Narrative Argument Final Copy

Joseph Morris

Professor Henderson

Academic Writing

April 21st, 2010

Why I Hate Green Day; a Narrative Argument

From birth to seven years old I was raised in Manchester, England. I was brought up next to a ‘Fish n’ Chip’ shop. I went to a Manchester United game every Saturday and would scream the songs in the stands. I sang ‘God Save the Queen’ everyday before class and wore school uniforms with a little clip-on tie. I was babysat by my older cousin while all the adults in my family left to go to Princess Diana’s funeral. I was as British as a boy could be. Then, in the October of 1998, my parents, my two brothers and I moved to America.

Being a British boy in America turned out to be brilliant! Everyone would huddle around to hear you speak and everyone who ask you to say ‘British words’. It made you quite popular in elementary school and middle school, especially once Harry Potter came out and everyone found the accent to sound ‘magical’. Then, in 2005, my father asked me and my family if we would want to move back to England. I thought it would be great! Finally going back to where my family was, being able to watch Manchester United, and just feeling at home again. I thought it be really easy to just fit right back into the world I had left. Little did I know that despite retaining my british accent, there was a slight American accent added to my voice.

Before I moved to England, I didn’t give a passing thought about discrimination or intolerance. Those were history class definition words, not something that exists today, let alone something that a middle-to-upper class white boy would ever have to deal with. My one year in England completely changed my outlook on intolerance and what it truly means to be singled out for something beyond your control. 

My new school in England was called the Ryleys School for Boys, a private boys only school that on average had 17 boys graduate every year. My year consisted of only 14 boys. These other 14 boys had all been in the Ryleys since they started school, and were a very tight-nit group. However, I knew this going into the school. I was told and understood that it would be a bit difficult to find a place within this already close group of students, but I was determined and excited to make new friends no matter how hard it would be. 

The boys at the school turned out to be intolerant of anyone different, and they heard an american accent in my voice that I wasn’t even aware I had. To them I sounded like a born American, and they hated me for it. By the end of the week I was despised by half of the boys, and the other half just ignored me. There were six boys who were giving me large amounts of grief who were led by a particularly nasty boy called Dagen Meek. Dagen seemed to start the bullying towards me and the other five played along. Like anyone else, I had dealt with bullying before. In America there were plenty of the iconic jerks who would threaten kids for lunch money or occasionally swirly a kid, but compared to the bullying that went on in that god forsaken English boys only school, those bullies were saints. 

Dagen and his crew were absolutely brutal. They would compete over who could make the kids they bullied cry first, and if you ever said anything against them or retaliate, they would beat you into submission. The faculty was about as helpful and attentive as a dead dog when it came to bullying. If they saw a fight going on, they would let it continue till there was a winner and then take the winner to the Head Master’s office and the loser would be left on the ground. Being bullied became a daily norm.

The day that I realized what I was being picked on for was the day that the Green Day song “American Idiot” first came onto british radio. The kids in my grade would berate me with the song, constantly insulting me and saying that it was my anthem. I would say things like “Even Americans think they themselves are idiots!”. They would sing it to purposely get on my nerves and it quickly became my least favorite song of all time. It was symbolic of the mindset everyone in that school had about America.

Only looking back a few years later did I truly understand why I was being discriminated against for having an American accent. In 2003, America went to war with Iraq. This conflict started to effect several other powerful nations and ended up dragging in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Poland, and Australia, all which were countries who were reluctant to go to war in the first place. By 2005, the approval rating of America in the UK had declined 27 percent (Kull). In the eyes of many countries, America was making huge mistakes and causing countries such as the UK to send their soldiers to fight and die in a war they never wanted to be apart of. The public was upset and angry with America, and that mindset was rubbing off on their children.

Of course these 13 to 14 year old kids didn’t understand any of this and wouldn’t have the intellectual capacity to be angry at someone for such a political reason. It was the negative image of America by the british media and the grudges of the parents that trickled down to the children and caused their bigotry towards the US. The faculty didn’t help the situation either. My English teacher would go on rants daily about the stupidity of the American government and would make fat jokes about Americans.  I do not defend what America did and I would be just as annoyed as anyone else had I understood the situation, but I was just a 13 year old british boy who had picked up a slight american twang to his voice. This was not my fault as much as it wasn’t any thirteen year old american child’s fault, yet I was taking the abuse. 

To most people in the society and culture we live in, discrimination is something we only think about during Black History Month. It is a concept that we learn about, not that we experience. What we must realize is that such bigotry is still alive today. People are being the victims of prejudice everyday for being the slightest bit different. Whether its the new mexican student who can’t speak english, the boy with two dads, the girl who plays with Action Men, the girl who wants to were a burka to school, or the british boy who picked up a slight american accent, discrimination is as real as it can be.

Discrimination has many harmful effects on children; it has been proven that mental heath problems are more common in students who are discriminated against. A study done by the University of California in Los Angeles has shown that over 15% of children they surveyed felt they were being discriminated against, and the vast amount of this discrimination was being done at school (University of California). It is important for faculty of schools and for parents to teach students that it is okay to be different and to make sure not to pass down their own prejudices to their children, before the bullied students reach a breaking point in which they feel they can not stay at the conditions they are in.

My personal breaking point was one day in German class when the teacher left to copy some papers. A big “rubber fight” broke out where the kids in the class would grab their erasers and hurl them at each other. Dagen took my eraser from out of my hand and threw it at one of the kids on the other side of the room and it landed next to a stand with the television on top of it. I sighed and went over to pick it up but as I went to do so Dagen ran over, rammed me aside, and knocked me right into the stand. The television fell down and landed on Dagen's head while cracking the television screen. We both panicked and immediately put the television back on the stand.

"You say anything when Frau comes back, I'll bloody well kill you!" Dagen threatened as we both ran back to our seats.

