Introduction take 3

“I bet your Dad beats you and that’s why you hide inside your burqa.”

“So what do you do for fun? Plan terrorist attacks?”

Muslim women are the “easiest targets” of hate violence in America (Donnell, 123). No wonder young Muslims are fleeing religion. Constant attacks in the school halls can often lead to self doubt and hurt feelings. Often, the only education many students receive about Islam comes from CNN reports on terrorist events and NPR discussions on ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). In fact, over 50% of Americans reported not having a "basic understanding" of Islam (Bassiri, 54). But teasing targets are not limited to those who outwardly proclaim their religion with a burqa or hijab. 

“At least you’re not one of those hyper-breeding, Romney worshipping Mormons.”

“Look at me! I’m a Hindu cow! Bow down to me!”

“He probably acts that way because he was raped as an alter boy.”

Children and adolescents are very capable of hurtful comments. At one point or another, I have heard each one of these mentioned comments pointed in mocking disrespect. However, are these juvenile commenters entirely to blame? We, as representatives of our religion, foster animosity towards different religions when we emphasize that religious customs and traditions that we do not follow belong to the strangers we call “them,” instead of who we see as the normal “us.” The word “strange” has Latin roots in the word meaning “foreign” (Mann, 3), indicating something peculiar and odd. Thus, it is our responsibility to narrow the perceived gap between “them” and “us” by helping community members understand the motivations behind different religious customs and practices. 

In our public halls, the decision should not be whether we have a Christmas tree or a Taoist shrine. We should not defensively guard our traditions of making latkes, floating lanterns and painting henna, but turn outwards and share our religious traditions. Bullying and discrimination against religious customs and beliefs is often the product of ignorance. We, as leaders in the community, can combat ignorance by implementing more incorporative religious activities and education in our communities so that the Muslim may grow to understand Easter, the Jew, Ramadan, and the Christian, Yom Kippur. Such actions may include implementing a more comprehensive religious education in public school systems, or holding community holiday events.

Indeed, the crux behind moral judgements is “how choices are made” (Kuykendall, 84). If we can play a part in helping students to make choices based upon a comprehensive understanding of religion and cultures, we can begin to banish the perceived notion of “them” and “us.” After all, Diwali, Loy Krathong and Hanukkah all represent a “festival of lights” to Hindus, Buddhists and Jews.

Introduction Take 2

“I bet your Dad beats you and that’s why you hide inside your burqa.”

“At least you’re not one of those hyper-breeding Utah Mormons.”

“Look at me! I’m a Hindu cow! Bow down to me!”

Children and adolescents are very capable of hurtful comments. At one point or another, I have heard each one of these comments pointed towards a friend in mocking disrespect. However, the children themselves are not entirely to blame. We foster animosity towards different religions when we emphasize that religious customs and traditions that we do not understand belong to “them,” instead of “us.” Thus, it is our responsibility to narrow the perceived gap between “them” and “us” by helping community members understand the motivations behind different religious customs and practices. 

In our public halls, it should not be a choice between having a Christmas tree or Diwali candles or a Taoist shrine. We should not defensively guard our traditions of making latkes, floating lanterns and painting henna, but turn outwards and share our religious traditions. Bullying and discrimination against religious customs and beliefs is often the product of ignorance. We, as leaders in the community, can combat ignorance by implementing more incorporative religious activities and education in our communities so that the Muslim may grow to understand Easter, the Jew, Ramadan, and the Christian, Yom Kippur. Such actions may include implementing a more comprehensive religious education in public school systems, or holding community holiday events. 

Indeed, the crux behind moral judgements is “how choices are made” (Kuykendall, 84). If we can play a part in helping students to make choices based upon a comprehensive understanding of religion and cultures, we can begin to eliminate the perceived notion of a “them” and “us” perception. After all, Diwali, Loy Krathong and Hanukkah all mean a “festival of lights” to Hindus, Buddhists and Jews. 

Introduction draft

“I bet your Dad beats you and that’s why you hide inside your burqa.”

