Final Multimodal Essay: Cayla Lepior

Pro-Life v. Pro-Choice: Who is Right? 

Abortion Controversy

According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are roughly 3,322 abortions per day; amounting to 1.21 million abortions performed every year in the United States. There are many different opinions about abortion, such as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”. People who believe that abortion is wrong and should be stopped in our society are considered to be on the “pro-life” side of the controversy. Those who believe a woman should be able to decide what she does with her body and who support abortions in the United States would be considered “pro-choice”. In today’s society, the issue of illegalization of abortions in some states, if not all, has become more and more of a controversial topic. In order to have an opinion about this controversy, people should be informed about both sides as well as other perspectives.

Beginning of the Legality: Roe v. Wade

            Roe v. Wade is a well-known Supreme Court decision that ultimately made abortion legal in the United States. Before Roe v. Wade, abortion was not legal at all in many states and was limited by laws in others. “The decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without legal restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy” (Burrell). According to Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision, "All state laws limiting women's access to abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy were invalidated by Roe v. Wade. State laws limiting such access during the second trimester were upheld only when the restrictions were for the purpose of protecting the health of the pregnant woman." The Roe v. Wade decision also addressed the right to privacy, which sparked a lot of controversial debate (Krause). The decision to make abortion legal in the United States sparked the controversial views and many debates about this issue in today’s society. An interesting detail that most people are unaware of is about the first abortion laws in history. “The first abortion laws were not necessarily set in the context that the fetus was, from conception, a human being that happened to be protected” (Burrell). It wasn’t until later that the controversy in legality began to circle around the life of the fetus, not necessarily the safety of the mother.

Pro-Choice Arguments

http://feministsforchoice.com/
pro-choice-news-roundup-12.htm

            The definition of pro-choice according to American Heritage: “Favoring or supporting the legal right of women and girls to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy to term”. There are many reasons why pro-choice advocates believe this about abortion. An important argument from this side of the controversy includes: “If people want to stop abortion, they should turn to methods that do work” according to the ten arguments supporting pro-choice. This is extremely important in my opinion because if there are people who are against abortions, they should not blatantly say something is wrong without providing possible solutions. There are many ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies that result with abortions. For example, offering sex education in order for people to be informed about the decisions they are making. Pro-choice advocates also argue that, “Doctors, not governments, should always be the people to make medical recommendations and opinions” according to ten arguments supporting pro-choice. This argument is especially important because in today’s society, people feel more and more controlled by our government, causing a feeling of less power. For the government to illegalize abortions in the United States would be comparable with the President telling everyone they had to receive an operation, which is outrageous and would never be allowed. These are only a limited amount of reasons why people should have a right to their own decisions, especially when involving their own body.

Pro-Life Arguments

http://www.trulyrichmom.com/2011/02/
raising-pro-life-kids-my-natural-birth.html

            The definition of pro-life according to American Heritage: “Advocating the legal protection of human embryos and fetuses, especially by favoring the outlawing of abortion on the ground that it is the taking of a human life”. On the other side of the controversy, pro-life advocates believe that abortion should be illegal and should be banned from the United States. An important argument that pro-life defenders embody is that life begins at conception, and therefore abortion is equivalent to murdering a human being. Since murder is obviously illegal in our country, it would make sense to think that abortion should also be illegal. Pro-life supporters agree with sex-education in schools however, in my opinion, do not provide the most informative sex-education. “The repressive sexual politics of the antiabortion movement have infected the public schools, pouring some $135 million annually into abstinence-only education” (Take Back Our Rights). If pro-life supporters wanted to reduce the amount of abortions in the United States, as well as eliminate them, they should shed light on every preventative, not only abstinence. This form of sex-education does not even discuss contraceptives that can be effective, it only addresses birth-control in terms of failure rates, not effectiveness (Take Back Our Rights).  A different, less emotional argument would be that most Americans who pay taxes may have conflicting views about the legality of abortions since often times, U.S. tax dollars are used in order to fund a majority of abortions according to Women's Issues. However, after speculation about this claim by pro-life supporters, I researched further about tax dollar usage for abortions and found a contradiction with their claim. According to Public Funding for Abortion, “Passed by Congress in 1976, the Hyde Amendment excludes abortion from the comprehensive health care services provided to low-income people by the federal government through Medicaid.” This means that public tax dollars cannot be used to fund abortions, making pro-life claims about this irrelevant. Abortion has been made illegal in some States in the past, however has later been overturned. People advocating for pro-life are intensively trying to pass laws in order to make abortions illegal, but only time will tell what the outcome will be.