The next day I came into the school and was immediately approached by Dagen. He looked angrier than I had ever seen him. He threw a punch which landed me straight in the gut. I tried to punch him back but he kicked me in the knee and I fell on the ground. I looked up and cursed at Dagen. He just leaned down and said "Who the hell do you think you are? You're not a Brit, you're not American. You don’t belong anywhere." That day I lost all sense of where I belonged in the world. The bullying got to such a point that when my father said that he was offered a job in America again, my whole family and I jumped at the opportunity. 


It is a difficult feat to go after bullying as a whole. The story I told here is mainly about discrimination but that is just one part of the whole mixture which leads to a child to be bullied. If we work hard to educate children on the harmful effects of bullying and encourage schools and parents to do so, we can help children who feel as if they are in a hopeless situation. Organizations such as StopBullying.gov are working endlessly to preventing and stopping bullying. They encourage parents and teachers to help children recognize and understand when bullying occurs and how they can get help when they need it (Stopbullying.gov).

In America I have yet to be discriminated against as I did in England. There is the occasional joke about tea and crumpets or a snicker when I say petrol  in stead of gas or lift instead of elevator, but nothing to the severity as in England. Having a british accent starts conversations and is something that is seen as interesting. Even though it was such a dreadful year, I wouldn’t take back what happened to me in England. I have developed a keen dislike of bigotry of any kind and am a big advocator of anti-bullying and discrimination groups, and I hope that we can all take steps to helping children who are in need. 

Work Cited
"Bullying Is a Serious Problem." Home | StopBullying.gov. 2011. Web. 5 May 2011. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/>

University of California - Los Angeles. "Mental Health Problems More Common In Kids Who Feel Racial Discrimination." ScienceDaily, 29 Apr. 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Kull, Steven. "America's Image in the World." World Public Opinion. 4 Mar. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. <http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/ views_on_countriesregions_bt/326.php?nid=>.

Narrative Argument 4.1

Joseph Morris
Professor Henderson
Academic Writing
April 21st, 2010


Why I Hate Green Day; a Narrative Argument


From birth to seven years old I was raised in Manchester, England. I was brought up next to a ‘Fish n’ Chip’ shop. I went to a Manchester United game every Saturday and would scream the songs in the stands. I sang ‘God Save the Queen’ everyday before class and wore school uniforms with a little clip-on tie. I was babysat by my older cousin while all the adults in my family left to go to Princess Diana’s funeral. I was as british as a boy could be. Then, in the October of 2008, my parents, my two brothers and I moved to America.


Being a British boy in America turned out to be brilliant! Everyone would huddle around to hear you speak and everyone who ask you to say ‘british words’. It made you quite popular in elementary school and middle school, especially once Harry Potter came out and everyone found the accent to sound ‘magical’. Then, in 2005, my father asked me and my family if we would want to move back to England. I thought it would be great! Finally going back to where my family was, being able to watch Manchester United, and just feeling at home again. I thought it be really easy to just fit right back into the world I had left. Little did I know that despite retaining my british accent, there was a slight American accent added to my voice.


Before I moved to England, I didn’t give a passing thought about discrimination or intolerance. Those were history class definition words, not something that exists today, let alone something that a middle-to-upper class white boy would ever have to deal with. My one year in England completely changed my outlook on intolerance and what is truly means to be singled out for something beyond your control.
My new school in England was called the Ryleys School for Boys, a private boys only school that on average had 17 boys graduate every year. My year consisted of only 14 boys. These other 14 boys had all been in the Ryleys since they started school, and were a very tight-nit group. However, I knew this going into the school. I was told and understood that it would be a bit difficult to find a place within this already close group of students, but I was determined and excited to make new friends no matter how hard it would be.


The boys at the school turned out to be intolerant of anyone different, and they heard an american accent in my voice that I wasn’t even aware I had. To them I sounded like a born American, and they hated me for it. By the end of the week I was despised by a half of the boys, and the other half just ignored me. There were 6 boys who were giving me large amounts of grief who were led by a particularly nasty boy called Dagen Meek. Dagen seemed to start the bullying towards me and the other five played along. Like anyone else, I had dealt with bullying before. In America there were plenty of the iconic jerks who would threaten kids for lunch money or occasionally swirly a kid, but compared to the bullying that went on in that god forsaken English boys only school, those bullies were saints.


Dagen and his crew were absolutely brutal. They would compete over who could make the kids they bullied cry first, and if you ever said anything against them or retaliate, they would beat you into submission. The faculty was about as helpful and attentive as a dead dog when it came to bullying. If they saw a fight going on, they would let it continue till there was a winner and then take the winner to the Head Master’s office and the looser would be left on the ground. Being bullied became a daily norm.


The day that I realized what I was being picked on for was the day that the Green Day song “American Idiot” first came onto british radio. The kids in my grade would berate me with the song, constantly insulting me and saying that it was my anthem. I would say things like “Even Americans think they themselves are idiots!”. They would sing it to purposely get on my nerves and it quickly became my least favorite song of all time. It was symbolic of the mindset everyone in that school had about America.


Only looking back a few years later did I truly understand why I was being discriminated against for having an American accent. In 2003, America went to war with Iraq. This conflict started to effect several other powerful nations and ended up dragging in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Poland, and Australia, all which were countries who were reluctant to go to war in the first place. By 2005, the approval rating of America in the UK had declined 27 percent (Kull). In the eyes of many countries, America was making huge mistakes and causing countries such as the UK to send their soldiers to fight and die in a war they never wanted to be apart of. The public was upset and angry with America, and that mindset was rubbing off on their children (Kull).


