In Class: An ethical appeal

My item that I brought with me to class today is an empty rifle bullet casing. I believe that this has an ethical appeal because there are many people in America who say that hunting is unethical. I am a big hunter but I can see where they are coming from. What scares me when I look at hunting from their point of view is the fact that some hunting is actually unethical in my opinion. I am all for hunting if I can eat the meat that I kill. I do not think that it is ethical to go to Africa and go on a safari hunt and never eat the meat. This makes me sick to my stomach because there are a lot of animal rights activist out there who do not know this and could use this against us hunters who hunt ethically. This object also holds a strong ethical appeal because it is represented of gun control. Gun control is becoming a big issue politically here in America. I believe that all citizens should be entitled to owning a gun for hunting or protection. This is a very charged issue because you can not give a hunter a gun or a person a gun for protection and then not give one to someone else who could potentially use it to harm someone. I think that this object holds a strong ethical appeal because of the issues that can be brought up when talking about hunting ethically or gun control. One issue that I have with hunting or gun control is that people may be getting the wrong idea about hunters. Most of us are ethical and you can't let a few unethical hunters ruin our outdoor experience.

Unit 1 Proposal

As I said in my in-class free write, I have a very structured life. I go to class, the library, and the golf course on a daily basis. On weekends and sometimes during the week when I do not have a lot to do, I may go out with friends but overall my life is structured. I find it kind of funny how closely I follow a daily routine like my father does. He goes to the office, the YMCA, and then possibly to the golf course after work. My parents will go out to eat but not very often because my dad loves to cook. I am going to branch out and observe people at Starbucks. I am going to do my observations on a weekday afternoon when there may be college students studying or people out running errands coming into Starbucks. This public space is appealing to me because it is mostly foreign to me. I really do not like coffee and I really have never liked to atmosphere at Starbucks but, I want know why people like the environment at Starbucks. I am very curious as to why people study there. I tend to only study well in seclusion, somewhere quite and always alone. I believe that my studying habits are like this because I am always around others so I like the change of pace when I study. I expect and hope to find reasons why people like the atmosphere and environment at Starbucks. Maybe they just like the coffee but maybe they find it relaxing. Some of my pre-conceived ideas that may influence my objective observation are people at Starbucks do not serve the same views as me or they may be very different from me. I believe that for me to be successful in my findings, I must put aside some of these pre-conceived notions and simply observe the people and workers in Starbucks. Maybe I will find a new place to relax, study, or simply hung out but maybe I will find some answers and some inspiration for my first paper.

In Class: Ideas for 1st assignment

This first assignment will be very interesting for me because there are only a few places that I go on a daily basis which can make this a very interesting topic for me. On a normal day, I go to class, then to the library, then to the golf course, and if I don't have a lot of homework, I may go to a party or to eat with some friends. Having such a structured daily life could really lead to me having a very different experience with a place that I never go. I have also thought about going to one of these places that I have listed above and simply seeing what it is that I do not notice every day with I go to these places. Some of the places that I never go to which might lead to me really branching out would be Starbucks, I really don't like coffee, the Rec. Center, I work out in the Athletic Complex, or maybe the Music School, I'm so far from good at any instrument. These three places would definitely be a change of pace for me. Having to observe people in different situations might just open the world up to something different for me. I bet I would see people that I have never come into contact with before and I think it would be beneficial to me for this project.

In Class: What a beautiful day

So I woke up this morning, looked out my window and I realized that I just had to get out and play golf today. The past few days I have been locked up either in the library or in my apartment studying. On the way to class I called my best golfing buddy and we decided that today we'll go out and play some golf at River Crest. Before I play golf today though, I need to go to the Bookstore and the also to the grocery store because I don't have any food to enjoy after my round of golf. So back to the weather and how nice today is going to be. I think it's going to be almost 80 degrees this afternoon. This is crazy!! Almost 80 degrees in January? I believe that today will also be a wonderful day because I only have about an hour of homework to do. All I need to do is blog and then read a little for my geography class. Tonight I'm planning on going out with some friends because tomorrow will not be that bad of a day in the classroom, not a lot of stuff to do in class tomorrow. I should have gotten up early to eat breakfast so that this posting would be more interesting but I decided to step until 8:45 and didn't have the time to eat anything. This weekend I am going to practice some golf and possibly play. I do have some homework that I need to work on but that will probably get taken care of on Sunday when I am bored because there will be no football on. Speaking of football, I can not wait until the Super Bowl. I think that the Steelers are going to win but I am really pulling for the Cardinals to win. I believe that it would be such a great story if the Cardinals pulled off the upset. I almost feel bad for them right now because of the lack of respect that they are getting.