Planned Parenthood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UfJtOv8DjM&feature=related

http://www.pacepress.org/polopoly_fs/1.2067740!/image/3470110447.jpg

            Recent controversy about government funding of public health centers such as Planned Parenthood has caused government officials to consider reducing the funding significantly. Firstly, Planned Parenthood is resource many people use not only for abortions, but for contraception, STD screening, etc. Also, according to Pace Press, “The federal funding that Planned Parenthood receives cannot be used to perform abortions. Instead has to be used for testing for STDs, consultations on body image, pregnancy advice and general sexual education.” Reduced funding from the government will significantly impact the safety of people who don’t have the ability to access professional healthcare from a hospital or doctor’s office. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Republicans want to allow states to redirect money away from abortion providers" and also take away $317 million Planned Parenthood for the 2011 fiscal year. This would mean a significant decrease in family planning, health services such as cancer screenings, and birth control availability along with many more services.

The Right Argument

            In my opinion, pro-choice is the more logical answer in the debate of abortion in the United States. To me, the arguments for pro-life appear to be more of religiously and politically biased decisions when in reality; the right choice may vary for different people. The choice to keep or abort a baby should be entirely up to the woman. It is her body therefore the choice should not belong to any governmental laws or officials. In many cases, abortion is the only logical thing to do in situations of poverty, lack of family support, abusive relationships, rape, etc. For example, many women who are raped and sexually assaulted tend to not be forthcoming about what happened to them, reducing the chance of them knowing they are pregnant in the first place. Another reason the decision should be completely up to the mother is because in many situations of unwanted pregnancy, the woman ends up entirely on her own. Although fathers are required by law to pay child support, it has been my realization that sadly, this does not always happen. If a mother will be solely responsible for the child, she has the right to any decisions regarding her pregnancy.

Possible Solutions

          Possible solutions for this well-known controversy are still debatable and many people with opinions about this topic may not agree with the compromises or solutions for abortion in the United States. In order to make abortion more agreeable in the United States, our government could continue to withdraw its financial support for the funding of abortions, not necessarily all of it's funding (other health services that Planned Parenthood provides) but solely the funding of abortions. If a woman has the ability to choose abortion, she should be able to pay for it herself, not rely on other people's tax money. Another possible solution that is more favored by pro-life supporters would be adoption. Adoption gives a life to the unborn child while also giving it to a family that truly wants to have a baby. Although adoption has been known to be one of the hardest decisions a pregnant woman can make, it would ultimately be beneficial for everyone involved, without having to have an abortion.

Works Cited

Burrell, Barbara. "Roe V. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy In American History." Rhetoric & Public Affairs 5.3 (2002): 546-548. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

Krause, Kenneth W. "Abortion's Still Unanswered Questions." Humanist 71.4 (2011): 40-42. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.

"Take Back Our Rights." Nation 10 May 2004: 3+. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.

Abortion in the United States

ABORTION IN THE UNITED STATES

Abortion Controversy

According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are roughly 3,322 abortions per day; amounting to 1.21 million abortions performed every year in the United States. There are many different opinions about abortion, such as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”. People who believe that abortion is wrong and should be stopped in our society are considered to be on the “pro-life” side of the controversy. Those who believe a woman should be able to decide what she does with her body and who support abortions in the United States would be considered “pro-choice”. In today’s society, the issue of illegalization of abortions in some states, if not all, has become more and more of a controversial topic. In order to have an opinion about this controversy, people should be informed about both sides as well as other perspectives.

