In the past week or so, my English class has been preparing to write their first argument paper. The paper we have to write is called a definition paper. There are several types of definition papers, but I decided to do a membership in a particular class type. The questioned that is asked is "Does it fit the criteria for that category?" I decided to write my paper on something that inspires and interest me. Something that stirs conflict in some of my group topics. My topic for a definition argument is "Is dancing a sport?"
In preparation for this essay, we were assigned to do the Toulmin. This helps us write our paper and creates much brainstorming ideas. The order that I will be using is first the enthymeme which has the claim and reason in it. Second, the warrant or assumption. Third, the backing and fourth the evidence.
Enthymeme: Dancing is a sport because it follows the characteristics of what a sport should entitle which is competition, sportsmanship, dedication, empowerment, and etc.
Claim: Dancing is a sport
Reason: because it follows the characteristics of what a sport should entitle which is competition, sportsmanship, dedication, empowerment, and etc.
Backing:
First I will state what a sport is and compare it to the attributes of dancing
A sport is "an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively; refers to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing)"
Another defintion of a sport is a person living up to the ideal of sportsmanship, a companionable person; styled in a manner suitable for causal or informal wear; amuse oneself
Many people do not know that dancing is really competitive just like all sports are. Just because we do not run up and down a court or field does not mean that we are not physically fit. Dancers can do many things that the average football or basketball player does not have and needs. Dancing would acutally stregthen their ability to jump high. As for soccer, dancing would help with their flexibility with the ball to be able to kick higher. As for baseball, dancing would help the players reach further to catch the ball if they were more flexible.
Many people do not realize how much time and dedication a dancer has to put in before a big competition. Dancers compete with the same mind frame as a football player does "To win." The only difference between our competition and their tournaments is that we compete against mulitiple teams to where they compete against one team.
More Backing:
Another side of the argument is that when people think of sports they think of a sport to have manly attributes. In dancing, you do not see that many men dancing. Men think of a sport as having strength, endurance, and roughness. Men have issues trying to set a sport equal to dancing because they see it to be to graceful and not up to the title that a sport entitles.
Evidence:
For this part of the paper, I am going to interview some people on the issue of "Is dancing a sport?" I will be interviewing a teenage guy to get our generation of guys perspectives, and I will be interviewing an owner of a dance studio to get her perspective of the topic.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
arguments
There are many types of arguments that everyone encounters that they may or may not realize. An argument does not have to mean yelling and screaming. Arguments are sometimes meant to inform, convince, explore, make decisions, and meditate. Since there are so many arguments, everyone problems has encountered maybe one or more everyday without even noticing it. Over the past weekend, my teacher gave us an assignment to "stay tuned for arguments around you." I decided to pay close attention to things around me. Before I could realize I was encountering my own argument.
The argument that I encountered this weekend was an explore argument. An explore argument means that I asserted the problem existed and the needs of solving. My resolution to the problem was to convince one of my friends the thing he/she was doing wrong. It was not a negative argument, but an argument to convince the person the rights and wrong. These types of arguments are sometimes hard to convince to the person, but it was worth a try. I asserted the problem that the person was doing and my decision was to convince the person of it. The only hopes I have is that he/she listened to the argument I was trying to acknowledge. Now, one just has to wait and see the results.
The warrant to this argument was to teach the person the right from the wrong and how he/she should resolve the problem. The solution to the problem is to witness the evidence I gave him/her and act on it. Many purposes of an argument was to win the argument, but this kind of argument was not needed. I just wanted to inform the person of what he/she could do better for him/her.
I realized by witnessing one of these arguments and many more that many arguments display the same kind of characteristics. They sometimes intertwine with each other.
The argument that I encountered this weekend was an explore argument. An explore argument means that I asserted the problem existed and the needs of solving. My resolution to the problem was to convince one of my friends the thing he/she was doing wrong. It was not a negative argument, but an argument to convince the person the rights and wrong. These types of arguments are sometimes hard to convince to the person, but it was worth a try. I asserted the problem that the person was doing and my decision was to convince the person of it. The only hopes I have is that he/she listened to the argument I was trying to acknowledge. Now, one just has to wait and see the results.
The warrant to this argument was to teach the person the right from the wrong and how he/she should resolve the problem. The solution to the problem is to witness the evidence I gave him/her and act on it. Many purposes of an argument was to win the argument, but this kind of argument was not needed. I just wanted to inform the person of what he/she could do better for him/her.
I realized by witnessing one of these arguments and many more that many arguments display the same kind of characteristics. They sometimes intertwine with each other.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Introduction 1/16
My experience with writing is like many freshmen in college ; except, unlike many freshmen, I had to take the English A100 to better my writing styles and techniques. My experience with writing has become better because of this experience I had to do. My attitude to writing is like many freshmen in college: they write because it is required in all English classes. For me, I do not see myself as a writer, but more of a communicator. I like to communicate through talking rather than writing. I feel that my strong attribute is communicating with others to get my point across as well as being a good listener.
My only positive feeling toward writing is that I can write what I want to write. I like to write about things I know and am interested in. I like when English teachers tell us that we can write about any topic we want. I feel that in this case I write better because I care more. I have many hopes for my writing. I hope to change my writing style because I feel that I do not have the college level writing style that I should have. I have trouble trying to combine my thoughts into complete and well rounded sentences. I hope this class will give me more of chance to express myself through my writing.
I often write assignments that are assigned in class which are a variety of styles because I have to write, not because I want to write. I do not have one distinct style I prefer. I just prefer styles that interest me. I like assignments that you can express your own thoughts about the issue yourself. I hate assignments that you have to write about stuff that does not interest you or assignments that have no meaning in my life. I also hate assignments that you have to look up information for, basically research papers.
My only positive feeling toward writing is that I can write what I want to write. I like to write about things I know and am interested in. I like when English teachers tell us that we can write about any topic we want. I feel that in this case I write better because I care more. I have many hopes for my writing. I hope to change my writing style because I feel that I do not have the college level writing style that I should have. I have trouble trying to combine my thoughts into complete and well rounded sentences. I hope this class will give me more of chance to express myself through my writing.
I often write assignments that are assigned in class which are a variety of styles because I have to write, not because I want to write. I do not have one distinct style I prefer. I just prefer styles that interest me. I like assignments that you can express your own thoughts about the issue yourself. I hate assignments that you have to write about stuff that does not interest you or assignments that have no meaning in my life. I also hate assignments that you have to look up information for, basically research papers.
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