The Inaugural Address: Types of Arguments

Granted I am only 20 years old and have only been old enough to remember just a few Inaugural Addresses, I believe that this address was very compelling. I think that it gave Americans hope. One of Barack Obama's main campaign messages was hope. I am not a Democrat, but this speech has given me hope that we will come out of this crisis that we are in right now. Like many public speeches, this speech had many arguments in it. So of which argued with hope in mind and some of which argued some ideas that will help us come out of this crisis. A few types of arguments that I noticed were arguments to inform, convince, and arguments of the past and future. I also saw arguments that evaluate everywhere in this speech. One argument to inform was stated early in the speech, Obama said, "44 citizens have taken the oath...yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms." This was very compelling to me because Obama was arguing that we have been here before and that we can get out of this situation like we always have. President Obama also used an argument to convince, also could be an argument to convey hope, when he said, "The challenges we face are real and they are many...but know this America, they will be met." This did a lot for me and my view of our new President because it convinced me that there was hope in this changing our Presidents. There were also many arguments of the past and future. I think that you will find many of both of these in almost every speech you listen to because they are arguing for either a change or for a continuation to events. I noticed two argument of the past. They were, "I thank President Bush for his service to our nation" and "For us, they (the soldiers) fought and died." These two arguments both stated by President Obama are not the most compelling, but they argue that the past events have changed history in some shape or form. The two arguments of the future that I picked up by on President Obama were two statements that argued America's role in international peace. These two arguments were, "America is a friend to each nation" and "America must play it's role in ushering in a new era of peace." President Obama also made many arguments of evaluation. One example of this type of argument came when Obama said, "Our economy is weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility by some but also our collective failure to make hard choices." This was a great argument in my opinion because President Obama cut to the point and stated why we are having problems. This address was definitely one of hope but also one of argument. It outlined a few things that we need to do to better our nation as well as argued for change. In my opinion, I believe President Obama made the right arguments and stuck with his overall plan of change very well.

In Class Free Write: 1-20-09

Like I said in my posting last night, after reading the first chapter, I have a new view on what an argument is and could be. When Andrea Lunsford says that everything is an argument in her title, she really means it. In my last posting I did not go very in-depth about examples from the text but I would now like to talk about a few of the argument types that I read about. The emotional appeals argument type on page 38 really argued a message to me. When I say the picture of the sick child in Sudan, I realized how easy it is to argue and persuade when you have the a powerful image like this one. I think that with images like this it makes an argument easier. One argument type that I did not think was an argument was the argument to inform on page 9. The picture of the hurricane shelter sign seems like a simple sign to inform and help the public if the instance of a hurricane. Although I did not believe that this was a strong argument, it makes me think that everything is an argument. I believe that the first chapter helped me to realize that I don't need a powerful political or medical argument to state an argument.

Everything's an Argument

After finishing the reading for tomorrow's class, I can't believe how in depth the first chapter is. I started thinking about some of the "arguments" I make every day. The clothes that I were are an argument. I wore my TCU Golf sweatshirt today in public. I am making an argument that I am good at golf. Another golfer who could be better or worse than me at golf might also argument back that they are probably better than me. I also thought about how I act is an argument. Most people would describe me as calm and collected in most situations. I believe that this is how you are supposed to act in most situations. Others may think that this is not true. They may think that you must be more extroverted and even rowdy to act how you are "supposed to act".

In Class: Tiger Woods is the greatest athlete ever

Watch any sports show, game broadcast, or sports news channel and you will probably hear the words; "the greatest ever". I am a big golf fan so I always try to make the argument that Tiger Woods is the greatest athlete ever. I believe this to be true because he as been the most dominant player in his sport. I think the only way to truly find the greatest athlete is to compare the athlete to others in his/her sport. I understand that many people will say that Michael Jordan or Michael Phelps or a number or other athletes are the greatest ever but how can you argue with Tiger Woods. He won a U.S. Open with a torn ACL or two fractures in his leg. Now that's impressive. I'd like to see Michael Jordan win an NBA Championship with a torn ACL and two fractures in his leg. When you talk about Tiger Woods you must look at his records that he holds. He was the youngest to win a major championship at the age of 21. He is currently chasing Jack Nickalaus for the most major championships. Jack has 18 and Tiger now has 14 but Tiger has gotten to 14 majors in quite a fast-paced fashion. His dominance may never be seen again in the game of golf. I understand that it takes a golfer to recognize some of the shots that he hits that makes him great but let me tell you, he hits some of the most amazing shots ever!

All about Will

Hey guys, I am Will from Midland, Texas. I am currently a sophomore at TCU and a Communications major. I  am also an working on a Business minor. When I arrived at TCU last semester I walked on to the golf team and I am starting my fourth semester on the team. My other interests other than golf include hunting and fishing. I have always enjoyed the outdoors because it allows me to get away. Last semester I took English 10803 with Dr. Thapa and enjoyed our final essay which was an argument essay so I took this class. I consider myself as a writer who needs improvement and I am looking to improve. I have always enjoyed writing but I would not consider myself a good writer. I think this course will help me improve my writing skills and help me become a better writer. I have also read, understand, and agree to the terms of the syllabus, which I see as a contract for our course.