Beginning of the Controversy: Roe v. Wade

            Roe v. Wade is a well-known Supreme Court decision that ultimately made abortion legal in the United States. “The decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without legal restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy” (Roe v. Wade).  The decision to make abortion legal in the United States sparked the controversial views and many debates about this issue in today’s society. An interesting detail that most people are unaware of is about the first abortion laws in history. “The first abortion laws were aimed at protecting the mother from the abortionist. They were not necessarily set in the context that the fetus was, from conception, a human being that happened to be protected” (Burrell). It wasn’t until later that the controversy in legality began to circle around the life of the fetus, not necessarily the safety of the mother.

Pro-Choice Arguments

http://feministsforchoice.com/
pro-choice-news-roundup-12.htm

            The definition of pro-choice according to American Heritage: “Favoring or supporting the legal right of women and girls to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy to term” . There are many reasons why pro-choice advocates believe this about abortion. An important argument from this side of the controversy includes: “If people want to stop abortion, they should turn to methods that do work” according to the ten arguments supporting pro-choice. This is extremely important in my opinion because if there are people who are against abortions, they should not blatantly say something is wrong without providing possible solutions. There are many ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies that result with abortions. For example, offering sex education in order for people to be informed about the decisions they are making. Pro-choice advocates also argue that, “Doctors, not governments, should always be the people to make medical recommendations and opinions” according to ten arguments supporting pro-choice. This argument is especially important because in today’s society, people feel more and more controlled by our government, causing a feeling of less power. For the government to illegalize abortions in the United States would be comparable with the President telling everyone they had to receive an operation, which is outrageous and would never be allowed. These are only a limited amount of reasons why people should have a right to their own decisions, especially when involving their own body.

Pro-Life Arguments

http://www.trulyrichmom.com/2011/02/
raising-pro-life-kids-my-natural-birth.html

            The definition of pro-life according to American Heritage: “Advocating the legal protection of human embryos and fetuses, especially by favoring the outlawing of abortion on the ground that it is the taking of a human life”. On the other side of the controversy, pro-life advocates believe that abortion should be illegal and should be banned from the United States. An important argument that pro-life defenders embody is that life begins at conception, and therefore abortion is equivalent to murdering a human being. Since murder is obviously illegal in our country, it would make sense to think that abortion should also be illegal. A different, less emotional argument would be that most Americans who pay taxes may have conflicting views about the legality of abortions since often times, U.S. tax dollars are used in order to fund a majority of abortions according to Women's Issues. Abortion has been made illegal in some States in the past, however has later been overturned. People advocating for pro-life are intensively trying to pass laws in order to make abortions illegal, but only time will tell what the outcome will be.

Planned Parenthood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UfJtOv8DjM&feature=related

            Recent controversy about government funding of public health centers such as Planned Parenthood has caused government officials to consider reducing the funding significantly. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Republicans want to allow states to redirect money away from abortion providers" and also take away $317 million Planned Parenthood for the 2011 fiscal year. This would mean a significant decrease in family planning, health services such as cancer screenings, and birth control availability along with many more services.

The Right Argument

            In my opinion, pro-choice is the more logical answer in the debate of abortion in the United States. To me, the arguments for pro-life appear to be more of an emotionally biased decision when in reality, the right choice may vary for different people. The choice to keep or abort a baby should be entirely up to the woman. It is her body therefore the choice should not belong to any governmental laws or officials. In many cases, abortion is the only logical thing to do in situations of poverty, lack of family support, abusive relationships, rape, etc. 

Possible Solutions

          Possible solutions for this well-known controversy are still debatable and many people with opinions about this topic may not agree with the compromises or solutions for abortion in the United States. In order to make abortion more agreeable in the United States, our government could withdraw it's financial support for the funding of abortions, not necessarily all of it's funding (other health services that Planned Parenthood provides) but solely the funding of abortions. If a woman has the ability to choose abortion, she should be able to pay for it herself, not rely on other people's tax money. Another possible solution, that is more favored by pro-life supporters, would be adoption. Adoption gives a life to the unborn child while also giving it to a family that truly wants to have a baby. Although adoption has been known to be one of the hardest decisions a pregnant woman can make, it would ultimately be beneficial for everyone involved.