“At least you’re not one of those hyper-breeding Utah Mormons.”

“What do Buddhists do all day? Sit under a tree and mediate?”

“Look at me! I’m a Hindu cow! Bow down to me!”

Children and adolescents are capable of hurtful comments. At one point or another in my educational career, I have heard each one of these comments pointed towards a friend in mocking disrespect. Animosity towards religions is reinforced by the notion that things we do not understand belong to “them,” and not “us.” Thus, we must narrow the perceived gap between “them” and “us” by helping community members understand the motivations behind different religious customs and practices. 

In our public halls, it should not be a choice between having a Christmas tree or Diwali candles or a Taoist shrine. We should not defensively guard our traditions of latkes, floating lanterns and henna, but turn outwards and share our traditions. Bullying and discrimination against religious customs and beliefs is often the product of ignorance. One way, we, as leaders in the community, can combat ignorance is by implementing more incorporative religious activities and education in our communities so that the Muslim may grow to understand Easter, the Jew, Ramadan, and the Christian, Yom Kippur. Such actions may include implementing a more comprehensive religious education in public school systems, or holding community holiday events. 

Indeed, the crux behind moral judgements is “how choices are made” (Kuykendall, 84). If we can play a part in helping students to make choices in how they treat others based upon a comprehensive understanding of religion and cultures, we can begin to eliminate the perceived notion of a “them” and “us” population. After all, Diwali, Loy Krathong and Hanukkah translate to a “festival of lights” to Hindus, Buddhists and Jews.

Issue Paper: the Palace of Justice

The Palace of Justice: Martin Luther King

The Anatomy of Intolerance

Kambiz Ghanea Bassiri

The bigger issue: lack of general education about religions

The smaller issue: Facing Islamophobia in American public schools

Why Islamophobia?

Given that this division persists, even though the majority of Americans admit that they do not “have a good basic understanding of the teachings and beliefs of Islam,” it seems clear that attitudes towards Islam have less to do with the religion and its practitioners than it does with current events and media reports, which have indelibly associated Islam with violence in the American public square. (54)

(Look up: “Bands of Others?” Attitudes towards Muslims in Contemporary American Society.” The Journal of Politics  71:3 (July 2009), pp. 847-862)

Anti Muslim sentiments are the manufactured byproducts of the propaganda campaigns of a limited but influential number of Islamophobes.

While public opinion scholars and researches of Islamophobia agree that anti Muslim attitudes are on the rise and politically significant, there is no clear explanation of its basis. (56)

Consequently, both the media and the state reinforce through their actions, if not always by words, the association of Islam with violence that has ostracized a segment of the American population on the basis of religion.” (59)

“In the current climate of escalated religiously motivated violence since the terrible attacks of September 11, Muslim women in hijab (headscarf) are particularly vulnerable because, for many years, western media and literature have consistently portrayed covered women as the predominant image of Islam. As a result, Muslim women in headscarves and other Muslim style clothing are often the first and easiest targets of hate violence.” Donnell (2003: 123)

Teaching With Sensitivity:

“This animosity is reinforced by the notion propagated by some that Islam is “their” religion, not “ours.” Such views are untenable considering that over six million Americans profess faith in Islam, and Muslims comprise one of the largest religious groups in the United States.”

What can we do?

Interpreting their religion in line with national interest. (63)

To profess oneself a Buddhist, a Muslim, or anything but Protestant, Catholic or Jew, even when one’s Americanness is otherwise beyond question would imply being foreign. (64)

I’m a Mormon ad

make your religion relevant to the larger community

strengthen your own people-pretty much the only thing you can do at the grassroots level. Get involved with some of the bigger organizations maybe?

