Thesis statements

            One of the big controversies in our society today is the argument about medical marijuana.  Some say that it would be bad for our society as there would be no more control over people smoking marijuana to get a high.  But on the other side of the argument it is being attempted to be legalized as it is very effective at fighting different kinds of ailments.  Going further into why these two groups think so differently could help find a middle ground so that both groups could get what they hold for right.

            Medical Marijuana has been a very controversial topic over the past few years.  Several states have already legalized the use of it but the majority of states have yet to try and legalize it or are still in the process of discussing it.  It could be a very helpful tool in curing many known ailments more efficiently and far more cost efficient than the medicine that is currently on the market.  If more people supported the use of medical marijuana instead of using marijuana to smoke than this could be a great improvement to our current medical system.  There is only the problem currently that most people do use marijuana illegally to get high and therefore many people do not support the legalization of it.

Chapter 26 and 27

Chapter 26 was about creating your own style which was very interesting to me.  Everyone has their own style and some make it work and other don't.  It got me to try and figure out what my style of writing is and how formal it may or may not be or how well I word sentences in my previous essays and see if I could find some sort of pattern among different essays that i've written.  I'm still trying to figure out how I personally write and what I can improve but I would personally say I have a good start for myself in terms of my writing style, there is definitely a lot of room for improvement which I have already found several different points where I could improve.  I will also try and utilize this on project 4, but since it is a research paper it will certainly be formed differently than most essays that I have written.  For the project ill have to make sure to adjust my style of writing not to show bias, which I have found in my previous essays that I do tend to show more bias then is probably good for a research paper. This was a very helpful chapter to read as I can now identify my style of writing and try and improve it to write better essays.

Chapter 14 Strategies for Arguing

When it comes to arguing the goal is usually to try and win and convince someone that you are right.  There are many ways to go about this but some of the best ways are talked about in this chapter.  Usually rhetorical styles help convince people to your side, you also need to make sure that all of your facts are correct since there's no point in arguing if your not even sure yourself if your own facts are correct or not.  If you can also bring in visual pictures of what you are trying to argue than you will be more likely to be able to create the bigger picture for someone else who has different view points.  Create a lot of comparisons and if you can add some humor as it can lighten the mood and help convince people that you are right.

Project 4 topic idea.

• Whether medical marijuana should be legal or not.
• What kind of cars should and shouldn't be aloud to be on the roads in the US.
• Should we work on transferring to electric cars as fast as possible.

Each of these topics could be good as they have strong supporters on both sides, and both sides have good points to make so there could be some way of finding a middle ground in one of these topics to write about.  There are also countless sources to use to help support a case for a research paper.  I will likely try and make a case about medical marijuana as it is currently a growing issue, with several states having already legalized it and many more states are attempting to make cases on why it should be legal.  There will be a lot of information on this topic so it will be tricky to select relevant sources and make sure that sources are from places that have done their own research and this could be a great topic since the for and against arguments of this topic have very clear lines, and some of these lines could be attempted to be broken down in a paper discussing the reasoning of both sides and how there may be compromise.

Work is a Blessing

Yes I do agree with the passage, and the author uses good statements to prove his point.  He uses good rhetoric to strategically convince the audience to the point he is trying to make.  Work really is a blessing because you get to be able to provide for the ones you love.  You can afford luxuries for yourself to make your life better.  By working you help out the entire world by providing your expertise in your field to improve the world and help the community where you are working.  He makes good points about how he finds himself and I feel like I relate to this a little bit, as I worked for a year in Germany.  I still have a lot to learn about working, but I believe ill eventually know fully what the author is talking about when i finish college and find a job.