Works Cited

Akinrinola Bankole, et al. "Legal Abortion Worldwide In 2008: Levels And Recent Trends." Perspectives On Sexual & Reproductive Health 43.3 (2011): 188-198. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Nov. 2011. 

Burrell, Barbara. "Roe V. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy In American History." Rhetoric & Public Affairs 5.3 (2002): 546-548. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

Multimodal Essay (ROUGH Draft) Cayla Lepior

Cayla Lepior

Mr. Lutz

English 151

24 October 2011

Abortion Controversy

According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are roughly 3,322 abortions per day; amounting to 1.21 million abortions performed every year in the United States. There are many different opinions about abortion, such as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”. People who believe that abortion is wrong and should be stopped in our society are considered to be on the “pro-life” side of the controversy. Those who believe a woman should be able to decide what she does with her body and who support abortions in the United States would be considered “pro-choice”. In today’s society, the issue of illegalization of abortions in some states, if not all, has become more and more of a controversial topic. In order to have an opinion about this controversy, people should be informed about both sides as well as other perspectives.

Pro-Choice Arguments

            The definition of pro-choice: “Favoring or supporting the legal right of women and girls to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy to term” (American Heritage). There are many reasons why pro-choice advocates believe this about abortion. An important argument from this side of the controversy includes: “If people want to stop abortion, they should turn to methods that do work” (10 Arguments). This is extremely important in my opinion because if there are people who are against abortions, they should not blatantly say something is wrong without providing possible solutions. There are many ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies that result with abortions. For example, offering sex education in order for people to be informed about the decisions they are making. Pro-choice advocates also argue that, “Doctors, not governments, should always be the people to make medical recommendations and opinions” (10 Arguments). This argument is especially important because in today’s society, people feel more and more controlled by our government, causing a feeling of less power. For the government to illegalize abortions in the United States would be comparable with the President telling everyone they had to receive an operation, which is outrageous and would never be allowed. These are only a limited amount of reasons why people should have a right to their own decisions, especially when involving their own body.

Pro-Life Arguments

            The definition of pro-life: “Advocating the legal protection of human embryos and fetuses, especially by favoring the outlawing of abortion on the ground that it is the taking of a human life” (American Heritage). On the other side of the controversy, pro-life advocates believe that abortion should be illegal and should be banned from the United States. An important argument that pro-life defenders embody is that life begins at conception, and therefore abortion is equivalent to murdering a human being (Women’s Issues). Since murder is obviously illegal in our country, it would make sense to think that abortion should also be illegal. A different, less emotional argument would be that most Americans who pay taxes may have conflicting views about the legality of abortions since often times, U.S. tax dollars are used in order to fund a majority of abortions (Women’s Issues). Abortion has been made illegal in some States in the past, however has later been overturned. People advocating for pro-life are intensively trying to pass laws in order to make abortions illegal, but only time will tell what the outcome will be.

           

Cayla Lepior Blog #15

 I decided to write about abortion in the United States and the different opinions about making it legal/illegal. This is a very controversial topic so I think I will get read about a lot of different perspectives and opinions while looking for people’s blogs about abortion and pro-life/pro-choice.

The first blog I found was from The Washington Post by Herb Silverman. The blog is titled “Pro-choice and Pro-life” and discusses the views of Silverman and his support of both pro-choice and pro-life. Silverman says, “I support a woman’s right to choose and oppose capital punishment” (Silverman). He uses Aristotle’s Rhetorical appeals when he says “You would think that those who oppose abortion under any circumstances and view it as the greatest evil would necessarily favor practical steps to reduce the number of abortions” (Silverman). He uses pathos and logic to question other people’s viewpoints and to make a point. What he is saying there is true, if people don’t agree with abortions, then why aren’t they in compliance with taking away our government’s funding for sex-education and government funded daycares? This article is different because he addresses both sides of the controversy, unlike most blogs that are very one-sided.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/pro-choice-and-pro-life/2011/09/13/gIQAk3P5PK_blog.html