Sharia: moral code and religious law of a prophetic religion-the infallible law of God

Is Sharia like the law of Moses?

watch: Mistaken Identity, Sikh’s in America

“Look, 9/11 was a huge traumatic shock….but the Cold War is gone. All the theologies and ideologies that were going to supplant ours are gone. The communists, the fascists-get serious! The few authoritarian regimes that are left around are peanuts!….We can’t let terrorism suddenly become the substitute for Red China and the Soviet Union as our all encompassing enemy, this great Muslim extremist, monolithic thing from somewhere in Mauritania all the way through Muslim India. They’re all different. It’s not going to come together that way. (Secretary of State Colin Powell)

• “school districts might consider establishing some form of interfaith education committee to help define and develop a mutually acceptable format for teaching about religion in the classroom. Such a group should be comprised of open minded, enthusiastic and committed parents, teachers and administrators striving to enhance sensitivity and balance in the classroom.” (teaching with sensitivity, 55)
• avoid reductionism, open ended seeking not consensus but understanding and appreciation of the values that lead to different religious expressions, especially with the objective of breaking down stereotypes and of helping students to accept the internal validity of religious experiences other than their own.
• ie) organize for there to be a room for salah at school
• educate teachers on Ramadan and other cultural customs

defining terms:

Islamophobia: “emblematic expression of contemporary biopolitical racism” (Tyrer 2011)

The issues:

Islamic teenagers are being made fun of

people are prejudice against Islamic teenagers, particular those with hijab and burqa= “easiest targets of hate violence”

media reports and current events “indelibly associated Islam with violence in the American public square”

We are, thus, left with a media that, rather than providing explanations of the political realities of our time, reflects society’s understanding of Islam and violence and has created a looping effect that fuels Islamophobia. (Bassiri, 58)

“Muslim youth are seen as trapped by an anti modernity that is also inherently anti-Western and opposed to liberal, secular democacy; young males are inextricably associated with the spectre of radical Islam and fundamentalist militancy, and Muslim females are seen inherently oppressed by their religion and cultural traditions and in need of rescue by ‘the West.’ (Razack 2008)-from the far right to the mainstream

Preparing to write

What this paper should answer:

• Why are young adults fleeing religious services?
• What consequences does this have for young adults or the country in general?
• How might our particular congregation bring back youth?
• What are the more appealing alternatives to religion? When did this trend start and why?

Things to look up:

• CAIR
• interesting, in “Islamophobia and Dissent,” the author found that the hardships they had to face in a post 9/11 world strengthened the people, not weakened them or caused dissent.

Really rough draft. More like a jotting of disconnected ideas, tangled with personal thoughts.

A Government In Thrall of Religion

Frank R Zindler

A Call to Atheist America: How Zindler Reaffirms Religion must be Expelled from Government

In A Government in Thrall of Religion, Zindler launches a series of strikes against President Bush’s policies and religion, making an emotional appeal for Atheist America to “restore a semblance of sanity” in American politics. This piece is rife with subtle wordings that undermine Bush’s authority, humorous biblical analogies undermining administrative choices, repetitive phrasing and questions that create draw attention to certain issues, structural parallels to the Declaration of Independence, strong images of nature that makes primitive the role of religion, and makes radical accusations designed to arouse strong emotions. By confidently implementing these tools in his article, Zindler creates an emotionally powerful but logically weak call to restore the American government to “the road of reality.”

Subtle Wording

Zindler demonstrates personal biases in his subtle wording. While these wordings strengthen Zindler’s arguments by undermining Bush’s authority and validity of his decisions, it also weakens his argument because it makes his own biases very transparent.  REPETITIVE Bush is consistently referred to as “Mr Bush,” as if to indicate he is not worthy of being called the President. He is only referred to as “President Bush” when he is being made fun of, such as when Zindler compares Bush to the “angel…from the Garden of Eden.” By recognizing Bush as a President only to compare him to what Zindler perceives to be a whimsical fictional tyrant, Zindler discounts Bush’s authority as President. Zindler also manipulates adjectives to demonize Bush. For instance, he accuses Bush of siding with “greedy, conscienceless” corporations and “suppressing” funds. The use of these strong adjectives causes the reader to associate the subject, Bush, with these words with negative connotations. For instance, the use of the word “suppressing” in regards to funds implies that Bush is singlehandedly preventing progress that would otherwise been easily carried out.

