Paper 4 Outline 4/2/12

Amanda Youngblood
English 102-111
2 April 2012
Outline Paper 4
Title:
Thesis: In order
to end the controversy over the birth control mandate, revisions must be made
so that religious groups are not offended and to create equal opportunities for
all women.
The problem: The
problems that will be solved will be the ones brought on by the birth control
mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Religious issues and women’s rights issues
have been questioned by the government trying to force employers to provide
free contraceptive coverage to all female employees.
Solution: In
order to solve these problems, the mandate must be rewritten to allow women of
religious organizations to seek complimentary contraceptive coverage through
alternate agencies if their workplace doesn’t provide them. Employers who
exempt out of the mandate must inform new employees before hire and provide information
for all female employees on where to get complimentary contraceptives and birth
control. This could be government institutions, insurance companies, etc.
Justification: Without
upsetting churches and religious organizations, they have to be exempted from a
mandate that goes against their religious beliefs. While exempting them, women
also must have equal rights. Therefore, if women are still able to get the same
contraceptive coverage from another source besides the workplace, their rights
are still as equal as women who get coverage through their employer.
Conclusion: People should have the right to protect their
religious freedoms. Women should also be guaranteed equal rights. By letting
the religious organizations exempt out of the mandate while still providing
their female employees with a different way to get coverage for birth control,
the rights of religious groups and the rights of woman are protected.

SWA #21 3/26/11

Student paper 2

1. The issue is information technology and if it's use is beneficial or not. The importance is explained during the introduction paragraph through the student talking about how information technology has become so prevelant in today's sociey.

2. Four perspectives are clear. The viewpoints are defined by the student as: "university
professors and school officials, parents of students and young adults using
these technologies, the students and young people themselves, and the makers,
marketers, and producers of such gadgets." The thesis information is informative and concise.

3. The intro does have a good lead into the essay. It captures the reader's attention and prepares them for the information that is in the paper. The conclusion is an effective lead out of the essay because points are wrapped up, the student shares their opinion on the subject, and it is ended with a quote that leaves the audience thinking.

4. Altogether, this essay is an effective essay. It is imformative while keeping my focus and it discusses in detail four different views on the subject. Advice I would give to the reader is to cut out some of the unneeded info that makes some paragraphs a little wordy.

Formal Outline Paper 3 March 21, 2012

Title: The Mandate Debate
Thesis: The birth control mandate in Obamacare has created
much controversy due to the fact it wants to require all employers to supply
their female employees with free access to contraceptives, including some Roman
Catholic hospitals, universities, and other organizations who do not believe in
the use of contraceptives. The public and political opinion on the matter has
been split and views on the issue have been expressed by Catholics, democrats,
republicans, and the White House lawmakers who contributed to the healthcare
bill.
A. Catholic
religious organizations: Against the mandate because it takes away their
religious freedom.
B. Republicans:
Against the mandate because they want to protect their freedom of religion
right. They want to keep their constitutional rights. Many are also against the
mandate because prominent political figures that are republican are also
against it.
C. Democrats:
For the mandate because many democrats see the mandate as an issue of basic
health care. Their views are not so revolved around protecting freedoms.
D. The
White House: For the mandate because as the creators, they say the mandate is
the best possible way to provide women access to contraceptives and respect the
religious freedoms of employers. They believe leaving out churches from the
mandate did away with religious controversies surrounding it.
Conclusion: The controversy surrounding the birth control
mandate can be seen by studying the views of its supporters, the Democrats and
the White House, and by studying the views of its opponents, the Catholics and
the Republicans.

SWA #19 Section III of ICW

Terms I searched:

• METCO-serviced: The Metco Program is a grant program funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is a voluntary program intended to expand educational opportunities, increase diversity, and reduce racial isolation, by permitting students in certain cities to attend public schools in other communities that have agreed to participate.

When first reading this, if I would have known what METCO was, I could have understood more about the author's background.

