Blog Post

           I think everyone has opportunities to advance in life. However I do not believe everyone has equal opportunities. Dalton makes interesting points in his essay. In his opinion, race and social standing play a part in achieving success. I believe he is right about that. People have been judged because of their race and people are still judged to this day. People in other countries do not have the same chance to achieve success as Americans do.

I understand why Dalton calls Alger’s essay Rags to Riches a myth. Chances of obtaining some sort of success like the one in Alger’s essay are rare. Life is not that easy. People with high social standing have more opportunities than someone with a lower social standing. There can never be equal opportunities of achieving success because someone always better than someone else. Someone always has more advances than someone else does. College is an example. Everyone can’t get into college. Some people might only be able to go one semester to a university because of a lack of financial resources. So that person does not have equal opportunities against someone who can afford to go the whole year or longer. Everyone is different so everyone has different situations.

Another example is getting a job. An employer would hire someone who has more experience and knowledge than someone who doesn’t. So the person who received the job would have the advance over the person who did not receive the job. There are not equal opportunities in life because everyone has an advance over someone.

Thoughts on readings 2

       I think marriage is important. I think marriage should be between two people who love and care for each other. Of course, that isn’t the way it always works. Some people get married for the wrong reasons. That explains why divorce rates are so high. Some people get married so they will receive the benefits of marriage. In some cultures, there are even arranged marriages so some couples don’t have a choice. I agree that marriage isn’t for everyone. Some people just aren’t ready to make such an important commitment that could change their lives. Some people honestly don’t take marriage seriously enough. Some people just marry so they can get out of their parent’s home. That happened to a person I know and the marriage ended in a divorce after of couple of years. Marriage isn’t a simple decision because it’s life changing. I find it strange that in ancient Rome, a man wasn’t a citizen until he was married. Just shows another way how different life is now. I find it surprising that marriage cases went all the way to the Supreme Court. I had no idea that there were four concepts of marriage that the court could decide. The concepts make sense though. I like that marriage in the US is considered to be unique. I’m not entirely sure where I stand on same sex marriages. Religiously, I would be against it but morally I’m not so sure. I think it’s important to be with the person you love. Marriage could be considered a right in searching for the pursuit of happiness. The writer in the Reading America made interesting points about same sex couples not having all the rights that other marriages have. Honestly, I can’t really say if I’m for or against it. I haven’t figured that out yet. 

       The ideas in The Little Seagull were helpful. The clustering reminded me of the web for brainstorming that I learned years ago. The information about paragraphs was interesting. I never thought to use an analogy in my writings for English class. I never really used parallel structure. I always had a hard time identifying it and fully understanding how to properly use it.

Thoughts of Readings 1

          From what I gathered from the readings are ways to help form arguments. The readings described different formats and ways for people to develop arguments in essays. In They Say I Say, different ways of starting the arguments were given. Examples of a point being assumed or implied were given. So rather than the point that other person is arguing for the writer states in a way that is implied so the audience has to figure it out. This way of thinking can really get audience thinking about the argument. In the book, it is mentioned that it is important to remind that audience what the writer is arguing against. If the audience isn’t reminded, they may forget or become confused about what the writer is talking about. I agree that it is okay to summarize the other person view point so the audience can hear both sides. I don’t see why the writer would be worry about changing their mind about their own ideas after reading what the opposing person has to say. If the writer truly feels strong about their opinion they’re not going to it over what the other person says. I don’t quite understand that by summarizing, you’re putting yourself in the other person’s place. I mean if you’re summarizing you’re just telling about the other person ideas to inform the audience of what you’re going against. I don’t see how you’re putting aside your own ideas.

            I think it is an idea to summarize the ideas of what you’re opposing in your first paragraph and then go into your own ideas and beliefs in your second and third paragraph of the argument. I agree that people use verbs that have more tone to it so the point can be emphasized.