            The second blog I found was from a website called prolifeblogs.com and did not have a specific author. The article is titled “Undercover calls reveal Medicaid willing to pay for non-emergency late-term abortions with taxpayer $$”. This article basically talks about how the debate over tax-funded abortions and how millions of our tax dollars are being used to fund abortions every year. For example, “The caller identified herself as having a healthy pregnancy in the 26^th week of gestation to a Southwester Women’s Options employee named Sue. She told Sue that the reason she wanted an abortion was because her husband had just lost his job” (Undercover). In my opinion this appeals to my emotions because it is shocking to me that someone would abort their baby when it is almost fully developed for the sake that their husband lost his job. This article is different than most because it talks about the tax-funded abortions that most people aren’t aware of for example, “It is State money that generally funds abortions to the tune of millions of dollars annually”(Undercover).

http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2011/10/undercover_call.php

            The third blog I found was from blog.prochoice.org and is called “Wednesday’s Words from Women”. This blog is different because it lets other women submit their stories about why they got abortions. In my opinion, this appeals to people’s emotions and puts them in their positions so maybe other people opposed to abortions could have a better understanding. An example of this is when a member of an abortion clinic says, “I was physically abused by someone who claimed to love me, which made it so hard for me to leave him. However, I feared for my life. When I found out that I was pregnant, the decision was easy—I could not bring a child into this situation. The NAF member clinic saved my life. Having this option made a world of difference. I owe you all so much. I will be forever grateful” (Women). This definitely appeals to my emotions because this woman is sharing her personal experience to try and show others what it’s like.

http://blog.prochoice.org/

            The fourth blog I found was from a website called feminist.us and the author, Jill, explains why she is pro-choice. This blog particularly addresses all three sides of Aristotle’s Rhetorical appeals: ethics, logic, and emotions. Examples of this are when the author says “I am pro-choice because I think women themselves are the best people to decide when and if they get pregnant, give birth, and raise children” (Jill). This is really influential because this is the core of the controversy. Whose choice is it in reality? The author of this blog does a really good job of addressing all of the reasons she is pro-choice.

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/01/22/why-im-pro-choice/

Cayla Lepior Blog #14

While reading “What We’re Doing When We Blog” pages 293-297 of Everything’s a Text by Dan Melzer, I came across multiple hotspots. The first hotspot was in the beginning where it says, “In general, ‘blog’ used to mean a personal online diary, typically concerned with boyfriend problems or techie news. But after September 11, a slew of new or refocused media junkie/political sites reshaped the entire Internet media landscape” (Melzer 294). I thought this was really interesting because before I knew anything about blogging, I figured it was exactly what it described in the passage above: a place for people to vent about their personal problems or express them. I think it’s definitely interesting to see how times have changed and how all of a sudden more people want to broadcasts their opinions and knowledge.

            The second hotspot I found was on the last page. “What’s important is that we’ve embraced a medium free of the physical limitations of pages, intrusions of editors, and delays of tedious publishing systems. As with free speech itself, what we say isn’t as important as the system that enables us to say it” (Melzer 297). This particular quote really stuck out to me because with blogging, people now have an instantaneous way of expressing themselves. This expression is free of outside editing and other people’s viewpoints. You can write about whatever you want for as long as you want without any limitations and anyone can view it. I think this is important because in today’s society a lot of people believe that the media is censored and this is a way for the raw opinions of many people to be heard. I think blogging is an efficient, fast, and inspiring way for bloggers to write about whatever they want to.

Cayla Lepior Blog #12

http://www.scribd.com/doc/68025322/Exploratory-Essay

Cayla Lepior Blog #11

-George W. Bush "9/11 Address to the Nation":
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm

-Barack Obama's first speech as the 44th U.S. President:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7840926.stm

In my opinion, both of these speeches/videos are examples of "good" rhetoric because they were influential in our history as a country. George Bush's speech resonates with me personally because his speech was about a very emotional and tragic event that no one will forget. Obama's speech is also very important because it was his very first speech as the first "ethnic" President of the United States, also a very memorable time in history.

Cayla Lepior Blog #10

Essay Question: Should children of illegal immigrants, who have their babies in the United States, be considered legal U.S. citizens?

