy.

The only thing that was missing from this paragraph was the date Healey spoke to the RNC. Everything else was included. 

Anecdote

Mrs. Bennett: "Daughter married?"
Elizabeth: "Is that really all you think about?
Mrs. Bennett: "When you have five daughters tell me what else will occupy your thoughts and then perhaps you will understand."

Though short, this anecdote exemplifies the thoughts and ideas of the character Mrs. Bennett. All she ever thought about was making sure her children has suitable husbands and would have good futures. This series of quotes shows Mrs. Bennett's love for her five daughters. When she finds out one of them has married she is ecstatic and begins frantically running around the house to make arrangement for the newly wed couple's arrival. Mrs. Bennett thinks about her daughter's happiness constantly and hardly has time to think of anything else. Elizabeth is the outspoken daughter who wants more than just a husband with money. As a result of Mrs. Bennett's ideas Elizabeth and her mother constantly butt heads and do not get along very often. Mrs. Bennett is just a loving mother who constantly hunts for her daughters husbands. Her husband on the other hand shows his love in a very different way and that is shown through my essay. As discussed in my essay Mr. Bennett is the head of the family who makes the final decisions of the family. When he lends his support to Elizabeth when she refused to marry Mr. Collins, the audience can clearly see his concern for the happiness of his daughter.

Plot Summary

The classic tale of love and misunderstanding unfolds in England near the close of the 18th century. The five Bennett sisters, Elizabeth, Jane, Lydia, Mary and Kitty have been raised well aware of their mother's fixation on finding them husbands and giving them bright futures. Elizabeth, however, strives to live her life with a broader perspective, as encouraged by her father.When wealthy bachelor Mr. Bingley begins to reside in a nearby mansion. Among the man's circle of  friends and the increase of young militia officers, there is no shortage of men for the Bennett sisters to choose from. Jane, the oldest, and most beautiful, falls in love with Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth is introduced to the handsome and snobbish Mr. Darcy, and the battle of the sexes is joined.Their encounters are frequent and interesting yet far from encouraging. Elizabeth finds herself inclined not to accept a marriage proposal from a cousin, Mr. Collins, and with the support of her father, she upsets her mother and Mr. Collins by declining. When the good hearted Mr. Bingley abruptly departs for London, devastating Jane, Elizabeth holds Mr. Darcy responsible for contributing to the heartbreak. But a crisis involving sister Lydia soon opens Elizabeth's eyes to the true nature of her relationship with Mr. Darcy. The two finally understand each others intentions and fall in love and get married.

I decided to focus mainly on the love and thoughts of the Bennett mother. The entire movie was focused around the idea that all the Bennett children are supposed to get married in a timely fashion. A mother's main focus in the 18th century was to marry off her children. I chose to focus on that instead of the main love story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. 

Mystic River

Mystic River was a very interesting movie. I really liked it because of the darkness within it. The movie itself got me thinking a lot. I blamed the death of the girl on many people. At first I thought the killer was Dave because of many clues like being the same place, leaving fifteen minutes after the girl and coming back home full of blood that is not his. What really made me think it was Dave the killer is the fact that he would have different excuses for his injuries. After, when Sean founded out that the Gun used for the crime was own by the father of the girls lover I kind of blamed him for 2 minutes but started thinking and saw the link between the beginning of the movie and after. How the girls lover had a little brother that spoke sign language and how he was always there for him. The little brother did not want to lose him, he was the only one there for him. The lovers were about to leave and the little brother was not going to let that happen, he would not lose his only brother that he loved so much. The setting of the movie was very fun to watch. It made you think things and after you would change your mind because of new clues.  The whole movie was showing you how you should not blame a person because of small links. Looking for the right clues was what people should base on.

Essay #3 Outline

Pride & Prejudice Viewer Review Outline

Working Thesis: The movie Pride and Prejudice tells a complex story of an 18^th century family’s dynamic by using the characters in a light that shows their strange way of showing love for each other as well as by applying complex situations that pertained to this time period.

Introduction: Discuss the almost insane love the character of Mrs. Bennett has for her children. She shows her love in a very strange way according to today’s society.

Body Paragraph 1: Discuss the logistics of the movie.

            Example one: Movie: Pride and Prejudice

            Example two: Director: Joe Write

            Example three: Studio: Focus Features

            Example four: Main Characters: The Bennett Family, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Bingley

Body Paragraph 2: Mrs. Bennett is intent on marrying off her five daughters as soon as possible to wealthy men who are capable of supporting her children.

