Language and Sources of Mini Arguments - Assignment Example

PART ONE OF SHORT-FOLIO PART ONE: Persuasive Focus The use of direct quotation in the mini arguments as a source of information gives the essays high credibility that will convince the reader that the argument is not only a personal opinion of the writer alone, but also rather a fact that is shared widely by many people. This helps in further persuading and convincing the reader to side with what the writer of the argument is arguing for. Moreover, even the use of questions within the argument engages the readers mind and to some extent persuades his opinion towards that of the writer. Examples of the use of questions marks within the mini arguments are; mini-argument #2, which has begun its argument with the question “Why do certain people think lying is ok?” and also used “So what is the whole point behind lying?”. Susie, in her mini-argument #4 on the other hand uses, “Want to know why people love playing the lottery?” and. “This candid reality of things necessitates some questions to be asked, is it in actuality that hard to be successful? How does one end up in the road to success?” Mini argument #1 made use of “What else is the government keeping from us?” and “I have the right to choose whether I want to read a paper, if it does not bother you to read a newspaper and can afford it go for it by all means. The use of such question marks within the argument forces the reader to get involved and absorbed into the argument and to have his or her own opinion before delving deeper into the writer’s opinions. PART ONE: Avoid Plagiarism and Properly Use and Cite Source Material The mini arguments have made use of outside sources very generously, the use of these outside sources besides making the work be more credible. it also makes the work be free of plagiarism as all the borrowed material have been duly credited to the original authors. Moreover, the use of source materials goes a long way in convincing the reader that the arguments have weights behind it. Outsides have been used a lot, especially so, by Susie’s mini argument. For Example, mini arguments # 2 and 3 has made use of internet sources, which have been paraphrased and reworded so as not to exhibit any form of plagiarism. The sources use from the internet are the BBC website, eHow and BrainyQuotes. Moreover, the arguments have gone ahead and listed these internet sources as references so as to give the source credit for providing the information. Mini argument #4 has exclusively made use of books as source materials, additionally,it has even gone ahead and used a line from John Lenons song, ‘imagine’ this depicts creativity and the use of a song appeals to a wider audience. PART ONE: Demonstrate Effective Word Choice All the four mini arguments have carefully chosen their language of use as well as the structure of the essay in terms of paragraphs. The careful selection of particular word choice helps mainly for effect and to connect the reader with the writer. Most of the mini arguments have used simple language, which is easily understandable, as well as a language, which is conversational, it can be referred to as somehow colloquial. The use of such words helps also in passing the argument to the writer. For example, Susie in mini argument #4 writes, “Anyone can be a success, any Tom, Dick and Harry has the potential to become prosperous and successful.” and “Some people have it on a silver platter and some have it rough” On the other hand, mini argument #2 uses the statement, “Let’s just all be honest with one another.  It makes life so much easier!” This careful choice of words, especially conversational words is effective in passing the message across more effectively. PART ONE: Assemble Materials from a Variety of Sources The mini arguments have made use of a variety of sources, internet pages, books, popular music and popular quotes. Mini argument # one, two and three made use of internet sources, while argument # four used of books. PART TWO OF SHORT-FOLIO Combination Of Mini Arguments Lying is inappropriate and wrong but in some instances, it can be ethical. It can be appropriate, in some occasions especially so, when it promotes a greater good such as the adherence of the citizens to the law. A lie has been defined as a type of deception in the form of an untruth statement with the intention of deceiving others. It involves communication of some misleading or deceiving information through whichever medium and the liar does not believe, what they are saying is the truth. Lying has for long been considered to be wrong for the reason that it eliminates trust between the parties involved, it acts as a source of pain especially to the party being lied to as they may feel manipulated and finally lying is hard work, it involves using another lie to cover another and the behaviour evolves into an intricate and convoluted web. However, in special and particular circumstances, some lies can be beneficial to both parties involved. That is the lied to and the liar. This is especially so, when it is the government doing so. The government keeps a lot of information hidden from the public and if it