SOURCE #1:

October 2

USA Today News Article

Raul, Reyes. "Not very American: 'Illegal by birth'." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.

This article begins by stating that “some top Republicans have called for a review of the constitutional guarantee that anyone born in the USA is a citizen”. This is controversial because they say it encourages illegal immigration.

                  -Good information, it shows one perspective of the controversy with its opinion.

"If both parents are here illegally, should there be a reward for their illegal behavior?"

                  -Good quote I can use as one opinion/problem with illegal immigrants having babies who are then considered legal citizens.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

                  -Quotation from the 14^th Amendment is important because it shows history’s views on immigration and how people are trying to change that.

The next part talks about democracy and discrimination of parents (US citizens VS foreigners). “If we were to end birthright citizenship, we would have two classes of children, both born on American soil. The only difference would be who their parents were – which doesn’t strike me as very democratic.”

                  -Important because it discusses discrimination which can be an influential point in my essay.

The next section introduces the phrase “anchor babies”, basically meaning “undocumented workers having children here to ‘anchor’ their family in the U.S. In truth, having a U.S.-born child is no protection from deportation.

                  -Introduces the name “anchor babies” and it’s important because this idea is the main focus in my essay.

The final part discusses the likelihood of ending birthright citizenship and also how it would effect our undocumented population.

                  -Important for the outcome of this controversy and if anything will actually happen to change immigration/citizenship laws.

SUMMARY:

I found this article really useful even though it only portrays one view of “anchor babies” and birthright citizenship. It mostly just talks about the negative view of illegal immigrants having babies in the U.S. who consequently become citizens. It focuses on the people who disagree with this and feel that there should be a revision to amend the citizenship aspect of the 14^th amendment/constitution.

SOURCE #2:

October 2

New York Amsterdam News Article

Persaud, Felicia. "And so the madness begins." New York Amsterdam News 102.2 (2011): 14-34. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 3 Oct. 2011.

First section talks about Republican Steve King’s Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 that “would require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident for the newborn baby to receive automatic citizenship.”

                  -Important because it is one solution to the opposing views of “anchor babies” and so-called illegal immigration problems.

The next part discusses King’s opinion that the “anchor babies” are a result of a misapplication of the Constitution’s clause and “creates incentive for illegal aliens to cross our border.”

                  -I agree with the point that it creates incentive for people to illegally immigrate.

Later, the article talks about opposing views of his citizenship act as “the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, said it best when it called the proposal ‘inflammatory, impractical, and immoral.”

                  - Important for my essay because it shows the other side of the controversy and how people of other nationalities feel about the proposal.

“These thoughtless and unnecessary proposals take our country in the wrong direction, away from inclusion and our other core American values. The citizenship clause is a bedrock principle of civil rights and part of what makes us all Americans. Never in our nation’s history have we amended to the Constitution to take away someone’s rights, and we should not do so now.” –Janet Murguía, NCLR president and CEO.

                  -Really important quotation from the opposing side of the proposal, states really good points as to why we shouldn’t pass the act.

SUMMARY:

Overall, this article was really useful. It acknowledges the Republican’s Birthright Citizenship Act and explains what it would do for U.S. citizenship as well as points out the other point of view. By including the viewpoint of the national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, it shows the other side of the controversy, which is important for every influential essay.  

Cayla Lepior Blog #9

My exploratory essay will focus on abortion.
- Should abortion be illegal in the United States?
- If abortion is illegal, will the amount of women getting abortions decrease at all? Or will women find other, more dangerous ways to abort their unwanted pregnancies illegally?

Cayla Lepior Blog #8

            While watching Suheir Hammad’s performance of “First Writing Since” I noticed she utilized logos, ethos, and pathos to affect her audience. She uses pathos most frequently as she continually speaks about the way she and other people felt on September 11, 2001. She uses ethics as she criticizes the things that happened and the decisions that were made whether they were good or bad. I found it really impressive how she was able to appeal to such a wide audience. There were so many different races of people in the audience and it was clear that she affected all of them. She states that although she is Muslim and possesses the same looks as the 9/11 assassins, that does not mean she is the same as them.           