• Bodhisattva: an enlightened existence

Words that Kang uses such as Bodhisattva are not commonly heard, and knowing what they mean helps to understand his main idea.

• James Baldwin: wrote essays that explored unspoken intricacies of distinctions made by race, class, and sex.

Kang said he could mirror Baldwin's rejection of acculturation. And that he couldn't use him to describe his relationship to baseball. Knowing who James Baldwin is makes the point he was trying to make clearer

SWA #20 More Annotations 3/14/12

Bradley, Gerard V. "The HHS Mandate And The First
Amendment." National Review 64.4 (2012): 31-35. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 13 Mar. 2012.

The information in this article is mainly about how the birth control mandate restricts religious freedoms and explains why members of the Catholic church are so upset. The article has much more of an argumentative tone than the others I have read. The author basically is blatantly saying he is against the mandate. He says strong statement about it, saying it "was meant to
to cauterize a political bleed" and "the Obama administration has aimed to handicap the Catholic Church." The author's strong opinion makes him biased. The aritcle, however, is very informative as Bradley adds many facts about the mandate. It will very beneficial to my paper because it actually shows one of the arguments I will be writing about.


"Birth-control mandate combines bad policy with
bad politics." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.

This article also attacks the health care bill's choice to force all employers to make birth control available to their employees. It is about how churches were exempt from the bill but Catholic organizations were not, leaving many people without their religious freedoms. The author is obviously against the bill and states their opinions openly. The article is biased because of this but it still provides more information for an argument I can write about in the paper.

ICW 3/12/12

1. Kang is bringing out the idea that people support the people that are from the same country or race as themselves. Kang states that himself and Ichiro are both Asian. Sports, like baseball, have a way of bringing races together.

2. Evaluation: The essay effectively argues that the integration of other cultures into American sports creates both a segregation of races and a union of different races. At times Kang seems to contradict himself in the essay because he points out a lot of different effects race has on American sports. But overall, all of his points are clearly illustrated in the text.

3. If I were to write a paper on the topic of the view on baseball as an American sport, this article would help me to point out how baseball over the years and by gaining immigrant players has remained a very "American" tradition, but it has also changed to be more accepting of a more diverse mixture of players.

Annotations 3/12/12

Clemmit, Marcia. "Health Care Reform." CQ Reseacher. CQ Press, 11 June 2010. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2010061100&type=hitlist&num=0.
This artice summarizes what the health-care reform legislation consists of. It also debates whether it is a good idea for the United States. Positives of the reform are listed along with negatives. The article is not biased because the ideas from both sides are discussed without favoritism to one side. The article is basically an informative article for people curious about the health care bill. This will help me in my research paper because it will provide me with more background information about the bill that includes the birth control mandate that is so controversial.

Clemmit, Marcia. "Birth-Control Debate." CQ Researcher. CQ Press, 24 June 2005. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2005062400&type=hitlist&action=addfav&time=1330552367828&.
The source is a text that explores the debate over the use of birth control from 2005. Most of what the article dicusses is ethical and religious reasons for opposing birth control. The article is informative and will be benificial to my paper. Even though it does not directly address the birth control mandate, it does address the issues that have made the mandate so controversial.

SWA #16 Annotations 2/29/12

Poole, Sheila M. "Controversy over Birth Control Mandate Isn't Going Away." The Atlanta Journal Constitution. 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. http://www.ajc.com/news/controversy-over-birth-control-1361747.html.

The object of this article published in an online newspaper in Atlanta is to inform the public about reactions of the Catholic community in the Atlanta area to a mandate in Obamacare. The mandate calls for the insurers of all (including faith-based) employers to provide health care coverage for birth control. The article uses direct quotes from a principal of a Catholic high school and other Catholics in the Atlanta area to show the opinions on the mandate. Seeing as how most Catholics do no believe in using birth control, most are against the mandate and many are outspoken in their oppostion. The author, Sheila Poole, is trying to prove that the mandate is too controversial to stop recieving attention any time soon. She is also bringing attention to just one group's reaction to the birth control mandate. From this article I got to see one view of the mandate outlined in Obamacare on birth control. This will be usefu in my paper because it clearly illustrates one view of the controversial law.


