Chapter 16

The book title, everything is an argument, is a fact and to make your argument valid, you must have strong evidence to be convincing to the readers. One of the group evidence you can use is called firsthand, which includes observations, interviews, experiments and more. It is a way to show your evidence based on something you have done. Another type of evidence is called secondhand, where the information is gotten from somewhere else and you use it to support your argument. It could be from a film, the library, online and other places where somebody else did the "dirty" work researching the information.

Evidence varies towards different types of writing, some writing would depend on a certain kind of evidence. Suppose an author who is about to write a book based on a tough childhood, s/he would probably use the firsthand approach, writing about his or her own personal experience. When it comes to a science article, the writer would possibly choose evidence from experiments to support its article.

Before you can start deciding on which type of evidence you will use, you must think of the type of readers you will have. Imagine a reader that bought a book expecting it to be based on a personal childhood struggles, however the evidence presented in the book is entirely about surveys of how scientists believe that there is a gene influence towards lost childhoods. The reader would possibly feel that her or his expectation of the book was not met.

I believe that personal experience inside the firsthand evidence and research is important to my academic writing, it places powerful impact in my writing. I feel when people use their personal stories; using the right words and the form of saying it on a piece of paper can amaze people. One might argue, but I feel that if the author does not state their opinion or feelings (personal stories) into their writing, the paper might be dull. It does not have to be stated obviously but it could be mentioned in a subtle way.

It is weird because after reading chapter sixteen in everything is an argument book; I felt it showed that we could not write anything without supporting our ideas. We, the people, are always demanding to know the proof for everything to make it believable. This is why we are using the blue book to understand the fundamentals of what the society wants us to write in our paper.

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth is possibly one of the best movie that has ever been filmed because it shows a lot of reality such as color symbol, family issues and disobedience in a screwed up fairy tale story. It shows that even grown-ups have a child spot deep inside their hearts. It also shows that sometimes when we want to live in our fantasy world, we would still have connections with reality.

The color effects in the movie popped up often. During unpleasant scenes, the colors would be very dark and gloomy to add to the suspense of the mood. The dark colors tend to focus on the Captain because he was cruel! When Ofelia entered the underworld, the colors turned from gloomy to bright and colorful which shows different mood.

Pan’s Labyrinth shows that no matter what; it is very often that many families have their own issues. Ofelia seems to be a happy child who wants to live her life to the fullest and to appreciate everything she sees. Even though she was a princess, she still has issues with her family, especially when her mother decided that Ofelia move in with the General. A child should never live its life without a mother! Ofelia had no choice but to move in with the General so he would save the baby growing inside her mother’s belly.

Del Toro, the director included a lot of disobedience to show the viewers that it is okay to disobey either somebody or something, if it is something that a person feels strongly about. In the movie, Ofelia could have been the best daughter by listening to her mother and not explore things. Only if she had done that, she would never realize she is a princess.

Del Toro also displayed his disobedience while he was making the movie. The ending is not a happy ending like many fairy tales' endings. He ended the movie with Ofelia dying to emphasize that we do not always get everything we want. Even though Ofelia died, but because she died doing something she felt was right, her soul did not die.

In my opinion, there is no escape from reality, no matter how much we try to believe that there is an escape. Reality will always be part of us; Del Toro showed that in his movie, Pan's Labyrinth. I believe we would be free from reality when we draw our last breath. There is no way to verify that kind of statement until we die.

Purdue OWL website

I have heard about Purdue OWL website, I used the website to cite my work in APA format before it was mentioned in class on October 9th. I did not realize how much information the website provided for the students. There is a long list of guides that we could use to improve our writing. If we take the tools from Dr. Wood and the helpful guides from the OWL website, our writing could blow many people’s minds off.

Throughout the discussion in class, I came to a point of realization that my writing could improve with the helpful tips from the OWL website. They suggested that our conclusion should have a rebuttal in the essay therefore the writers need to show their knowledge and opinion to make their argument into a good rebuttal. Also, on the power point, it shows how we should support something we state thus when people read, they will understand the essay as a whole, rather than having the essay stand alone.

Based on the feedback I got on my writing, I now know my weak area. I could tutor myself with the website given to us. I could look up different links on the OWL page and find the site that I need to work on and learn how to do it properly by following it. I found a page called Strategies for Variation on OWL website, it shows different methods of creating sentences in a new paragraph. It is one of my weak areas and one that I need to work on.

In my opinion, this type of website would benefit deaf students because based on the hearing norms, we are delayed in reading and writing. In ASL, we can express a lot of words and ideas in signing but when we have to convert it into our second language, English; it becomes very difficult. Our thoughts are dropped down because most of us do not have the skill to convert from one language to another. Thus, Gallaudet students who are struggling with writing should contribute more practice time to improve their writing skills. Purdue OWL website could provide such help for us.