            I found it really powerful when she says “And when we talk about holy books, hooded men, and death, why never mention the KKK?” I think she is relating this to the stereotype people have now that all middle-eastern people are out to get Americans. People have forgotten that it was Americans that killed their own people because of racial issues (the KKK). It is clear that she appeals to people’s emotions as people are showed crying in the audience, or when they clap when she says something they are passionate about.

            I think her argument in her poetry is to “affirm life” as she states multiple times towards the end. She says, “after the rubble and rhetoric are clear and the phoenix has risen, affirm life” maybe meaning that after all of the conflict and after we are all strong again and peaceful, everything is going to be okay and that life is good. She is very persuasive in her poetry in my opinion and definitely utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos throughout her entire poem.

Cayla Lepior Blog #7

            While reading the Pearson book, I found a lot of useful information on important elements of an exploratory essay. The first important thing I came across was “formulating a starting point” (Pearson 110). I found this to be most important because an essay is based around a main idea or topic. Without writing about a problem that you are interested in as a writer, your essay will most likely not be interesting to the reader. “Instead of a single, focused question, you might start with a whole cluster of related questions swimming in your head” (Pearson 110). This, in my opinion, creates a more intriguing argument and a better essay overall.

            Another element of an exploratory essay I found to be important is the section talking about “taking ‘double-entry’ research notes” (Pearson 111). This describes taking “notes in which you use one column for taking notes on a source and another column for recording your own thinking about the source” (Pearson 11). I believe this is an important part in developing a good exploratory essay because taking notes with your own opinions and thoughts about the actual facts creates personality in your essay, not just generic facts you find in reading during research. This could also be considered mixing closed and open prose, creating a better exploratory essay.

            I also think it’s important to “keep a problem alive through consideration of multiple solutions of points of view” (Pearson 107). If you settle too early on a thesis without debating both sides, the reader of your essay will most likely loose interest quickly because there is nothing to consider. You should “go beyond the initial answer to think of alternatives” (Pearson 107) in order to maintain a good argument throughout your essay. After questioning the problem and examining different perspectives, you may even come to find that you changed your views on the topic by analyzing it thoroughly.

Cayla Lepior Blog #6

           While reading “‘Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code”, I found a number of things to be quite offensive, not only to men but to women as well. The first “hotspot” I came across was the discussion between boys about where they get these ideas. “Guys hear the voices of men in their lives—fathers, coaches, brothers, grandfathers, uncles, priests—to inform their ideas of masculinity” (Kimmel 47). I found this quote to be really interesting because guys turn to the most influential people in their lives for advice on how they should be as a person. I find it sad that when a young man is contemplating how he should act, he turns to the poor advice of influential men in his life. This really shows how much of an impact parents and role models make on young people, whether it is a positive or negative impact.

            A second “hotspot” I came across was when Kimmel discusses the common way among men to avoid being perceived as gay. “Just make sure that you walk, talk, and act in a different way from the gay stereotype; dress terribly; show no taste in art or music; show no emotions at all. Never listen to a thing a woman is saying, but express immediate and unquenchable sexual interest. Presto, you’re a real man” (Kimmel 49). I find this technique for looking “straight” to be really ironic. You will come off as a man who is sloppy, unemotional, and completely rude; however you will not appeal to any women whatsoever. This technique backfires on a man who is trying to meet people and form relationships, which are a majority of young men. This just shows how judgmental society is in our culture and the drastic measures people take to please others.

Cayla Lepior Blog #5

             While watching the video “Doofy Husbands: Target Women”, I found it very critical and stereotypical of all males. It categorizes males into the “single men” and “married men”. According to the video, single men are attractive, drive nice cars, drink beer, and can do many things as shown by media today. However, married men are characterized by the media as lazy, stupid and forgetful people standing in the women’s way. In some situations, the husband is the on raising the family and cleaning around the house, not all men are as she describes in her video. She mentions in the video we only need men around the house to “take care of the lawn, produce children, and grill food” which I think is a huge stereotype of men and completely unfair to say.