is necessary to reveal such information, it distorts it and passes it to the newspapers as the truth. It is always trying to lie about something; letting the public know only what they, as the government want the public to know. This is done mostly to protect the public from panic and alarm. For example telling the citizens that there is a problem but all is under control and okay. In such circumstances, lying becomes a good thing, it gives the public a sense of security and well-being. Lying also gives some people hope, most successful people have construed a story about a past and childhood that was never a bed of roses. A past where they underwent hardships and turmoil and somehow through miraculous decisions and steps that they took at some point in their lives, they were able to reach the status that they have now. Such stories make every tom, dick and harry believe that they can achieve rock star status. Every successful person has a background and life story that has the lines, “Born to poor parents and humble beginnings”. These are mostly lies, which are meant to act as a source of inspiration to the people who have lost hope in life of ever achieving any major feat. It is in such circumstances that a lie becomes ethically moral. Nevertheless, every American citizen has been granted certain rights and privileges, such as the right to the right information from the government. However, he too is expected to perform certain duties as a citizen of the country. In conclusion, information, more so, the truth is an important aspect of every society. However, in some situations, it can be regressive to the society and therefore a little lie wouldn’t hurt in such a situation. MINI-ARGUMENT #1 DO YOU READ THE NEWSPAPER WHY OR WHY NOT First looking back at the case of Dru Sjodin, you thought its over but it is in the paper again, we are still hearing about the killer Alfonso Rodriquez. It isn’t the newspapers fault that it happened but I would rather live in Italy where you feel safe and not live in fear of walking out your back door. For me I am careful and I take proper precautions for it is not good for my physiological wellbeing to constantly be reminded about the murder. Sure, I would like to know if something happens so that I can know the things and places, I should avoid but it is the constant reminder of it I could do without. Secondly, when it comes to matters of the government, it is always lying about something or trying to swindle someone, we just hear what they want us to hear.  What else is the government keeping from us? I hate reading an article, which is not detailed, telling us there is a problem but all is okay. Then you take our soldiers and are sent to war and returned home dead. The people across America have the right to know what is going on with their soldiers they know and love. Thirdly, a newspaper costs money. Newspapers are expensive I could spend my money on better things. Reading newspapers upsets the society and me too, so I very seldom pick up a newspaper.  I hear things, which I do not want to hear, they do not always have the whole story and are not free.  I have the right to choose whether I want to read a paper, if it does not bother you to read a newspaper and can afford it go for it by all means. Works Cited MINI-ARGUMENT #2 ARE THERE SITUATIONS IN WHICH LYING IS APPROPRIATE Why do certain people think lying is ok?  Think of it this way, if people did not tell the truth, life would become very difficult, as nobody could be trusted.  People would have to find out everything for themselves.  Lying is very wrong! A lie (also called prevarication, falsehood) is a known untruth expressed as truth.  It is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement with the intention to deceive others (Wikipedia).  A lie has three essential features:  it communicates some information, it is deceiving or misleading, and the liar does not believe what they are saying is true but after you have lied for a while, you began to believe that it is the truth. One of the reasons lying is wrong is because it diminishes trust between people You are not able  to trust someone or believe anything that that person is saying when you know that they have lied to you and others before .You begin to question everything that comes out of that person’s mouth. It is hard to believe anything they are telling you because you do not know if it is a lie or if it is the truth. A second reason for not lying is it hurts the person you are lying to. Whether they find out the truth or not that person may suffer from the lie you told. That person may feel manipulated, untrusting, and may even seek out revenge. Lying is hard work.  Not only do you have to remember what you told that person but you may also have to tell more lies to avoid being caught.  In addition, people can find lying easy so they continue to tell more lies to cover themselves.  Serious lies such as perjury, fraud, and defamation are punishable by law. Lying is wrong. Lies are deceiving and misleading. They hurt the people you tell them to and you may lose that person’s trust also in a relationship you need to be honest.  