"Public Divided Over Birth Control Insurance Mandate." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Pew Research Center, 14 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. http://www.people-press.org/2012/02/14/public-divided-over-birth-control-insurance-mandate/?src=prc-headline.

This is an article that acts as a summary of research conducted on the public's view of the birth control mandate. The survey was conducted by interviewers at Princeton Data Source under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. In the article, different opinions and percentages of approval/disapproval from different groups are shown. The survey showed results from republicans, democrats, and independents, along with Catholics. This article is very beneficial because it shows that the issue of religious groups having to follow this mandate is an issue that has sides that are divided almost 50/50. This will be beneficial to my paper because it shows different views on the mandate besides the view of Catholics.

SWA #15 Researching Issues 2/27/12

1. The use of contraceptives/birth control: A lot of information can be found on this topic. A big reason for that is because it is a big issue among the presidential candidates that are currently running and campaigning for office. When I searched "birth control controversy" into google, I got almost 6 million results. This is a topic that interests me and I could research the reasons people are against contraceptives and the reasons people are for them. I think my opinion on the subject is strong, but not overly strong. This is the issue I want to do my research on.

2. Environmental conservation: This is a global issue that has been around for a long time. When searching for environmental issues, most of the results discussed the conservation of the environment and naturally occuring goods we are using up on a day to day basis. There is a lot of information of the ways to conserve the environments, but this issue doesn't really have two opposing viewpoints. Most people are not going to argue that the environment does not need to be conserved.

3. Illegal Immigrant crime in border states: The border states are said to have more illegal immigrant crime. There are many new articles about this online, however there is not as many articles on this as the other topics. Many of the articles are only reports of the crimes as well, instead of talking about the subject of immigrant crime in general.

SWA #13 Controversial Issues

1. Illegal immigration

• What makes it controversial: They have access to many of the same social services as the citizens of the country who pay taxes and abide by the law. However, the illegal immigrants often do not disturb other legal citizens and they take a lot of unwanted jobs.


• Where I stand: I think that if illegal immigrants continue to be allowed to stay in America, more and more will come. It is not fair for tax paying citizens who pay for public health/other services to share those services with illegal citizens who do not pay tax. The country has to stop letting people into it who do not have visas/or who do not attempt to gain citizenship.


• What I'd like to learn: How can illegal immigration be stopped peacefully?

2. Gay Marriage

• What makes it controversial: Against the religious beliefs of many people. However, gay people have the same rights as everyone else.


• Where I stand: I am a Christian and because of that I don't think being gay is right, but everyone has the right to be happy. And if getting married lets them be happy, let them do it.


• What I'd like to learn: Where have same-sex marriages been legally recognized?

3. Death Penalty

• What makes it controversial: Do humans have the right to kill another human even if that person has commited a terrible crime?


• Where I stand: Killing criminals makes criminals out of innocent people that do the killing. It is morally wrong to kill another living being, regardless of their actions.


• What are other options for containing dangerous criminals?

SWA #12 2/20/12 Annotation and Promts

Waters, Alice. A Healthy Constitution. The Nation. 2009. Print.
In Waters' essay, she points outs the need for schools to focus more on healthier meals to serve to students. She describes a high school that has incorporated this "edible education" by letting students plant, garden, and cook the food they eat while at school. Waters' essay is aimed at other school officials, teachers, and parents that are concerned with what their child eats at school. Waters concludes that by letting students keep gardens and cook, they learn about democracy and helping their communities. This makes them more well-rounded individuals in society. Her argument was convincing, however she only used evidence from one case study, not enough to convince me fully she was right about her theory on edible education.


