Civil Disobedience and Letter From Birmingham Jail

Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" is a good example of classical argumentation. He is arguing for his fellow Transcendentalists to act upon their beliefs against slavery. Since the Mexican War was going on, Thoreau picked the perfect time to write. The Mexican War stirred up conflict in the slavery debate because Texas could or could not be a slave state in the end. Thoreau's argument is mainly based on logos and ethos argumentation. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail, however, uses mostly pathos. This is a good example of Rogerian argumentation. He uses a lot of evidence that makes the audience emotionally connect with him like stories of his poor treatment. He also compares his goal to biblical missions to make it seem more important to his audience. For me, Civil Disobedience is more convincing. I think that the logical argument is hard to counter, but the pathos is very misleading and sneaky. King's ethical argument is the strong point of "Letter from Birmingham Jail," but I think Civil Disobedience still has the edge.

Dear Birth Parents

This letter is a pretty good argument for Nate and Kristin. Their claim, although not directly stated, is that they will make good parents for someone's child who will be adopted by them. In this letter, they are trying to convince parents who want to put their children up for adoption that this is true. It is very clear that the audience this is directed toward is the parents of potentially adopted children. One reason that they have is that both Nate and Kristin have wanted to be parents for a long time. This doesn't really have any evidence, but it is not the kind of reason that requires evidence to back it up. However, they do give some background information on this like some of the history of how they have always wanted children. It is possible that may not be true, but there is no reason for it to be false since they are trying to adopt. The other reason that they use is that they are prepared to be good parents. The two points of evidence for this reason is that they did not want to try to have kids until they were ready financially, and that they have learned a lot about themselves and their desire for children during the struggle with infertility. The main point is supported, but other viewpoints are not really addressed. Some alternative viewpoints are that they will not be good parents, or another couple will be better parents. Nate and Kristin could have done a better job countering these points, but it is still a convincing letter.

Reform for JMU

College is expensive. JMU is no exception, but where does all that money go anyway? Sure, a lot of it is probably used well. However, the money could be used better. One big waste is all the unused TVs around campus. For example, the many very expensive Sony LCD TVs in the Physics and Chemistry building that just display pictures. It is the same case outside Grafton and for the menus at Dukes. All of these could be replaced with posters. Before this school year, we had to option to upgrade to a new version of the internet where speed would not be a factor. Everyone complains about the internet in the dorms. Loading video is especially a problem. Instead of spending the money on this, we are building a new football stadium. This is a good investment, but turning down the new internet makes me question where my tuition is going to benefit me. Of course, we know a lot of the obvious things like JMU staff salaries, but there is a lot of behind the scenes expenses. New dorms will a huge cost in the future. There is a plan right now to tear down the village dorms to build newer, taller buildings. This will be more space effective, but it may be better to improve what we already have.

Narrative argument outline

Claim: Christianity has a negative connotation because of modern stereotypes.

Reasons:

Christians are misinterpreted as extremists.

Evidence:

Most Christians who really put themselves out there are the ones who stand up in public and yell condemning accusations at people. They are not really Christians, and they give a false representation.

Christians are viewed as being very hypocritical.

Evidence:

There are a lot of people who claim to be Christians and are not, so people think that they are hypocritical when they do not "follow their own rules."

Some Christians seem judgmental, but they are trying to help people out, not claim that they are perfect.

Christians are misinterpreted as extreme conservatives.

Evidence:

People seem to think that all Christians are very conservative, but this is just the picture of a stereotypical Christian.

Other Writing

I am almost finished with a series of six weekly papers in my GISAT (problem solving) class. My writing in these papers is completely different from what I have been writing in this class. Each week I am assigned an article to read and write about. The assignment is to analyze the article and draw a conclusion about what the author's theses is, and then I defend that theses using two other articles that I find. Also, I find three other articles with alternative viewpoints on the same subject and use these to defend my point by comparing them to the main article's viewpoint. In GWRTC, the writing, so far, has been personal writing using personal anecdotes and describing how I felt in certain situations. This is clearly very different than GISAT, and with a different type of writing comes a different process. I have never been someone who has greatly benefited from prewriting, so I normally just start writing and organize what I have at the end for this class. In this personal writing, I am trying to put memories down on the paper in a way that the lets the audience identify with the story. "Story" is another keyword in this comparison because my personal writing is meant to be a story, while my critical writing is a collection of research leading to a main point. My process for GISAT starts differently because I have to do some learning before I have anything to write about. I first have to read the article, find its meaning, and find and read five more articles. Once I have gleaned enough information from these, I can begin writing. From here, the two types of writing may look different, but they are similar in the way that I can just write based on the knowledge that I have.