Of course these 13 to 14 year old kids didn’t understand any of this and wouldn’t have the intellectual capacity to be angry at someone for such a political reason. It was the negative image of America by the british media and the grudges of the parents that trickled down to the children and caused their bigotry towards the US. The faculty didn’t help the situation either. My english teacher would go on rants daily about the stupidity of the American government and would make fat jokes about americans. I do not defend what America did and I would be just as annoyed as anyone else had I understood the situation, but I was just a 13 british boy who had picked up a slight american twang to his voice. This was not my fault as much as it wasn’t any thirteen year old american child’s fault, yet I was taking the abuse.


To most people in the society and culture we live in, discrimination is something we only think about during Black History Month. It is a concept that we learn about, not that we experience. What we must realize is that such bigotry is still alive today. People are being prejudiced everyday for being the slightest bit different. Whether its the new mexican student who can’t speak english, the boy with two dads, the girl who plays with Action Men, the girl who wants to were a burka to school, or the british boy who picked up a slight american accent, discrimination is as real as it can be. Discrimination has many harmful effects on children; it has been proven that mental heath problems are more common in students who are discriminated against.


A study done by the University of California in Los Angeles has shown that over 15% of children they surveyed felt they were being discriminated against, and the vast amount of this discrimination was being done at school (University of California). It is important for faculty of schools and for parents to teach students that it is okay to be different and to make sure not to pass down their own prejudices to their children, before the bullied students reach a breaking point in which they feel they can not stay in the conditions they are in.


My personal breaking point was one day in German class when the teacher left to copy some papers. A big “rubber fight” broke out where the kids in the class would grab their erasers and hurl them at each other. Dagen took my eraser from out of my hand and threw it at one of the kids on the otherside of the room and it landed next to a stand with the Television on top of it. I sighed and went over to pick it up but as I went to do so Dagen ran over, rammed me aside, and knocked me right into the stand. The television fell down and landed on Dagen's head while cracking the television screen. We both panicked and immediately put the television back on the stand. "You say anything when Frau comes back, I'll bloody well kill you!" Dagen threatened as we both ran back to our seats.


The next day I came into the school and was immediately approached by Dagen. He looked angrier than I had ever seen him. He threw a punch which landed me straight in the gut. I tried to punch him back but he kicked me in the knee and I fell on the ground. I looked up and cursed at Dagen. He just leaned down and said "Who the hell do you think you are? You're not a Brit, you're not American. You don’t belong anywhere." That day I lost all sense of where I belonged in the world. The bullying got to such a point that when my father said that he was offered a job in America again, my whole family and I jumped at the opportunity.


In America I have yet to be discriminated against as I did in England. There is the occasional joke about tea and crumpets or a snicker when I say petrol or lift instead of elevator, but nothing to the severity as in England. Having a british accent starts conversations and is something that is seen as interesting. Even though it was such a dreadful year, I wouldn’t take back what happened to me in England. I have developed a keen dislike of bigotry of any kind and am a big advocator of anti-bullying and discrimination groups, and I hope that steps will be taken to prevent it from occurring anymore.














Work Cited

University of California - Los Angeles. "Mental Health Problems More Common In Kids Who Feel Racial Discrimination." ScienceDaily, 29 Apr. 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Kull, Steven. "America's Image in the World." World Public Opinion. 4 Mar. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. <http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/ views_on_countriesregions_bt/326.php?nid=>.

Rogerian Argument Reflection 3.2

Finishing this essay was easier than the last few essays I've written.
i found that there was less content in which I needed to fix and I just needed to incorporate my sources into the paper. The sources I used I originally new exactly where and how I was using them, but when I went back to edit my in-text sources I discovered that although I used information from the sources for my essay it was hard to distinguish where each source was used and where a citation was needed.
I thought that this essay was one of the easiest to write due to the set structure and layout that comes with this type of essay. Introducing the topic, my point, your point, bridge, conclusion. It helped me stay confident in what I was going to write next and I never was stuck wondering what to write next.
It was a easy flow of ideas in which, before I knew it, I had the write amount of words and I was still finishing the conclusion.

Rogerian Argument Essay 2.1

Joseph Morris

Professor Henderson

Academic Writing

March 30th, 2011

Joe Doyle,

The other day I was watching Family Guy and remembered all the debates we had over Fox News and political views. I remembered specifically the heated debate we had about the drinking age in the US and thought it would be beneficial to cull the flames and have a reasonable discussion about it with you for once.

I understand that you have lived your life within a very conservative family and you find that this mindset to be flawless. I have the upmost respect for you for being so passionate about your beliefs and ideas. You have the belief that the drinking age should remain the same and that there are more cons to lowering the drinking age than pros. I understand that you think there are health risks and that it will cause more delinquent-like activity for those under 21 years old. We were raised in different environments with different attitudes on alcohol consumption. You believe that a lowering of the drinking age would cause more alcohol related accidents, that it would open up the gates for more social ills such as drugs and unprotected sex, and would cause many negative affects to those 18 year olds who do take the opportunity to drink. While you were brought up with alcohol being looked at as a taboo, I was brought up in a country in which the drinking age is much lower and when with family there practically is no drinking age.

I am sure you are fully aware of my views on the subject by now, but allow me to clarify how I feel on the subject. As I have stated before, I find that having the consumption of alcohol be illegal just contributes to the thrill for those who decide to partake in such activities. College students would not be as irresponsible about drinking if it were not illegal to drink. Those in need of medical services would not hesitate to get help without the fear of being arrested (Szalavitz). And as I have stated many times before, the concept that a person can join the military and die for there country yet not take a sip of beer astounds me. At 18 years old someone can buy a house, get married, start a business, join the military and therefore have responsibility over life and death, vote, get sued, sue, serve on a jury and many more responsibilities, yet can not have a drink at a bar (okbar.org). I find that the enforcement of the current drinking age is a inefficient, overly expensive, and overall useless endeavor.

We are both vigorously stubborn about our beliefs, but I truly believe that there are things we both are arguing for. I believe there are things we both want to protect and that we care about, and the problem is just that we both have different beliefs on how to protect these things. We both care about the wellbeing of other peoples, we both want to decrease the amount of alcohol related deaths per year, and we are concerned about our peers developing into alcoholics.