Waters says that the process of learning about food will helped teach values of democracy by giving students responsibilities of their own. Not only do the students help in the school garden and kitchen, they also are educated on the important values of citizenship through sharing and stewardship. Waters says that the children learn how farmers depend on land, we depend on farmer, and the country depends on all of it's citizens. She links healthy food to learning through sharing the success of this program at the Central Alternative High School in Appleton, Wisconsin. She links healthy food choices and educationg children on healthy foods to teaching students values of democracy. As evidence, she quotes what three students have learned from their experience at the high school. More quotes, and evidence, would have strengthened her argument, however.

SWA #11 2/15/12

Amanda Youngblood
English 102-111
15 February 2012
In Bittman’s essay, the use of statistical information can be identified throughout the majority of the text. He uses this information as a way to persuade the reader to believe that there should be a tax on unhealthy foods. A lot of his data revolves around how much soda and other unhealthy beverage or food items are consumed in America. Many people reading this essay do not realize how much of something they consume, but seeing that the average American consumes 44.7 gallons of soft drinks a year makes them take a second look. Bittman knows that his audience will pay attention to this and reconsider their eating habits and whether a tax might be a beneficial addition to things like soda. He also brings up the fact that one third of Americans have diabetes and that most of the people that do have diabetes have Type 2, which is acquired through bad eating habits. This brings about a serious topic for the audience to contemplate. The type of data Bittman uses the most is financial data. He has to explain how the tax would work through numbers and statistics along with other financial information. He writes about how much the fast food industry spends on just advertising, an amount close to $4 billion. He also discusses health-related obesity costs projected in 2018, which is $344 billion. Both of these numbers are staggering and can really draw in the attention of a reader.

SWA#10 Essay 2 Worksheet 2/15/12

Title: Rhetorical Analysis of Bad Food? Tax It
Thesis: The author of this essay, Mark Bittman, persuades his audience to believe unhealthy food and drinks should be taxed by using sufficient and accurate data, knowing what audience he is writing for, and making his argument seem reasonable and his overall goal easy to reach.
I. Sufficient and accurate data
A. Statistics about consumption of unhealthy foods
B. Diabetes in America
C. Money that would be save
D. Appealing to logos and ethos
II. Knowing his audience
A. Article published in the New York Times
B. Current social/health/economic issues covered by the topic
C. Kairos
III. Reasonable argument and easily reachable goal
A. Section of essay called "Justifying a Tax"
B. 30 cities/states have considered the tax
C. Education is no match for marketing dollars that push the foods that are worst for health
D. Ethos and pathos
Conclusion: The audience is persuaded to support a tax on unhealthy food by Bittman's use of sufficient and accurate data, his ability to relate to his audience, and making his argument reasonable and his goal seem easy to reach.

SWA #8 2/13/12

Fear Factories

p.364
1. Scully builds his point that the topic of animal cruelty should be a conservative issue by continuing to build on the point that the conservative party bases most of it's views on moral standards. He says that animal rights are a question of our moral standard and that conservatives are not scared to form a law from their moral standards. He also mentions that conservatives have certain "obligations" to deal with moral issues.

2. I think Scully means that since animals do not have the power to defend themselves, it must be our duty to speak for them. Our morals are what able us to have views on things. Animals can't express how they feel about being mistreated. Humans have morals for a reason, and if we think something is wrong we shoud fix it. If we do not, we just look like a bunch of uncivilized animals ourselves.

The different views represented by Scully is the view of how conservatives actually feel about the topic of animal cruelty and the way, based on their ideals, they should feel about animal cruelty. Scully says that "Conservatives have a way of dismissing the subject..." However he also discusses how the Conservatives "aren't shy about discoursing on moral standards." Conservatives do not feel they should get involved in the rights of animals and the treatment of them on factory farms. Scully identifies this as one view, the view point of the Conservatives. But by pointing out their prominant involvement in other issues because of "morals", Scully is expressing the what the Conservative party should feel about the issue. He is saying if Conservatives want to prove to the public their choices are right because they are based on good morals, they should help animals who are suffering because of our own selfish wants.