            Example one: Jane and Mr. Bingley

            Example two: Elizabeth and Mr. Collins

            Example three: Kitty and Mr. Wickem

Body Paragraph 3: The idea of this movie is to convey the particular thought process and living style of an 18^th century family whose main focus is to become suitable wives and find a man to marry.

            Example one: Jane and Elizabeth constantly discuss men and their futures concerning a husband.

            Example two: Mrs. Bennett’s main focus is to find husbands for all her children.

            Example three: Mr. Bennett has a strong love for his family and only wants to see the happiness of his daughters and wife.

Working Conclusion: This movie is very intriguing because of the family dynamic. Mrs. Bennett has a love for her children that is conveyed through her constant worry about their futures as well as their ability to find husbands. Jane and Elizabeth have a unique sisterly relationship that helps the audience relate to their love for each other and pulls them into the idea of family. Several other factors play a role in the audience’s understanding of the 18^th century family. 

Week 9: Mystic River

I found the movie Mystic River to be very intriguing and complicated. The plot is intense and evokes serious thought and emotion from the viewer. The opening scene alone is troubling and heart wrenching. A young boy is obviously abducted in broad daylight. The abduction, one action, changed his life forever. As the movie presses on, a young woman is killed and for a very large portion of the movie the viewer is coerced to believe that Dave (the abducted boy) has murdered this woman. The reality was a completely different scenario that, in the end, came out of left field. In one of the final scenes the viewer is vying for the Jimmy (the father of the young woman) to realize he is making a huge mistake. The acting in this movie significantly adds to the intensity of each scene. The final scene changes the viewers out look on the characters of Jimmy, his wife, Sean, and Celeste (Dave's wife). Jimmy's wife discusses his power and authority over the entire city and this discussion clearly empowers Jimmy. Sean and Celeste and Celeste and Jimmy's wife share longing looks at each other. Celeste is now alone and the viewer is made to feel bad for her but at the same time, one cannot help but think she caused the terrible distress. Finally, Jimmy and Sean share a look of secrecy; the viewer can clearly tell the have a mutual understanding of what has happened and what may possibly come in their future.

harry potters girl trouble

Schoefer evaluates the central criterion in the Harry Potter books by having a very sexist theme to it. He explains how men in these books have a higher roll than women. How men are strong, interesting, and risk takers, while women are defined as a sort of helper threw out the story. Shoefer identified a few positive features on how the smartest woman in the school was Hermione, and McGonagall, a trustworthy woman was the right hand of the head principle Dumbledore. She fails on giving credit to Hermione when she saved the life of Harry and Ron.  Schoefer is more concentrated on his argument about the sexiest aspect of the book then sharing more positive things about woman in the book. She supports her argument on the sexist part of the Harry Potter books by giving many details about the low parts on many woman characters. How these woman were only there to push the superiority of the men. She refutes the argument by only giving examples of sexist in the book but never gave credit to the woman qualities.

In the life that we live mostly every story has something that will often offend a person. The Harry Potter books were created for the amusement of our children. The sexist part of the book shouldn’t stop someone to not read the book.

Exercise 14.8

The Harry Potter books deserve their popularity just as much as the Hunger Games deserves its popularity. J. K. Rowling worked very hard on the series and did a very good job at entrapping the reader within the book. This series was an escape for one's mind, an escape from the real world. The imagery, language, and suspense of each book keeps the reader hanging on every word and wanting more. Even at the end of the series the reader wants to know more because Rowling did such an amazing job at describing the fantastic fantasy world that is Harry Potter. The idea for these books was to get children interested in reading again, but not only was the child demographic hit; their parents, brothers and sisters were all incised to read the series. The Harry Potter series is one of, if not the most popular set of books the world has ever seen. This is all because the author worked so hard to create it. It also helps that the movies were created which pulled those who did not originally read the books to become fans and eventually readers of the series. Therefore, the popularity of the Harry Potter books are well deserved and should be respected for their ability to relate to audiences of all ages.