Lies are also a lot of hard work and depending on whom you tell that lie to you could be punishable by law.  So what is the whole point behind lying?  There is not one.  Let us just all be honest with one another.  It makes life so much easier! Also with open communication a lie should not have to factor into it. Cited Works MINI-ARGUMENT #3 WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR DUTIES AS A CITIZEN An American citizen is granted certain rights and privileges. But, then an American citizen is expected to perform certain duties to help protect those rights and privileges.  I feel that a citizen has the responsibility to perform as a citizen of this country A citizen is expected to obey the law of the country. By doing this, the country will run more smoothly with less crime and less money is going towards law enforcement and more towards other programs.  If you witness a crime, it is your duty to report it to the appropriate authorities. Even if you do not agree with the laws of the country, you are expected to follow them and the procedures of the judicial system, Secondly as a citizen they need to pay their taxes. Enforced by the constitution, it helps the country provide certain services as well as other government operations. Without the taxes, the government would not be able to pay for armed services, police forces the educational systems, building maintain roads, or for programs to help people in need. Yet as a citizen there is another duty expected of an American citizen to participate in jury duty.  This is another required by law.  One of countries main beliefs is that everyone should be entitled to a fair trial, and one way to ensure that is through a jury trial.  A person should proudly serve on a jury to help convict a criminal or free and innocent person who has been wrongly accused. I think these are the main duties that are expected when we live in this country.  Even though the law requires them, we, as citizens should be honored to perform these duties.  If everyone performs these tasks the country will run more efficiently and makes us proud to be a citizen of the United States. WORKS CITED MINI-ARGUMENT # 4 How a Plain Jane Can Turn Into a Hilton Want to know why people love playing the lottery? Anyone can be the grand winner, everyone who buys a ticket has the ability to be the ultimate winner. Same thing can be said with regards to achieving rock star status. Anyone can be a success, any Tom, Dick and Harry has the potential to become prosperous and successful. Only and only if they are keen, resolved and determined to exert more efforts. The purpose of this short folio is to demonstrate that with determination, big dreams, learning from mentors and a positive outlook towards life as well as accepting that one does not have to be the best to be a winner are the ingredients which are essential to become successful, to change from a plain Jane to a Hilton, and not nature, nurture or family background that determines the fate of the person. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I am not the one. I hope someday you’ll join me….” (A line from John Lennon’s song ‘imagine’). Mr Lennon might not have been aware of what he was singing about when he penned these lyrics, but he without doubt knew the meaning and substance behind the words. There are countless teenagers and youths whose dream is to achieve rock star status, however, only a handful ever in fact really live their dream. This candid reality of things necessitates some questions to be asked, is it in actuality that hard to be successful? How does one end up in the road to success? The most common mistake that people make is looking outside them for what they can only find inside. Success is no exception. Just as the source of true happiness lies within each of us, success also comes from within. It is the result of a very specific mental attitude. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of this (Fisher and Allen, 2008, pg. 28). Some people have it on a silver platter and some have it rough. As is always the case, man is a product of nature and nurture, however, man can also be a product of his own will or own doing or undoing. Success cannot be attributed to fate, but to the deliberate application of very specific principles. Luck may be involved, but only because, as has been said, luck occurs when preparations meets opportunity (Fisher and Allen, 2008, pg. 2).Successful people might be intelligent, or may have had socially well connected upbringings, or be naturally energetic and open and positive. However, many factors that lead to success are in most part much under the control of the individual, and much can be improved in anyone’s life by simply learning from people who have gone before us or are with us (mentors). Age, education, money, background and childhood experiences do not matter in the face of success. The childhoods of the world’s richest self made millionares, succesful artists and noted perfomaers were many times rather commonplace, often poor and sometimes miserable. At school, many of them were considered slow learners. Yet, each one of them, at a crucial moment in their lives decided to take their fate into their