It is a perfect night for a concert. The air is cool and the sky is clear, exposing the full moon. The atmosphere is very energetic after the opening band, and it is noisy with chatter from everyone giving their "professional critique" of the music so far. Suddenly, the lights go out, the speakers stop, and cheers erupt from the crowd at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. Everyone quiets down, standing and squinting their eyes to see someone emerge to cross the bridge as we wait in anticipation for something to happen. A few spotlights come on from inside the four-legged, spaceship-esque apparatus above the stage, giving us just enough light to see. The wild yelling returns and dies down as a single man crosses the bridge slowly. Then, the cheers rise to the highest level yet as he sits down and begins to drum a familiar beat. Two more band members come onto the stage one by one, building the excitement. Finally, Bono runs out singing and the faces in the crowd light up along with the stage and the entire stadium. The lights are coming from every direction, spinning and flashing. The noise coming from at least two hundred speakers is just a little bit too loud. Everyone is awestruck as U2 lives up to their huge expectations.

James Baldwin and Brent Staples

These two essays have similar messages that show the audience examples of racial discrimination. Baldwin wrote about his experience in Switzerland where he was a complete outsider, and some people had never even seen a black man. This was in a time when white people did not accept black people as equals. Staples wrote about examples of how he has been racially profiled in present day. There are clearly some differences in how these essays affect their audiences. Baldwin's essay created a situation that the white readers could identify with. He wanted them to discover a part of how they saw black people. However, he was not necessarily trying to persuade. Staples' essay was directed to young white women who saw him as a threat. Unlike Baldwin, he tried to convince them that he was not a threat. For example, he catches them in the act by using his opening story to put racially profiling thoughts in their head, only to show how he was not dangerous. This example he used was written because of the audience he was writing to. The audience for Baldwin was white men and women. This brings out another similarity between the essays. Both use examples of how they were profiled by people who are in the category of their audience, and this definitely helps to make the essays effective.

Identity Brainstorming

I grew up in a suburban home in Richmond, Virginia in a white Christian family. This is a pretty generic childhood, so it does offer much to work with on writing about an innate identity, but I think Christianity fits into one of the topics. This is a group that I consider myself to be a part of that is often stereotyped in ways that does not fit me. This also makes me think that suburban children can also be stereotyped. That is at least two possible options for that topic. If I chose one of these, I would have to somehow make it into an argument. I could use examples of people's feelings toward the group and examples of people in the group to disprove the stereotype. The only thing about my physical identity is that I am tall, but there's not much to say about that. Also, I don't see any form of an argument that could come out of that topic. The other two options for the paper are more complicated, and I will have to think about them some more to try to come up with some ideas. It seems like the four choices for this essay are all about race, and I don't really have anywhere to go with mine, so I will have to work harder to find a topic to write about. To find something, I need to focus more on smaller, more specific characteristics and groups. Maybe the best way to go about it is to put myself in someone else's position and imagine what they would think of me just by seeing me or knowing my broadly identifying characteristics. The problem is that people are only born with so many qualities. I think it comes down to finding something unique that fits into the given identity definition. These characteristics are all very broad things to write about, so it will be hard to find unique examples. I guess I just have to use one of them and use situations in my life to make them unique. I'm done with my rambling now.

How I Write

Reflecting on my own writing process, I have found some things that I do well and some things I need to work on. I think that what I do well is analysis and technical writing. Normally, I use correct grammar, structure, imagery, and transitions to make my writing flow well. This also helps to show instead of tell. However, I need to improve my creative writing. This area of my writing is weak, and I do not enjoy it very much.

The process that I use for developing a paper is probably not the best, but it works fine for me. I never do much prewriting. Instead, I spend about thirty minutes just thinking about what I am going to write about. This way, I get my thoughts collected, and I can start writing. When I begin to put the words on the paper, I am very careful about each word I choose because I want to get each sentence right the first time. I think this is one reason my creative writing is restricted since I never just write down my thought flow. However, I have improved on this and get my thoughts onto the page a little better.

