D+ Doldrum; Learning to Write Essays that Professors can Read

My friend Jessica Freitas is really a nice girl. So nice in fact, that when she got a worried look on her face as she read over a draft of my freshman "Great Books" essay, I knew she was going to have problems telling me the truth. Jessica is a debater and she knew what I didn't: that an argument and an author's thoughts are only powerful if they are seen in context and able to be understood by the reader.

That day as she read through my paper, she managed to say something to the extent of "This writing is weak."

I will forever be grateful for her honestly, but at the time I was abashed, I was ashamed; I knew in my heart that it was not up to par, and that's when I resolved to become a 2-week college drop out and join the substantial Malibu homeless population.

I revised, but my fears were proved right when two weeks later, I got a "D" on my first college paper. "D+" was literally my grade, but in my head it also stood for my Great Books Professor, Dr. "D+" Ditmore. I misdirected my anger at him, but I knew that it was my writing that was the problem. In the year that I had taken off between college and highschool, I had forgotten how to formulate an argument.

Jessica continued to be helpful, she took me back to 4th grade "5 paragraph format" on my next paper, telling me that I should "tell the professor what he's going to hear, tell him, and then summarize why it matters." Slowly, I recuperated, by reading through others' papers, I internalized the natural progression of a college-level essay. By the second semester of my freshman year, "success achieved" - I wrote a research paper that another professor wanted to publish.

What I learned from reading my friend's papers (motivated purely by the fear of failure), was that each paper cannot stand alone. A persons' thoughts are only effective and understandable as they add to the tapestry of human thought as a whole; yet they are only provocative as they illuminate other threads of thought by providing contrast. This can effectively be summed up in the mantra "They say _______, I say ________." Jessica said that my writing was weak, Dr. Ditmore said that I had trouble expressing myself, and I say that they forced me to learn how to make my writing relational to other humans.

A Hot Tub full of Corn Syrup

http://eater.com/archives/2011/04/14/you-will-eat-a-hot-tubs-worth-of-corn-syrup-before-you-die.php

http://www.psfk.com/2011/09/americans-eat-42-pounds-of-corn-syrup-annually-headlines.html

The image above presents a startling visual to go with a disturbing statistic. You will eat a hot tub worth of corn syrup before you die.

This presents an implicit argument that poses questions. After pondering the image, you may be asking yourself, "What exactly is corn syrup?" and "Is it a bad thing to eat a hot-tub worth of it?"

Although many implicit arguments are more obvious, like a picture of a happy puppy on a can of dog food, I enjoy the land of political cartoons, hyperbole, and depictions like the one above that make the viewer think and research.

Although I am not (yet) committed to ceasing my consumption of sugary products, this image stopped me from drinking a "Juice Nectar" with high fructose corn syrup in it this afternoon.

The logic behind my decision to abstain from the sweet nectar in a can was this: "Researchers at Princeton University discovered that rats supplied with corn syrup got significantly fatter than rats fed regular sugar, even when caloric intake between the groups was the same."

Objective proof from a credible University provided the ethos (credibility) and logos (logical proof) for the argument I developed to tell myself to stay away from corn syrup. A bit of pathos (emotional appeal) also played its part when I remembered my lack of physical activity and vowed sincerely "never to get fat."

The Christian Gadfly

TRUTH

The picture on the left may implicitly argue that Socrates is a irrelevant old dead dude.

His view that there could be a perfect, absolute truth is now disputed by the more modern view of relativism.

However, I (like Socrates) believe that there is Truth with a capital "T", and that this Truth (while different cultures can express it differently), comes down to love. As in "God is Love," and "This is why we love, because He loved us," Love.

The snapshot of me hugging a girl was taken at a Romanian orphanage, where I got to experience this love that went beyond boundaries while studying abroad last year. I believe that Argumentation, like all facets of live, should be used in service to our neighbor to the praise of the God of love. Like Socrates, I do not claim to know truth, but to seek it. As a Christian, I hope to seek truth and inspire action with the motivation of love.