Government in Thrall with Religion also utilizes biblical analogies in order to poke fun at religion. This provides contrast with the serious subject Zindler is addressing, undermines the seriousness of religion and makes him seem more knowledgeable to his audience. Pertaining to Bush, Zindler says that “He knoweth not what he doeth.” By framing Bush’s ignorance in this context, Zindler makes himself appear as the more knowledgeable of the two. Here, Zindler assumes a position of authority as the narrator of events, describing a small child.  WHAT? YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE ON PAPER SARAH. 

There is a consistent use of repetitive phrases and questions throughout this piece. Zindler attacks Bush’s actions through the repetition of the “If he…[insert synonym for ‘understood’]” in order to point out perceived failings in Bush’s policy decisions. The use of short, impactful repetitions allows the reader to clearly see the failings of the former President. WHY THOUGH? While this is effective emotional manipulation as the reader clearly is able to see the many faults of the President, at times it oversimplifies, summarizing a complex issue in a few words only allowing the audience to see a single perspective of an issue. GIVE EXAMPLE HERE

This piece ends with a repetitious “we must…” call to action. This emotional revival almost takes on a sermonic rhythm of calling “godless Americans” to remedy the malady of religion. While the rhythm and repetition of this technique is emotionally appealing, it fails to make logical sense. For instance, Zindler argues that ignorance spurred by religion “threatens our species with extinction.” What evidence does Zindler have behind this claim? NEEDS SOMETHING HERE BUT I CAN’T THINK RIGHT NOW

Loose Parallel structure to Declaration of Independence

States what the government should look like, then follows this with a list of grievances. Instead of tea taxes, it’s pulling out of cloning projects. The only difference is Zidler ends with a call to action.

Similarly, this speech echoes the structure of the Declaration of Independence. This famed document first has a preamble describing the extraordinary context for a declaration, boldly declares perceived truths of the world, lists grievances against King George, then declares the desired rights. The structure of this article first describes the context—lack of separation between church and state in today’s government, boldly declares the perceived truth that “Nothing fails like prayer,” proceeds to list grievances against President Bush, then declares the desired outcome—for “godless Americans” to change the world. By patterning Zindler’s argument against the document that was one of the first steps of creating an independent America, Zindler infers that this issue holds the same amount of importance as Americans declaring independence from Britain. Likewise by creating this comparison, Zidler effectively makes deep accusations that the seriousness of the tyrannous actions of President Bush are like the actions of King George. CONCLUDING SENTENCE HERE

At times, this speech resembled a creative writing exercise more than a serious speech. Zindler uses many extreme images subjecting religion to being an insensitive and demeaning entity. He calls religious followers “minions…ignorant of everything”, describes faith as a “dark and swelling tide,” and has priests feeding at “monetary mangers created for the public weal.” By comparing religious followers to “minions,” Zindler implies that religious people are simply blind followers of priests and pastors. Zindler confidently and singularly states his case then moves on to his point. This both hinders and helps his argument. Logically, this makes no sense as he provides no evidence to back up his claim but is emotionally impactful as he asserts himself confidently, allowing the audience to place trust in his claims because he trusts himself. MAKE THIS MAKE SENSE. IT MAKES NO SENSE SARAH. By placing priests feeding at “monetary mangers,” Zindler victimizes religious parishes. Priests are victimized because they are reduced to animalistic status, indicating that they cannot think or act for themselves because they are simply animals. While this is clearly a personal opinion with no evidence apparent in the document, it remains powerful because it is a memorable analogy. SOME SORT OF CONCLUSION HERE.

By making radical accusations against religion and the Bush administration, Zindler reassures his atheist audience that his views are indeed similar to their views. Furthermore, however illogical pointed and unsubstantiated accusations such as “religion fosters ignorance” may seem, they do make his speech poignant and memorable. Without substantiated evidence for his claims, Zindler does not tire his listener with listening to his reasoning but assumes the audience can come to agree with him. WHAT SARAH? WHAT YOU ARE WRITING MAKES NO SENSE. 