Schools overall has many English teachers ready to teach the foundation of reading and writing although not every student understand every teacher’s teaching style. Today in this world, most of new things are learned through technology thus Purdue OWL website is a good place to start for the students who are struggling in writing. It is also open twenty-four hours over seven days a week, fully accessible to the night owls when the teachers are not available to help. Purdue OWL website is there for every kid to help them improve their writing.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/03/

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth movie directed by Del Toro is one of the strangest movies I have watched. It is similar to a fairy tale yet so different. During the movie, I have caught a lot of points that Del Toro was trying to imply. Del Toro mentioned that the movie almost killed him. I could see why.
He included a lot of religion issue in the movie that could upset religious people. Del Toro included fascism system, which is very unpleasant to watch. He used colors to match the mood of the movie.
The first thing I noticed that this movie could be another fairy tale because in the beginning, it mentioned that the king was looking for its princess. However, the scene was not pleasant. It was one of Del Toro’s styles to show disobedience. It had fairies, of course, a fairy tale movie cannot be without fairies but the ones in the Pan’s Labyrinth did not have nice colorful looking fairies.
Another thing, I noticed that Ofelia, the main character, could see the fawn, but not the General. It is common for most fairy tales to show that if you believe in something, you will be able to see it. However if you refuse to believe, then you would not be able to witness it.
I am into realistic movie therefore I am not a fan of imaginary movie. The creativity that Del Toro included was a gigantic frog that tried to eat Ofelia, a root that looked like an unborn baby, and a person that had to view the world through eyes in his palms. I have to admit, regardless of the extreme creativity in the movie; it is still a good movie. Del Toro obviously used a lot of his imaginary, it was really creepy to watch the movie and think about the things that he thought of. Such as, the way the creatures looked, and how the General killed people. Especially, how he came up with the plot of the story.
This was my first time to analyze a movie, as I analyze it, I found it more interesting on what the director is trying to imply. I also noticed that when we watch movies, we might miss out the small details that might be the key point of what the hidden purpose is all about. I enjoyed watching and analyze Pan’s Labyrinth even though it is not my type of movie.

Rhetorical Analysis

I strongly feel that D’Silva (on http://www.buzzle.com/articles/antiabortion-arguments-reasons-against-abortion.html) is a good writer. D’Silva is a professional writer and writing is his passion, many of his articles can be found on Buzzle.com. He is now working as a copywriter at an Indian advertising firm. He wrote a well-written argument about anti-abortions in May 2007. He is strongly against abortion.
To justify his opinions and to attract readers, he used different rhetorical strategies. D’Silva opened his article by describing the concept on how murder is actually involved during an abortion procedure. He wanted people to understand that every abortion kills a human being, an unborn child that would never experience life. D’Silva included religion statements, facts and his opinions to show the cons of an abortion.
An abortion article is not easy to convince, especially one that is written by a male. I am sure we all thought, “How could he possibly know what it feels like to have an abortion since he never would and could never have experienced it first hand himself. D’Silva defended his position by mentioning that an abortion does not only affect the mother but the whole family as well. He may have experienced the pain of an abortion by someone close to him.
Last but not the least important, D’Silva included a lot of facts in his articles. People typically go to the doctor for answers when it comes to making an important decision concerning their health. They would be more likely to believe the outcome of a good source. D’Silva included the severe consequences of abortion to convince people that abortion is not a good decision, such as how an unborn baby would never experience life and the effects towards the mother. One of the possible side effect after an abortion would be for the mother to be unable to get pregnant ever again.
Even though, I believe that his article was very good, he supported his statements, however he did not cover situations where the mother has been raped or knowing that their unborn baby would be severely disabled. In that case, I believe it would be ok if they chose abortion since it is beyond their control.
Overall, I personally feel his article was very eye opening for the readers. It was for me, I even learned some new things, especially the side effects of an abortion on the mother. I am positive that his article about abortion brings out a lot of arguments because regardless of the facts, everybody tends to think that their opinion is what matters the most. I suggest that whoever has to make decision about abortion chose abortion as the last choice instead of first.

Rhetorical Analysis

Roy D'Silva is a professional writer and writing is his passion, many of his articles can be found on Buzzle.com. He is now working as a copywriter at Indian advertising firm. One of D'Silva's articles is "Reasons Against Abortion" I have always disliked the idea of abortion, which is why I picked this kind of argument. D’Silva listed the cons of having an abortion, and he included his opinion, religion reasoning and facts.
To convince readers like me, he shared his opinions with facts to support it and to make the readers see that he really knows his stuff. He mentioned that he does not support the idea of women having an abortion; he included the religion fact by stating “a child is a gift from God.” In the religious world, that states that God had a purpose for that certain person to have a baby and having an abortion is like disobeying God. D’Silva also mentioned facts about the mother’s body will never be the same after going through an abortion. He shared that 90% of abortions are illegal in America. That is a shocking number.
Since he is a male writer, it is tough to find this article convincing because it is not an argument coming from the heart. He could not experience it first hand since he is not capable to get pregnant therefore this article lacked pathos. Although, he included that the mother is not the only person who is affected by the abortion process but the whole family as well. Maybe one of his family members went through an abortion therefore he went though the process himself.
I disagree with his writing since he mentioned all the cons about abortions. Even though I do not support abortion, I would understand if somebody got an abortion after being raped. Basically, he stated that abortion is not good for one's health and it is simply wrong, no matter what.
Overall, I personally feel his article was very eye opening for the readers. It was to me, I even learned some new things, especially the "side effects" of having an abortion. He included the logos to convince me that abortion is not the choice. I am positive that his article about abortion brings out a lot of arguments because regardless of the facts, everybody tends to think that their opinion is what matters the most. Arguments about abortion will always continue.

D’Silva, R. (2007). “Reasons Against Abortions” Web site: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/antiabortion-arguments-reasons-against-abortion.html

List of This I believe

I believe in…

• Compassion
• Family values
• Moral values
• Standing up for what is right
• Religion differences
• Sharing
• Exploration
• Second chances
• Second life
• Hakuna matata