Homework for April 15th

Revised thesis statement:
Because Barbie is the single most successful doll ever produced, she is to blame for self-esteem and body image issues among young girls.


Subtopics:
-Barbie's have unrealistic body measurements that are not obtainable among girls
-Barbie's are the most popular doll making it influential on the expectations it creates for girls.
-


I feel that my claim is important because Barbie is a very well-known doll around the world. So many young girls play with Barbie dolls and look up to/want to be or look just like her. How she looks and her proportions are unrealistic in the real world.

Toward a Policy on Drugs

-Narrow Topic: relationship between drugs and crime


-Thesis: Drug users should not be punished and it is not effective.


-Expectations in intro: Talking about what people want from a criminal justice system, different approaches to regulation/solution, see what has been working for other countries. 


-Subtopics:
     -sub points
Defining punishments, defining usage, the relations between crime and drugs. Also goes into talking about legalization as a solution, medicinal use, decriminalization. Another option talked about following methods that other countries use.


-Conclusion: Wraps it up by talking about the correlation between crime rates and drug use. Talks about even if drugs were easier to access doesn't mean that crime rates will go down. It is a complex solution.

Why is college bullshit?

The claim of this episode of "bullshit" was that college isn't what it is perceived to be. College is said to be a place where everyone's perceptions and ideas can come together and in the episode it tries to prove that's not the case. It also talks about the stereotype that in order to be successful and go somewhere in life you have to go to college. It gives examples of how professors are brainwashing.  I would say that the overall claim was fairly focused. They showed some interviews from students attending the college and their opinions. They also used consultants, lawyers, professors, etc. to back up the statement that college is bullshit.

Immigration Comparison

The two stories talked about immigration, Mexican immigration in specific. They talked about reasons why/why not immigrants should be allowed in the U.S. While talking about immigration there was also politics involved. Politics have to be involved due to there being a law on illegal immigration. Other topics related include inequality, family, citizenship, poverty, etc. Immigration in the past compared to the present is similar and the policy/law should mirror that. The purpose is to educate the reader about the U.S/Mexico immigration. The writer compares his ancestors(his grandfather vs. Angel) tone is serious and dramatic.


Story 2
The second story was more about the reasons why illegal immigrants should not be allowed in the United States. It also talked about things such as cheap labor, identity, legality. Enforcement on illegal immigration isn't tough enough; U.S is complacent with illegal immigration; expectations are too low. Audience could be voters, people for open borders and amnesty. The story is very serious and authoritative.

Compare/Contrast paper

Intro--
-Setting your narrow topic
-Identifying articles/authors you're analyzing
-Tentative thesis (Final paper)
-Sources for consideration


Body of paper--
-Article by article approach
II. Article 1 summary
    A. Point 1 (Ethos)
    B. Point 2 (Pathos)
    C. Point 3 (Logos)
III. Article 2 summary
    A. Point 1
    B. Point 2
    C. Point 3
V. Direct comparison
-Point by point approach
II. Point A (Ethos)
     A. Article 1
     B. Article 2
III. Point B (Pathos)
     A. Article 1
     B. Article 2
V. Conclusion
     A. Determine use of sources
     B. Justification

Exploring Narrower Topics

Broad Topic:

Children’s toys

What’s involved?

Children

Parents

Friends

Narrower Topic:

Effect a toy has on children

Who’s involved?

Parents

Children

Company of the toy

Maker of the toy

Narrower Topic:

How does Barbie dolls influence body image?

What do I know about Barbie’s?

They are very common among young girls

It is a toy that most young girls grow up playing with

Has the “ideal” body

Sold around the world

Question:

If Barbie dolls are common for young girls, what’s making it cause a negative image?

Ideas:

The doll is perceived to be perfect

Makes girls try to look to that unrealistic standard

Young girls look up to an image that is unattainable

Question:

What negative impact do Barbie’s have on young girls? What can it lead to when they become older?

TED talk

I think that the implied thesis is gossip shows who we really are as a society. A lot of people are embarrassed or it is frowned upon to gossip and read magazines about celebrities. The lady on ted talk made a lot of connections to gossiping. Whether it's about gender, sexuality, or cheating scandals it all shows us who we really are based on our opinions about the topics. She gave an example of how a few years back Chris Brown beat Rhianna yet he just won a grammy and we as a society are supporting his music.