own hands. While people believe that luck plays a crucial role in the game of success, Lucky breaks are nothing more than unexpected rewards for intelligent choices that a person has chosen to make. Success does not just happen because the stars have lined up. Success both in business and personally, is something that’s consciously created. It is the guaranteed result of a deliberate series of acts that anyone can perform. (Sharma, 2010, pg. 48) To achieve rock star status, it doesn’t require one to have had a socially well connected upbringing. One doesn’t have to be a Hilton, a Lohan or a Kardashian to achieve this status, one doesn’t require to be scholarly to be successful, an Amy Winehouse personality can do that for anyone, one does not have to be all hyper and energetic to make it to star status a laid back personality of Robert De Niro can still do the magic. Whereas it is a common belief that success is inborn, through documentaries about such personalities as Michael Jordan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey and Marilyn Monroe among many others, this has proved to be far from the truth. It is worth noting, that most successful people believe not that this ability is inborn but that it can be acquired and enhanced. The ability to be succesful is accessible to anyone who takes the time and enegry to cultivate it (Fisher and Allen, 2008, pg. 7). Some factors can be identified as universal to success. Factors, which every person inherently possesses. The importance of these individuals in American culture cannot be overly emphasized. Born to poor parents and humble beginnings in no way could these aspects have indicated the impact that they would have on the world. What these characters show is that humble beginnings are not impediments to future success. But rather, are stimuli for one to aim for the highest branch. Repeatedly, people pursue goals as a zero sum game. This is to say, one wins, or the other party wins that is, the both of you cannot win. But success does not work in this way. In most sets of circumstances, every person willing to exert more effort and work has the capability to win. This applies also in competitive sports, the ‘looser’ might win. For example, the Texas Rangers team last year, with all the quandaries and squabbles they were experiencing no one expected them to win many games. In spite of this, they were able to qualify for the World Series for the first time in the team’s history. Even though they lost, just the fact that they made it that far was a win in itself. Successful people make decisions and initiate action, they pursue the most productive thing without looking back, they seek to undertake one thing at a time and they employ positive attitudes throughout all their undertakings. They have refused to accept failure and have redefined it in their own words, they don’t let any obstacle, fear or uncertainty hold them back and prevent them from achieving what they endeavoured to accomplish, they have found purpose with their life, they don’t allow minor concerns to distract them from their goals In every walk of life, every person has an equal opportunity for being a success. A very important aspect of succesful people is that they all had failures, sometimes many failures (Fisher and Allen, 2008, pg. 3). Henry ford is an excellent example of an ordinary plain John, a Tom, Dick and Harry who refused to accept failure and redefined failure in his own words. Whereas today Ford Motor Company is renowned for its pioneering and innovative car assembly line as well as American-made vehicles, Ford was never a twinkling of an eye success. On the contrary, his earlier businesses ventures failed and left him penniless and broke for a record five times, before he founded the now pride of America and international Ford Motor Company. J K Rowling is another example of a plain Jane who refused to become a product of nurture and nature and let her determination drive her to great heights. Before she published the Harry Porters series, she was penniless, extremely depressed, divorced while at the same time trying to raise a child all by her own. However, in a span of five years only through her efforts and hard work she has gone from a woman who was surviving on welfare, depending on handouts for her living into being one of the richest women in the world. These two are outstanding examples of people who went against the popular belief that nature and nurture define the fate of an individual. The good news is that anyone and everyone can achieve rock star status. If only they develop a positive mental attitude in their lives, work hard, refuse to accept failure, learn from people who have been there before and not letting any obstacles, fear or uncertainty hold them back. Success can be achieved by finding a purpose with ones’ life, by not allowing nature and nurture to define the path that their lives take. Epigrammatically saying, success can be acquired and enhanced. However, it is for us to decide what success means for us. This is the first step that makes all the difference in the journey to success. Anyone can be successful. Few choose to be. Cited Works Read More