You have argued that 18-20 year olds binge drink more than those over 21 years old and that they are more prone to alcohol abuse. Research done by the researchers at the US Department of Human Health and Services has found data supporting your claim. This is some where I completely agree with you and I think this is a big problem, but I think that it is the drinking age that has actually caused this to be true. I believe that if its the fact it is illegal that makes it so exciting for this group to drink. I believe that drinking would be done in more moderation if it was turned into a more normalized activity within the said age group. I am sure you would agree that it is an important priority to normalize the drinking habits of teens (drinkingage.procon.org, 2011).

We both agree that people should not take drugs and that there is a big drug problem with teenagers. We both want to come to the same conclusion in which people keep taking drugs, but have opposite views on how the drinking age will effect the percent of teens who partake in illegal drug use. You believe that alcohol consumption leads someone into experimenting more with drugs. I feel that more students are taking drugs due to the prohibition of alcohol. Professor David J. Hanson, Ph.D, of the University of New York, has performed research which supports my belief. When the drinking age in East Carolina was increased from 19 to 21, students were surveyed on their reactions. Nearly a fourth of the students suggested they intended to use other drugs instead of alcohol due to the law. Professor Hanson says that “Anecdotal statements by students indicated the belief of some that it ‘might be easier to hide a little pot in my room than a six pack of beer’” (Hanson, 2009). This suggests that lowering the drinking age will decrease the amount of drug use of those 20 and younger.

Perhaps there is a way in which we can come to a compromise on this matter. One of the reasons why I slightly agree with the drinking age is the fact that the age in which Americans start driving is very low and American teens drive a lot more than Europeans do. Lowering the drinking age to anything lower than 18 would be irresponsible, for I believe that 16 year olds are not mature enough to drive let alone have the opportunity to drink and drive. Making it easier for 16 - 20 year olds to drink while the driving age is so low is irresponsible. Perhaps raising the age in which teens can drive while lowering the drinking age would be a good middle ground for our views. It would also allow the age of 18 to become the distinct divide between adolescence and adulthood. It would also save the Government millions of dollars which they spend on enforcing the current drinking age and we can take that money and put it into more education about alcohol and teaching students the appropriate way to consume alcohol.

Doyle, you are a considerate man who cares deeply about the well being of your peers and fellow teens. I know that I can not easily convince you to look at my point of view, let alone change your own view, but I am hoping that this letter has opened your mind on the subject and shown you the bridges our beliefs have between each other. It is a valuable thing to be able to so openly discuss and debate your views with a friend such as you, and I hope you will put as much consideration in your response as I have in what I have written in this essay.

Sincerely,

Joseph Morris

Works Cited 

Hanson, David J. "The Legal Drinking Age: Science vs. Ideology." WWW2 Webserver. 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. <http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1046348726.html>. 

"Should Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?" Drinking Age ProCon.org. 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. <http://drinkingage.procon.org/>. 

Szalavitz, Maia. "STATS: Underage Drinking." Understanding Alcohol Abuse - Issues, Controversies, Independent Analysis. 29 Apr. 2005. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. <http://alcoholnews.org/underage_drink2.html>. 

"You're 18 Now — It's Your Responsibility! (Legal Guide) | Law-related Education | Oklahoma Bar Association." Oklahoma Bar Association | Home. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. <http://www.okbar.org/public/lre/LegalGuide18.htm>.

Prewriting 4.2

It started out as the best day ever. Dagen was acting like a decent human being because I was the only person in the year who had yu-gi-oh cards, I played a fantastic game of 'footie' in which I scored three goals and tackled Murray, and I got an apology from Milo for being so cruel to me the last few weeks. That was until German class.
Every time a teacher left a room everyone in my year would play a game in which they would take erasers and chuck them at each other, getting a point for hitting someone in head. That day I was trying desperately to finish a paper for English the next period and was using my pencil and eraser to actually erase instead of violently throwing them around. Dagen took my eraser from out of my hand and threw it at one of the kids on the otherside of the room and it landed next to a stand with the Television on top of it. I sighed and went over to pick it up but as I went to do so Dagen ran over, rammed me aside, and knocked me right into the stand. The television fell down and landed on Dagen's head while cracking the television screen. We both panicked and immediately put the television back on the stand.
"You say anything when Frau comes back, I'll bloody well kill you!" Dagen threatened as we both ran back to our seats.
The next day I came into the school and was immediately approached by Dagen. "You told on me you little shit!" He shouted. He threw a punch which landed me straight in the gut. All the wind was knocked out of me. I immediately retaliated with a punch but he kicked me in the thigh and I fell on the ground on one knee. I looked up and cursed at Dagen, telling him I didn't say a word. He just leaned down and said "Who the hell do you think you are? You're not a Brit, you're not really an American. You're just a loser." I clenched my fist,

Prewriting for Essay 4

1.
2. Copywriting of living beings
3. For my girlfriend to get out of college with no debt
4. Played fun games like Ninja and Bear Wrestling with my friends


I am thinking of writing an essay about the time I moved back to America with my family and the hardships we went through for simply moving to America. I think i would have to pick a specific purpose or claim but not bring it out too strong. It'll be a subtle purpose so that the many other leasons that one can take from the essay can be addressed as well.

Rogerian Reflection 1.1

I thought that this essay was one of the easiest to write even if it was longer. I found that the topic I chose allowed me to channel my beliefs into the essay fluidly. I ended up writing about the drinking age after a internal debate between gun control, drinking age, and the morality of chancing and battling Pokemon. The topic of gun control was to obvious and I think I am to passionate about the subject to be able to come to a middle ground. The pokemon topic would of been wacky and new but there is zero scholarly sources and the fact is it is a fictional debate within a fictional world, and it would be irresponsible to write about it in a college essay. I thought that I came to a good middle ground with the drink age topic and am excited to see what comments will be left on my essay.