Harry Potter's Girl Trouble, Week 8

Schoefer depicts the Harry Potter books as being "sexist" and very "stereotypical." Her central criterion is that there are only strong men within the stories and all the women are described as almost helpless. She establishes her criterion in the end of the first paragraph when she states, "Believe me, I tried as hard as I could to ignore the sexism." Schoefer identifies several positive qualities of the Harry Potter books throughout her evaluation such as "Glittering mystery and nail-biting suspense, compelling language and colorful imagery, magical feats juxtaposed with real-life concerns..." She gives the book a lot of credit in the beginning of her evaluation by saying she had a hard time having a problem with it, but at the same time she could not ignore the sexism, stereotypes, and the suppression of women in general. Schoefer fails, however, to mention the times when Hermione's knowledge saved the boys lives. She also fails to mention that Professor McGonagall is the motherly and guiding conscience of the entire series. It is obvious that Schoefer is trying to make a point so she fails to mention these key details of the books, but if she wanted to present a good argument she would have included them if only to show that she understands both sides of the issue. Instead she sticks soley to her own opinions of sexism with in Harry Potter. She uses the examples of Hermione, Ginny, Penelope, and McGonagall to support her point that women are always beneath men with in the confines of this particular series and therefore mirrors reality. I found no real refutes to her argument other than at the start of her evaluations when she pays tribute to the ability of the author to entrap the reader. My refutes are stated above, that Schoefer fails to mention the positive attributes of the women.
An in depth look at any book will show some sort of sexism, feminism, or discrimination, that is if one looks hard enough for it. The Harry Potter series was created for the entertainment of children, as an escape from the real world. The books did their job well by getting children to become interested in books. Therefore, what is left out is not as big of a deal as Schoefer makes it out to be.

Essay 2 body paragraph

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80398_Page2.html

Rand Paul thinks that Obamacare is unconstitutional and that even the father of the constitution would agree with him. He feels that the debate is not new and probably will never be over any time soon. He talks about how Hamilton and Madison fought from the beginning about how the government would be limited by the enumerated powers (his words). He feels the federal governments powers are few and defined. For example the power to tax and spend is restricted by the enumerated powers. He feels the only way to fix the problem is to have a new president.  

Essay 2 outline

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80398_Page2.html

Thesis statement: Rand Paul thinks obamacare is unconstitutional and that the president should of never said that “You didn't build that" to the american people.

Topic 1: Obamacare

• What the father of the constitution would think about it.
• leads to how he thinks the only way to fix the problem is by having a new president

Topic 2:  “You didn't build that"

•  Gives examples of why this statement is insulting to Americans every were.
• the Taing family
• his great grandfather
•  an American sailor
•  the Tringh family  
• The way punishing the rich can hurt the poor more then help them.

Conclusion: 
The American Dream is that any among us could become the next Thomas Edison, the next Henry Ford, the next Ronald Reagan. This is Rand Paul's exact words.

first body paragraph Charlie Crist

Charlie Crist appeals to ethos by showing how Obama is a caring man, a man that is fighting for his country and his people. Helping the people that needs help is his primary goal. He uses a term that was told to him by his father during his college football playing years, “it takes a cool head to win a hot game”. He explains on how our country is in the middle of a very hot game and our president always kept his head cool and figures out what play to do to win this game. Charlie explains how Obama is the type of person to help everyone, he has no favored. Crist stated that, as former republican he honored and respected Obama for his caring quality. Many has tried to stop Obama but his courage held him high. Agreeing with Obama on everything was not the case but most of his decisions were often the best. He is a man that sees future for his country.

essay 2 outline Charlie Crist

Essay 2, outline

Thesis statement: in Charlie Crist's speech, he caught the listener’s attention by using an appeal to pathos and logos to vote for Barrack Obama.

Topic 1:  Charlie Crist appeals to ethos by showing how Obama is a caring man, a man that is fighting for his country and his people. Helping the people that needs help is his primary goal. He uses a term that was told to him by his father during his college football playing years, “it takes a cool head to win a hot game”. He explains on how our country is in the middle of a very hot game and our president always kept his head cool and figures out what play to do to win this game. Charlie explains how Obama is the type of people to help anyone, he has no favored. He stated that as former republican he honored and respected Obama for his caring quality. Many has tried to stop Obama but he courage held him high. Agreeing with Obama on everything was not the case but most of his decisions were often the best. He is a man that sees future for his country.

Topic 2:  Charlie Crist uses the appeal to logos by explaining to the listeners how serious challenges are faced in our country and Obama has always been there to help.

Example 1:  President Obama saw crisis in Florida and took charge.

Explain: In Florida the foreclosure crisis was consuming homeowners, the tourists they depend on couldn't afford to visit and the vital construction industry had come to a standstill. President Obama saw what Charlie saw and took action

Example 2: Obama helped our middle class people keep their jobs.

Explain: some teachers, firefighters, and police officer still have their jobs today because of Obama. Even with our economic crisis, Obama never failed his middle class people.

Example 3: Obama helped Florida during the massive oil disaster in the golf of Mexico.

Explain: during this crisis, president Obama led a massive cleanup effort and demanded accountability from those responsible.

Conclusion: Obama is someone that cares for his people. Being the president of this country is like being the father of a huge family to him.