SWA #9 2/13/12

"Factory food artificially cheap, bad for your health" by Ethan Huff

This article's central claim is that small scale independent farms raise better quality meat than meat from large scale factory farms. Some reasons the article lists to support this claim are:

• the cheap genetically modified food the animals eat at factory farms compared to the healthier diet of grass and bugs of the animals from small scale farms,


• the large waste disposal from factory farms


• a healty diet of the animals results in meat packed with vitamins and minerals


• the harsh conditions of the animals living on factory farms

Values about the treatment of animals and the respect for our nutrition and our bodies are brought to question. There are also concerns with money brought up. Meat from small farms is healthier, but at the same time it's more expensive. For a lot of families it is easier to just buy the cheaper meat and not think about where it comes from.

Unstated assumptions in this article are factory farms need to improve conditions or shut down and spending more money on healthier meat is worth it in the long run.

Comments on essay 1 draft 1

• I think one argument is stronger for one ad than the other
• Not an effective conclusion
• Didn't discuss values of the audience as much as I should have
• Some parts don't flow
• Transitions aren't good

Amanda Youngblood
English 102 Section 111
2 February 2012
SWA#6
There is an advertisement for just about every marketable product available in the world. The advertisements vary in colors, styles and forms but all marketers have one goal. That goal is to sell their product to a specific target audience. For example, a developer of a new type of software wants to target computer users, or a cereal company that manufactures kid’s cereal wants to advertise to an audience of children. In two different advertisements for affordable designer lines available at Target, the message about the store carrying the brands is clear, however it is also clear who the audience is intended to be. The values of the ideal audience shows through in the ads by the design techniques of the advertisement, the purpose of the publication the advertisement is published in, who is depicted in the ad, and the product being advertised.

SWA #5 Wednesday 2/1/12

Ad #1:

1. Us Weekly


2. Covers latest trends in fashion, beauty and entertainment


3. Adult working women (statista.com)


4. Advertised are usually products such as clothing, makeup, movies and music


5. The publisher assumes the readers of the magazine want to be informed of the latest trends. They are an audience that consume the latest products that are popular. The publisher also assumes the audience is an older audience who can afford the advertisements in the magazine.

Ad #2:

1. Lucky Magazine


2. Mostly covers all things shopping-including fashion and makeup


3. Young college or professional women


4. Advertised are shirts, dresses, pants, accessories and beauty products


5. The publisher assumes the readers of this magazine care about their looks. The audience takes pride in their appearance and want to dress fashionably and look attractive so they can be happier.

SWA #4 Essay 1 Worksheet 1/30/12

1. I am analyzing two ads for Target. Both are advertising brands available at target for a lower price. The first advertises an affordable Paul Frank line at Target. And the second advertises an affordable Cynthia Vincent line for target. The Paul Frank ad was published in US Weekly and the Cynthia Vincent ad was published in Lucky Magazine.

2. The first ad was published in US Weekly, a magazine commonly read by a broad audience. Most of the time this audience consists of working adults, however. Lucky Magazine published ad two. It is a magazine that targets female college students and young professional women.

3. Description of ad 1:

• kids


• happy, smiling


• monkey logo


• music


• bright colors


• fun

Description of ad 2:

• vacant scenery


• neutral colors


• "ideal" leg for women


• wedge sandals

4. I chose these two ads because I think the audience they are created for is clearly depicted by the image they display. The two ads are very different because they represent two very different stages in life. One is of a little girl and one is of a young woman's leg. One is advertising cute, while the other is advertising something more sophisticated and has sex appeal. It is typical for a little girl to want to dress cute and fun, while it is typical for a young woman to want to look mature and sexy.