Rogerian Argument Essay 1.1

Joseph Morris
Professor Henderson
Academic Writing
March 30th, 2011

Joe Doyle,

The other day I was watching Family Guy and remembered all the debates we had over Fox News and political views. I remembered specifically the heated debate we had about the drinking age in the US and thought it would be beneficial to cull the flames and have a reasonable discussion about it with you for once.

I understand that you have lived your life within a very conservative family and you find that this mindset to be flawless. I have the upmost respect for you for being so passionate about your beliefs and ideas. You have the belief that the drinking age should remain the same and that there are more cons to lowering the drinking age than pros. I understand that you think there are health risks and that it will cause more delinquent-like activity for those under 21 years old. We were raised in different environments with different attitudes on alcohol consumption. You believe that a lowering of the drinking age would cause more alcohol related accidents, that it would open up the gates for more social ills such as drugs and unprotected sex, and would cause many negative affects to those 18 year olds who do take the opportunity to drink. While you were brought up with alcohol being looked at as a taboo, I was brought up in a country in which the drinking age is much lower and when with family there practically is no drinking age.

I am sure you are fully aware of my views on the subject by now, but allow me to clarify how I feel on the subject. As I have stated before, I find that having the consumption of alcohol be illegal just contributes to the thrill for those who decide to partake in such activities. College students would not be as irresponsible about drinking if it were not illegal to drink. Those in need of medical services would not hesitate to get help without the fear of being arrested. And as I have stated many times before, the concept that a person can join the military and die for there country yet not take a sip of beer astounds me. At 18 years old someone can buy a house, get married, start a business, join the military and therefore have responsibility over life and death, vote, and many more responsibilities, yet can not have a drink at a bar. I find that the enforcement of the current drinking age is a inefficient, overly expensive, and overall useless endeavor.

We are both vigorously stubborn about our beliefs, but I truly believe that there are things we both are arguing for. I believe there are things we both want to protect and that we care about, and the problem is just that we both have different beliefs on how to protect these things. We both care about the wellbeing of other peoples, we both want to decrease the amount of alcohol related deaths per year, and we are concerned about our peers developing into alcoholics.

You have argued that 18-20 year olds binge drink more than those over 21 years old and that they are more prone to alcohol abuse. This is some where I completely agree with you and I think this is a big problem, but I think that it is the drinking age that has actually caused this to be true. I believe that if its the fact it is illegal that makes it so exciting for this group to drink. I believe that drinking would be done in more moderation if it was turned into a more normalized activity within the said age group. I am sure you would agree that it is an important priority to normalize the drinking habits of teens.

We both agree that people should not take drugs and that there is a big drug problem with teenagers. We both want to come to the same conclusion in which people keep taking drugs, but have opposite views on how the drinking age will effect the percent of teens who partake in illegal drug use. You believe that alcohol consumption leads someone into experimenting more with drugs. I feel that more students are taking drugs due to the prohibition of alcohol. Professor David J. Hanson, Ph.D, of the University of New York, has performed research which supports my belief. When the drinking age in East Carolina was increased from 19 to 21, students were surveyed on their reactions. Nearly a fourth of the students suggested they intended to use other drugs instead of alcohol due to the law. Professor Hanson says that “Anecdotal statements by students indicated the belief of some that it ‘might be easier to hide a little pot in my room than a six pack of beer.’” This suggests that lowering the drinking age will decrease the amount of drug use of those 20 and younger.

Perhaps there is a way in which we can come to a compromise on this matter. One of the reasons why I slightly agree with the drinking age is the fact that the age in which Americans start driving is very low and American teens drive a lot more than Europeans do. Lowering the drinking age to anything lower than 18 would be irresponsible, for I believe that 16 year olds are not mature enough to drive let alone have the opportunity to drink and drive. Making it easier for 16 - 20 year olds to drink while the driving age is so low is irresponsible. Perhaps raising the age in which teens can drive while lowering the drinking age would be a good middle ground for our views. It would also allow the age of 18 to become the distinct divide between adolescence and adulthood. It would also save the Government millions of dollars which they spend on enforcing the current drinking age and we can take that money and put it into more education about alcohol and teaching students the appropriate way to consume alcohol.

Doyle, you are a considerate man who cares deeply about the well being of your peers and fellow teens. I know that I can not easily convince you to look at my point of view, let alone change your own view, but I am hoping that this letter has opened your mind on the subject and shown you the bridges our beliefs have between each other. It is a valuable thing to be able to so openly discuss and debate your views with a friend such as you, and I hope you will put as much consideration in your response as I have in what I have written in this essay.

Sincerely,

Joseph Morris

Rebuttal Reflection 2.2

I found that finishing this essay off was more difficult than with the first essay. I found that, as helpful as the comments my Professor Henderson were, I got more out of a face-to-face review of my paper. I also think I should of taken the opportunity when given to have this essay workshopped because it would of further helped me understand how to address the issues I had with this paper. I am glad that I was able to find sources which did eventually help me with my paper. I have a hard time understanding what a "scholarly" source is sometimes. Usually I just make sure not to use ".com"s as my scholarly sources. In High School a scholarly source was something that was a .gov or .edu, so I am hoping my sources reach expectations

Joseph Morris

Professor Henderson

Academic Writing

March 1st, 2011

Dear Ms Chua,

I have recently read your article on the Wall Street Journal’s website. I have to start this letter off by being quite frank; at some points it felt like a criminal confession. The method in which you described you parenting techniques was so repulsive that I just had to write you a letter describing my feelings on the matter. My biggest problems with your article are that you purposely inhibit your children’s freedom and creative expression, you are preventing their ability to make friends and be themselves, illegally disciplining your children, the potential emotional harm you are inflicting on your children, and the philosophy in which you base all of your ideas off of is extremely flawed. 