            While watching “Tropes vs. Women”, I found her entire tone to be really sarcastic towards men. Her criticisms of a common Hollywood character, “manic pixie dream girl” is over exaggerated and quite harsh at times. When she says that Hollywood writers need to start making them “real characters” is quite offensive because in my opinion, not all female characters possess this trait of a pixie dream girl and not all male characters need one. Also, comparing female and male characters based on movies doesn’t really seem like the right way to go because that is not real life. Those movie characters or “manic pixie dream girls” may act in that certain way, but in no way does that make them less of a character or even make the male character more important.

Cayla Lepior Blog #4

For me, Eugene R. August’s essay, “Real Men Don’t” was about males being excluded in many parts of our society. As I agree with some parts of this essay, I also am doubtful of many as well. A part in this reading that struck me as interesting was when August says “American males are almost twice as likely as females to be victims of violent crimes (even when rape is included in the tally) and three times more likely to be victims of murder (August 130). I find this to be a point of conflict among our society as most people automatically imagine a woman to be the victim of a rape or physical crime when even more it is a male victim it just goes unheard of. I agree that people assume this because of society’s belief that women are inferior and maybe even weaker in a sense that they are more of a victim than any men. A part of this reading that I disagree with is when August is talking about the U.S. media, which he claims is “heavily influenced by gender feminism” (August 131) and when he says “Male victims are simply not news; women (and children) victims are (August 131). I disagree with this statement as I have watched the news many times and have seen a large amount of males as victims in crimes such as news reports on wars; they always talk about which men were killed in their line of duty, as heroes of our country. This is a bad example of excluding males because it simply is not true. In my opinion this is not a part of society that is un-favoring of the male gender.          

While reading Deborah Tannen’s essay “There Is No Unmarked Women”, several parts really stuck out to me. When Tannen is discussing unmarked and marked forms of English words, she says “Endings like ess and ette mark words as “female”. Unfortunately, they also tend to mark them for frivolousness (Tannen 142). She goes on to say, “Would you feel safe entrusting your life to a doctorette?” (Tannen 142). I found this part really thought provoking. I agree that most people would not trust a “doctorette” as much as a male doctor. Doctors have a stereotypical thought by people to be men, as that is how it used to be earlier in our society. While it was difficult to find a particular part that contradicted my beliefs in Tannen’s essay, I disagree with the part where she says, “Each of the women at the conference had to make decisions about hair, clothing, makeup, and accessories, and each decision carried meaning” (Tannen 142). This partially contradicts my beliefs because I have had friends who are male that also have to make decisions about what they wear or what they look like, which also carry meaning. It isn’t necessarily fair to imply that men’s decisions on their appearance carry no meaning at all, because in some cases they do.

Cayla Lepior Homework #4

            Personally, I thought Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” was really interesting and informative on how family life can influence literacy. This essay seemed to be open prose or even a mix of closed and open prose. The author uses “I” frequently making the essay less formal but still creating a solid structure. It is clear that the essay is a narrative and instead of a thesis, the author uses a story of her childhood and the broken language she grew up with around her, which formed her view of literacy today. Unlike closed prose, Tan includes contradictions of her beliefs, for example, “Sociologists and linguists probably will tell you that a person’s developing language skills are more influenced by peers. But I do think that the language spoken in the family, especially immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the languages of a child” (Tan 115). Although she provides opinions from both sides, she supports her belief with experience, which makes her points equally important.

            The audience of this essay could be young readers such as us, as she is addressing a specific person/people in her writing. Examples of this occur throughout the text, like when she writes, “You should know that my mother’s expressive command of English belies on how much she actually understands” (Tan 114). She is rather informal and simple with her words, appealing to a wide audience of people, maybe even those struggling with their personal literacies.

            I do not believe this essay conforms to the genre conventions of an essay because it seems to be more creative than a closed prose essay would be. It is a lot different from any formal essay I have read, as it is intriguing and thoughtful. She addresses a topic that is personal and life-shaping experiences most people wouldn’t give a second thought to. Although she stays on the same topic and “thesis” throughout the entire work, she relates the whole essay to her own life, making this a narrative, different from other structured essays.