I think something that would help me write better is to do more prewriting. If I had a whole page of brainstorming, I would have a lot of information to draw from even if I did not use all of it. With my style of writing, I sometimes end up getting stuck trying to think of where to go next or the perfect wording for a sentence. Prewriting would give me more time to prepare, and a loose outline would guide me through the paper without restricting it to a formula. Something else that I could try is not spending too much time on the first draft. If I first went through the paper quickly without worrying so much about making it just right, then I could get all the information down at first and edit afterword. For my next paper, I should think about trying to integrate these techniques into my process.

My Bedroom

            My bedroom was always the most relaxing place in the house.  It was somewhere I could go to be alone.  The peaceful blue-gray walls and the one beam of light coming in from the window added to the effect.  The primary purpose of bedrooms is for sleep, and I made sure to keep to the tradition.  There was my bed that was too small, but I liked it anyways.  It had a huge comforter that I could use year round because I kept the room cool.  This was partly accidental because as I turned on the ceiling fan one day, the chain broke.  It has now been on for at least four years.  Sometimes I would just come in from school or work and lie down on the soft carpet under the fan.  With the door closed it is always silent except for the white noise of moving air.  One day I managed to get the best chair in the house and put it in the corner of my room.  It was one of those extremely old and beaten down chairs, starting to form holes in the fabric of the arms.  When I was really young I slept in it sometimes, because it was awesome to recline in.  The recliner is sort of broken, and it won’t fold back up unless it is fully extended first.  There are only two pieces of furniture in the room.  One is an old wooden bookshelf with stuff I never use, but there is always clean clothes piled on top of it.  The other is a wooden nightstand with all my important things in it.  The reason for the lack of furniture is that there are two bifold door closets.  One is for clothes and the other was transformed into some sort of desk area.  I never really ended up doing work at it though; it just became a giant shelf.  My room will always be a place of sanctuary and rest for me.

"The DNA Age"

            Amy Harmon’s “The DNA Age” is a collection of articles that presents the eruption of the usefulness of DNA.  Each article explains an example of how DNA is used today.  These vary widely from genetic engineering to studying family trees.  In many cases, Harmon plays on the reader’s emotions through stories focusing on one person’s life and problems that have been created by knowledge of DNA.  Overall, her goal is to create an awareness of the potential of DNA and its current use by talking about controversial topics.

 

Harmon conveys her message by using examples where DNA has made a huge impact.  A good way to do this is to use personal stories that will connect with the reader’s emotions, so she wrote about Katharine Moser’s decision to test her DNA for Huntington’s disease.  Resulting from the positive results, Ms. Moser completely changed the way she lived and her goals for her life.  The illustration of such an impactful, single event in someone’s life is sure to get the reader’s attention.  In addition to showing what DNA technologies have done, Harmon also wrote about the potential of DNA.  For example, the “Breeders” article is about how alteration of genes in racing dogs has made them faster and stronger, but also too aggressive.  This technology could eventually be used on humans, which will definitely be a topic of controversy.

           

When examining the purpose of writing “The DNA Age,” it is important to identify the audience to which it is directed.  In this case, the intended audience is most likely the populations of developed countries in the age group from teen to middle aged.  Developed countries are targeted because the majority of their populations have access to DNA testing.  This age specification focuses on most everyone who would be interested in DNA testing, and it includes adults who may want to test their children.

           

After looking closely at the purpose and audience of “The DNA Age,” it is easier to see Harmon’s motivation.  The occasion for this writing was that she could see from her studies that DNA would be very important in many people’s lives, and she wanted people to make informed decisions.  Harmon wrote effective articles because of her use of logical and pathetic arguments.  She uses logic to show the potential impacts of DNA studies.  One example of this is her article on racial tensions that could arise based on the discovery of DNA patterns that differ based on race.  Harmon uses many pathetic arguments, as most of the articles focus on one or a few people’s life stories.  Something else that helps give “The DNA Age” more credibility is the many statistics that are used.  These are good pieces of evidence to back up the main points.  Altogether, I think Amy Harmon wrote “The DNA Age” very well and accomplished her goal.