You mentioned that you do not allow your children to pick their own extracurricular activities, specifically school plays. Creative activities such as drama clubs have a proven positive impact on a student’s development. They teach children how to be self-confident, give them an outlet for there emotions with in a safe environment, and are just fun for the students in general (Downshen). To discredit such a beneficial part of education and forbid it from your children is reprehensible. You may argue that the violin and the piano are enough creative outlet for your children. I believe that the way in which you teach your children to play these instruments takes out all of the beneficialness that may come out of playing these instruments. 

I take a lot of offense to the fact you prohibit your children from having a play-date or a sleepover. I can not think of any other reason you would prevent your children from doing these things unless you thought that they do not need friends till later in life. You seem to purposely want to isolate your children from other children so that they do not have ‘distractions’ or some excuse such as that. This is wrong on so many levels. As stated by Steven Downshen, MD, in an article on TeensHealth website, extracurricular activities helps develop creative insights on the world and people around them. To prevent your children from making friends like that is to prevent the development of basic communication skills, preventing them from being introduced to the fundamentals of all future relationships, prevents their ability to accept others and show trust and affection to others, and to cause the child to feel like a outsider and lonely (Downshen)

In case you are not aware, not allowing your child to eat drink or even go to the bathroom for any reason, especially for something as trivial as finishing a piece of music, is abuse. It’s not potential or arguably abuse, it’s the actual legal definition of abuse. As stated on the website for Child Welfare, a website provided by the US Department of Health and Safety, abuse is:
- "Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm". (www.childwelfare.com)
What you did to your child is what’s called emotional and physical mistreatment. It’s also arguably neglect of the child’s basic needs. To call your child ‘garbage’, ‘stupid’, or ‘worthless’ is emotional abuse that cause and has caused serious psychological effects.

You have argued that western-parents are too easy on their children and that they settle with A minuses and Bs because they do not believe enough in their children. I think this is a horrible thing to say. Western parents believe in their children and accept them for who they are. You seem to think that a child trying their best is not good enough. You made a ridiculous comment in which you criticized western parents for only being able to ‘ask their kids to try their best’. You have described a parenting style in which you aim so hard at having your children reach the top that they you force them to dismiss all other parts of life that are so numerous in our years as middle school and high school students. You force your children to give up on anything they want to do that you do not want them to do and turn them into grade producing, socially inept machines. The fact that I believe you would take the last sentence as a complement is sickening. No child should be put through the teaching and parenting styles you describe in your article.

In your article you spend a lot of time telling the reader what western parents will think and do in situations. You talk as though you have any room to be telling the reader how a western parent think. An example of this is where you say “Western parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feeling about achievement, and try to persuade themselves they are not disappointed about how their kids turned out”; this is a very arrogant thing to say. As long as the parents know that their child is trying their hardest and are happy, a word you seem to not understand not have in your dictionary, these parents are proud and happy themselves. You project your own feelings about grades and parenting on others which only weakens your argument and makes you come over as contemptuous. 

Another big point I disagree with in your article is the philosophy that children owe their parents everything from birth.  This philosophy that the parent is always right and that the children must only do things to please their parents means that the children will never be able to develop intrinsic motivation and have initiative beyond the idea of pleasing their parents. Their development into self-sufficient human beings will be drastically stunted by this process. This is the kind of ideal that encourages situations of child abuse. Abusive parents often have a mindset that their children owe them their lives and that they can do anything to their children without repercussions. And as stated earlier in this essay, you would classify as an abusive parent. Your article is a recipe on how to emotionally and socially cripple your children and make them dependent on your approval for the rest of their lives. 












Work Cited

"Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect." Child Welfare Information Gateway. July 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/define.cfm>.

 Dowshen, Steven. "Extracurricular Activities." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. May 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/school/involved_school.html>.

Reflection 2.1

I found that trying to find 'scholarly' sources for a subject like chinese mothers and parenting styles is difficult due to the vast amounts of information that is purely opinion and less factual. These sources shouldn't be disregarded but they do not help with the ethos appeal of my rebuttal if they are purely opinion. To find where I could put factual information within such an opinionated paper was quite difficult for me.  I also am curious on the reaction of those who will critique my paper on some of the more aggressive and passionate statements I have put in my paper. Whether or not they will think of it as a good pathos appeal or if they think its a little unprofessional will be interesting to see. This was a fun paper to write but with it's difficulty. I feel if it wasn't a research based paper it wouldn't of been so hard to write.

Essay 2: Rebuttal Assignment

Joseph Morris

Professor Henderson

Academic Writing

March 1st, 2011

Dear Ms Chua,

I have recently read your article on the Wall Street Journal’s website. I have to start this letter off by being quite frank; at some points it felt like a criminal confession. The method in which you described you parenting techniques was so repulsive that I just had to write you a letter describing my feelings on the matter. My biggest problems with your article are that you purposely inhibit your children’s freedom and creative expression, you are preventing their ability to make friends and be themselves, illegally disciplining your children, the potential emotional harm you are inflicting on your children, and the philosophy in which you base all of your ideas off of is extremely flawed. 

You mentioned that you do not allow your children to pick their own extracurricular activities, specifically school plays. Creative activities such as drama clubs have a proven positive impact on a student’s development. They teach children how to be self-confident, give them an outlet for there emotions with in a safe environment, and are just fun for the students in general. To discredit such a beneficial part of education and forbid it from your children is reprehensible.

You may argue that the violin and the piano are enough creative outlet for your children. I believe that the way in which you teach your children to play these instruments takes out all of the beneficialness that may come out of playing these instruments. 