SWA#3

Amanda Youngblood
English 102-111
SWA#3
23 January 2012

One of the issues mentioned in today’s reading from The Carolina Reader is the issue of letting the elderly become isolated until they die in nursing homes or similar facilities. Often times the facilities they are in are unpleasant places where the residents are frequently neglected and abused. This issue brings up a question for discussion. Is it morally right to let old people move into nursing homes without the care or company of their family? Shouldn’t we care for the people who raised us instead of casting them aside? This issue is important because one day everyone will be old. And once we are old, we would like our families to take care of us. If facilities like nursing homes keep continuing and growing, we will end up just like the isolated elderly people in them today. If we want to change that fate, we are going to have to change our morals and ways of dealing with the elderly. Sacrifices by our future children and family will have to be made to ensure our best treatment. This will change the idea of how to deal with old people completely and that change of ideals is what will stop the isolated, cruel treatment of the elderly.

In Chapter 2 of Writing Arguments, there is a protest photo of a man holding an American flag and a poster that says, “It’s illegal to hire illegals.” This man is speaking out against illegal immigrants getting hired in America. Often, when illegal immigrants come to the US, employers will give them jobs even if they do not have citizenship. Most of the time it is because the immigrants, being desperate for a job, will do work for little pay. However, despite the fact that illegal immigrants are looking for work, hiring them over American citizens looking for work upsets many individuals. It is believed that US citizens should get work before illegals because the illegals aren’t supposed to be working anyway. Many workers go on strike to protest this act of hiring immigrants that are illegally in the country.

"Get Smarter"

p. 186 question #3
I see and understand the point that Cascio makes by saying that the use of drugs can be seen as a way to enhance productiveness, however I do not agree with this completely. Drugs are seen as cheating in the athletic world, and they can also be seen as cheating when it comes to the use of them as "brain enhancers". I don't feel like cheating would be the main issue in taking drugs to focus more clearly and be more productive. In the essay, Cascio mentions the drug modafinil that can keep a person alert. He says that the drug has been observed to make its users "smarter" by making them think with more clarity. However, if people start taking this drug on a large scale, people are going to become dependent on this drug. They aren't going to be using their natural abilities to problem solve or even to do everyday tasks. And if everyone starts taking drugs to enhance their thinking, our minds are not improving. They are just being aided. Cascio says in his third paragraph that humans have coped with the events that have happened over time by getting smarter. A drug will only temporarily make someone smarter, but will have no effect on actual intelligence in the long run. We should let our brains get smarter on their own by taking in new information and getting access to more information, not access to more drugs.

SWA#1

Amanda Youngblood
English 102 Section 111
10 January 2012
SWA#1

Previous Writing Experiences

My English 101 class was a specialized class reserved for Capstone scholars. The title of the course was “Mark Twain to Modern Twitterature”. We read and discussed various examples of writings by various authors. We also discussed how culture and dialect affected an author’s writing style.

For the first two papers we wrote, we had to choose and analyze two separate essays by different authors. When writing the first paper I focused on the aspects and style of the essays and used that information to argue which essay reinforced the main point in a more effective manner. On the second paper, we had to choose two essays that focused on the same topic and compare which one better outlined the central topic. I chose to analyze two essays that discussed the issue of profanity. After the first two papers, we shifted our attention from comparative essays to focusing more on the analytical aspect of writing.

The third paper I wrote was to analyze a song. I chose a hit country ballad from the 1970’s. In that paper I explained the elements of the song that made it a ballad and also the elements of the song that made it incredibly popular with its audience. The fourth and final paper we looked up controversial issues that related to language usage and an article about that issue. I chose to look up an article about language and education. I proved how appropriate communication and language use with students and parents is key to providing students with a good education by reading this article and researching the topic. I was very happy with how my final draft of this paper turned out.

The best writing experience I’ve had would probably be putting together the final drafts for four papers for my portfolio for English 101. This gave me the opportunity to prove what I had learned throughout the course and use it to correct papers I had written before my writing skills had improved. It was also a way to demonstrate my improvement. The worst writing experience would be the majority of my high school assignments. Teachers I had did not focus on writing enough and because of that, my writing suffered. I believe the chance to improve that writing in my portfolio affected me the most because it was a chance to redeem myself from years of bad writing in high school.