The Argument Culture

I thoroughly enjoyed this essay. It brought up several good points. The author brought up the fact that debates really don’t show both sides equally but just shows the two sides fighting against each other. We, as a society, do need to find better ways to settle our disputes. We need to be more civil when we disagree and not argue like 5 year olds.

I agree when he says it is ok to fight to defend our country, our rights, and ourselves. We cannot always think there are two sides to an argument. This causes us to doubt facts. I agree that words are very powerful. They really do have the strength to change the way you look at a situation. They can turn your opinion inside out.

I tend to kind of disagree when the author says that technology puts us in a bubble. I still communicate normally with people and am not just focused on talking to my friends online. I talked to my roommate online and got to know her before we moved in together that way. On the other hand, I have been the result of some cyber bullying so I can see where the author is coming from.

All in all, I think the author makes a lot of very strong points. Why should I argue with him? We all have our own opinions and nothing is going to change that.

It's Time to Ban Handguns

I really enjoyed this article. It was very informative and intriguing. The use of facts by the author was very interesting and caught my attention. I love how he used a statistic as well. Numbers provide solid evidence and are very informative and persuasive. He is very good at providing images for the reader.  He gets very emotional and descriptive. I also love how he compares restrictions to having drugs and cars to having a gun. This is a very abstract comparison and is not one that most people would make. He also compares our murder rates to other countries. This also is very useful in being able to persuade the reader. He uses a lot of emotions in this essay as well to hit a nerve and get you sad or angry. I love how he points out that guns are easy to work and how anyone that can get their hands on one could probably is able to use it. Following that, he states his solution to the problem. He says that some guns should be taken off the market. He also says that there should be gun safety classes required before handling a gun. I thought that was already a law so I learned something new. 

Reading and Writing Problem Solving Essays

I found this to be quite boring. Maybe it’s because I absolutely despise reading about how to write. I am a free spirited writer who likes to write in a unique way. I hate “molding” into other peoples’ idea of “good” writing.

But I digress; this essay will really help those “writing challenged” people that take this class. The ones that are skilled in science but have difficulties with writing will find great use of this essay.

It points out some really good tips. It helps to convince the reader that writing a problem solving essay is possible. This is kind of neat considering that as the reader, you are trying to figure out how to persuade other people that doing a task is possible.

As far as reading the essays go, they walk you through step by step as to how to read it.  It seems kind of ridiculous but, as I said before, it is good for those who have issues with English. For me, however, I was totally bored to death of this whole essay. I hate to seem conceited but I am decent at persuasion essays and I am so not a conformist to how everyone else wants me to write.