I take a lot of offense to the fact you prohibit your children from having a play-date or a sleepover. I can not think of any other reason you would prevent your children from doing these things unless you thought that they do not need friends till later in life. You seem to purposely want to isolate your children from other children so that they do not have ‘distractions’ or some excuse such as that. This is wrong on so many levels. To prevent your children from making friends like that is to prevent the development of basic communication skills, preventing them from being introduced to the fundamentals of all future relationships, prevents their ability to accept others and show trust and affection to others, and to cause the child to feel like a outsider and lonely. 

In case you are not aware, not allowing your child to eat drink or even go to the bathroom for any reason, especially for something as trivial as finishing a piece of music, is abuse. It’s not potential or arguably abuse, it’s the actual legal definition of abuse. It is what’s called emotional and physical mistreatment. It’s also arguably neglect of the child’s basic needs. To call your child ‘garbage’, ‘stupid’, or ‘worthless’ is emotional abuse that cause and has caused serious psychological effects.

You have argued that western-parents are too easy on their children and that they settle with A minuses and Bs because they do not believe enough in their children. I think this is a horrible thing to say. Western parents believe in their children and accept them for who they are. You seem to think that a child trying their best is not good enough. You made a ridiculous comment in which you criticized western parents for only being able to ‘ask their kids to try their best’. You have described a parenting style in which you aim so hard at having your children reach the top that they you force them to dismiss all other parts of life that are so numerous in our years as middle school and high school students. You force your children to give up on anything they want to do that you do not want them to do and turn them into grade producing, socially inept machines. The fact that I believe you would take the last sentence as a complement is sickening. No child should be put through the teaching and parenting styles you describe in your article.

In your article you spend a lot of time telling the reader what western parents will think and do in situations. You talk as though you have any room to be telling the reader how a western parent think. An example of this is where you say “Western parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feeling about achievement, and try to persuade themselves they are not disappointed about how their kids turned out”; this is a very arrogant thing to say. As long as the parents know that their child is trying their hardest and are happy, a word you seem to not understand not have in your dictionary, these parents are proud and happy themselves. You project your own feelings about grades and parenting on others which only weakens your argument and makes you come over as contemptuous. 

Another big point I disagree with in your article is the philosophy that children owe their parents everything from birth.  This philosophy that the parent is always right and that the children must only do things to please their parents means that the children will never be able to develop intrinsic motivation and have initiative beyond the idea of pleasing their parents. Their development into self-sufficient human beings will be drastically stunted by this process. This is the kind of ideal that encourages situations of child abuse. Abusive parents often have a mindset that their children owe them their lives and that they can do anything to their children without repercussions. And as stated earlier in this essay, you would classify as an abusive parent. Your article is a recipe on how to emotionally and socially cripple your children and make them dependent on your approval for the rest of their lives. 

Documentation Quiz

1. What kind of documentation
2. In this system there are two parts-Intext and _____ page
3. For a web source, list the information you are looking for when citing the source

1. MLA format
2. Works cited
3. Title of the article on the website, URL of website, author/creator of website, sponsor of website, date published/edited

Rebuttal Ideas

When I read the titles of these articles I admittedly read immediately read and chose the Huck Finn: Censorship article, do to my passion on the topic. However, I have just spent my time reading the other two articles and I was left speechless by the horrifying article 'Why Chinese Mothers are Superior'. This article disgusted me to know end. The author talks about a horrifyingly aggressive parenting style which would border on domestic abuse. The way the incidents were talked about in such a happy and proud manner came across as psychotic! So I have decided to instead rebut this article as I hope I can take the fiery emotions I get reading this article and turn them into a passionate and interesting rebuttal.

Reflection on First Paper

I thought that this was a good way to take a step back and analysis my way of writing papers. I write best when I can have a free flow of ideas and then after I have put all my ideas onto a piece of paper or word document, I can go back and edit the ideas I've put down. This allows me to not only write in a fluid way but I find the ideas are more responsive and fresh when they are put down immediately. I've found that I end up repeating a few words or phrases during this method which I need to go back and replace with more interesting (one word I need to use less!) synonyms.

Final Draft Writing Assignment 1

Joseph Morris

Professor Eleanor Henderson

Academic Writing

February 18th, 2011

The Weakest Grip: a Rhetorical Analysis of Megan Weintraut’s article “Government should create stricter gun laws”

 The article “Government should create stricter gun laws”, written by Megan Weintraut, is an interesting perspective on the issue of gun laws. Megan wrote the article to express her feelings about the gun laws of America and to argue that we should tighten our grip on the amount of guns being sold in America and perhaps even the distribution of bullets. It was written for and published by The Ithacan, Ithaca’s news and sports newspaper which continues its publications online. 

This article was written in a newspaper which is mainly read by the residents and faculty of Ithaca College. It can be said that the author wishes for this message to reach further than the immediate audience and is aiming for her argument to be heard by those who play a role in creating and voting on laws. Her purpose is to inform the reader of the reason why the current gun laws are not effective and we should have a tighter control over the guns in circulation.

The author has an interesting use of the rhetorical appeals. Weintraut uses a combination of the appeals of logos and pathos to construct her argument. She uses many facts and numbers to inform the audience. Within each paragraph you can find a statistic or fact which supports what she is saying. The problem with this approach is it feels as though it may be the only thing she is saying. The author consistently recites facts and figures, taking little time to insert her own opinion. When she does insert her opinion, however, she delivers it harshly and passionately. Statements such as the the last two sentences of the second paragraph and the last sentence of the 4th paragraph,

        - “Guns have become decreasingly essential for personal survival. Why bother owning one?” 

        - “Instead of minimizing the number of arms available to the public, the ‘sensible’ argument would be to eliminate gun violence by providing more guns the to the public”,

are examples of how fierce insertion of her opinion and the appeal of Pathos. This is a strange but oddly effective way of writing an article. Weintraut’s opinion is piercing within the essay and really does a good job at bringing up these points dramatically. Instead of steadily balancing fact and opinion, she goes outside the norm and saves up her opinion in short bursts. It makes the reading experience unique and interesting.

Unfortunately for Weintraut she does not provide a significant amount of Ethos appeal. She does not mention any expertise or credibility of her knowledge on the subject and fails to cite any sources to ensure the audience of the credibility of her facts. Being a mathematics major does not cause the audience to think she is particularly educated on the subject. The fact that she is a mathematics major does, however, contribute to the credibility of her statistics and figures which are such a large part of her argument. 

Weintraut’s argument has many parts to it. It consists of many pieces of evidence and reasons. Her claim in the article also serves as the title, “Government should create stricter gun laws”. She goes on to state her reasons why the government should do so. she states that “guns have become decreasingly essential for personal survival” (par. 2) and supports her statement with a look at the history of the second Amendment and by stating the reasons we once needed such privileges. Another reason out of many that she says the government should tighten the gun laws is due to the fact that the higher amount of guns in the US accounts for a higher amount of gun violence. She supports this with percentages and facts which show the high percentage of murders and gang-violence that involve guns. Unfortunately the author failed to cite any sources for these facts therefore lacking in the ethos appeal.  

Weintraut’s article briefly mentions the other side of the argument in the third paragraph, so briefly in fact it is literally one sentence. She then goes to immediately discredits it with studies by the American Journal or Public Health and the National Institute of Justice. She therefore does a poor job at acknowledging the many reasons in which someone may be against her point of view, and would find it hard to get someone who has different views as her to regard her article with an open mind. 

This essay was a passionate, informative essay with many informational facts and figures for the reader to consider. The article is written in a very factual way while providing snippets of emotional and passionate opinion, through almost comically aggressive dialogue. The essay did a poor job ensuring the reader of the the writer's credibility or the figures which she bases her whole essay. This is a informative and absorbing read for those who share Ms. Weintraut’s opinion, and a overbearingly opinionated speech to those who do not. 

Reflection 1.1

I wrote my paper as if I was writing a final draft, but I left out the steps where I really went back and reflected on it. I thought that I could benefit better by having an outside source (Professor Henderson) look at the first unchanged draft so that I could see how I did when openly putting my ideas into the paper. Now that it has been reviewed I am going to go back into my essay and fix some of the points in which I reviewed. I am going to be careful to make sure I am not being repetitive and making more solid clear statements. I think this was an interesting way of approaching a paper and will aid me in future papers in the way I structure the essay and how I use rhetorical analysis.

Writing Assignment 1

Joseph Morris

Professor Eleanor Henderson

Academic Writing

February 9th, 2011

                             The Weakest Grip: a Rhetorical Analysis of Megan Weintraut’s 

                                      article Government should create stricter gun laws

The article Government should create stricter gun laws, written by Megan Weintraut, is an interesting perspective on the issue of gun laws. Megan wrote the article to express her feelings about the gun laws of America and to argue that we should tighten our grip on the amount of guns being sold in America and perhaps even the distribution of bullets. It was written for and published by “The Ithacan”, Ithaca’s news and sports magazine which continues it’s publications online. 

This article was written in a magazine in which is mainly read by the residents and faculty of Ithaca College. It can be said that the author wishes for this message to reach further than the immediate audience and is aiming for her argument to be heard by those who play a role in creating and voting on laws. Her purpose is to inform the reader of the reason why the current gun laws are not effective and we should have a tighter control over the guns in circulation.

The author has an interesting use of the rhetorical appeals. Weintraut uses a combination of the appeals of Logos and Pathos to construct her argument. She uses many facts and numbers to inform the audience. Within each paragraph you can find a statistic or fact which supports what she is saying. The problem with this approach is it feels though it maybe the only thing she is saying. The author consistently recites facts and figures, taking little time to insert her own opinion. When she does insert her opinion, however, she delivers it harshly and passionately. Statements such as the the last two sentences of the second paragraph and the last sentence of the 4th paragraph,

        - “Guns have become decreasingly essential for personal survival. Why bother owning one?” 

        - “Instead of minimizing the number of arms available to the public, the ‘sensible’ argument would be to eliminate gun violence by providing more guns the to the public”,

are examples of how fierce insertion of her opinion and the appeal of Pathos. Unfortunately for Weintraut she does not provide a significant amount of Ethos appeal. She does not mention any expertise or credibility of her knowledge on the subject and fails to cite any sources to ensure the audience of the credibility of her facts. Being a mathematics major does not cause the audience to think she is particularly educated on the subject. The fact that she is a mathematics major does however contribute to the credibility of her statistics and figures which are such a large part of her argument. 

Weintraut’s argument has many parts to it. It consists of many pieces of evidence and reasons. Her claim in the article also serves as the title, Government should create stricter gun laws. She goes on to state her reasons why the Government should do so. she states that ‘guns have become decreasingly essential for personal survival’ (paragraph 2) and supports her statement with a look at the history of the 2nd Amendment and by stating the reasons we once needed such privileges. Another reason out of many that she says the government should tighten the gun laws is due to the fact that the higher amount of guns in the US accounts for a higher amount of gun violence. She supports this with percents and facts which show the high percent of murders and gang-violence that involves guns. 

Weintraut’s article briefly mentions the other side of the argument in the third paragraph, so briefly in fact it is literally one sentence. She then goes to immediately discredits it with studies by the American Journal or Public Health and the National Institute of Justice. She therefore does a poor job at acknowledging the many reasons in which someone may be against her point of view, and would find it hard to get someone who has different views as her to regard her article with an open mind. 

This essay was a passionate, informative essay with many interesting facts and figures for the reader to consider. The article is written in a very factual way while providing snippets of emotional and passionate opinion, through almost comically aggressive dialog. The essay did a poor job ensuring the reader of the the writer's credibility or the figures in which she bases her whole essay off of. This is a interesting read for those who share Ms. Weintraut’s opinion, and a overbearingly opinionated speech to those who do not.