In conclusion, Zindler creates an effective attack on religion and the Bush administration for a primarily atheistic audience. His radical but unsubstantiated claims and powerful imagery serve as a double edged sword; they reaffirm the confidence he has in his positions but  logically make little sense. The parallels he plays between the constitution and the bible draw upon emotions of patriotism. For according to Zindler, religion is child’s folly and only the educated have the capacity to stop it from “threatening our species with extinction.”

Thesis Proposal/Outline and random thoughts

A Government In Thrall of Religion

Frank R Zindler

Zindler gives an emotional call to Atheist America to “restore a semblance of sanity” in American politics by launching a series of strikes against President Bush’s policies and religion. This piece is rife with subtle wordings that undermine Bush’s authority, humorous biblical analogies undermining administrative choices, repetitive phrasing and questions that create draw attention to certain issues, structural parallels to the Declaration of Independence, strong nature imagery that makes primitive the role of religion and radical accusations designed to arouse strong emotions. By confidently implementing these tools in his article, Zindler creates an emotionally powerful but logically weak call to restore the American government to a “the road of reality.”

Subtle Wording

Zindler refers to Bush as “Mr Bush” and refrains from addressing him as a President unless he is mocking his position.

• “President Bush, like the angel who chased Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.”

Consistent use of the preposition anti-, and words with negative connotations

-anti-environmental, suppress, greedy, consciousless, etc.

“He knoweth not what he doeth.”

Biblical Humor through extreme examples

• “He knoweth not what he doeth”
• President Bush, like the angel who chased Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, does not want us to have a chance to eat the fruit of the tree of life.

What purpose does this play? Zindler is trying to say he knows all the biblical stories and is just as in tune with what the bible may say as his opponents are.

Repetitive Phrasing and Questions

• “If he… (had a firm grasp, could understand, realized…)
• Mr Bush (accusation, deprived, pulled out of…)
• Repetition of “We must.”

Loose Parallel structure to Declaration of Independence

• States what the government should look like, then follows this with a list of grievances. Instead of tea taxes, it’s pulling out of cloning projects. The only difference is Zidler ends with a call to action.

Nature Imagery

• dark and swelling tide of superstition
• foxes to guard our henhouses
• chance to eat the fruit of the tree of life
• acorns are not oak trees
• Trojan Horse in a public barn
• horse must be put out to pasture in the churchyard

Radical Accusations

• Nothing fails like prayer
• Mispronunciation of the word nuclear would seem to signal the total depth of his understanding of physics
• He can collude with greedy and conscienceless corporations
• He thinks ecologists are just wacko tree hugging bird watching eccentrics who don’t understand economics.
• It is the ignorance fostered by religion that now threatens our very species with extinction.

If religion fosters ignorance, why are we still alive?

What evidence do you have that prayer always fails?

Where did your ideas come from?

But do the said questions apply to an atheist audience?

Faith in America

Purpose of the piece: To appease those who feel that Romney's religion is incongruous with being an American leader and "calm Americans' concerns about his Mormon religion" (see next article). The official reason would probably just be because Romney wanted to address the role of religion in America.

Ethos: Governor Romney establishes ethos by sharing personal experiences of how he is a "religious, moral man," attempts to identify with the reader by appealing to those with a faith in God, and implies that he is trying to identify with all who are 'good, moral people.’

Pathos: Romney uses concrete examples such as explaining his parents marched for civil rights and worked in a soup kitchen. He also uses strong phrases such as, "theocratic tyranny" and "symphony of faith" as opposed to "secular government" or "faithful group." 

Logos: Romney's arguments are accountable as he mainly uses life examples. It seems his target audience was other religious groups, trying to convince them that Mormons border on "normality." I don't think his scope reached atheists, because he basically disregards their existence.  His words are relevant to a predominantly Christian audience, but don’t reach much further than that. I also felt that his argument was too focused on the faith aspect. This is especially not useful because a lot of people that this was meant to reach don’t have faith in the same thing. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the only similarities in faith was that both the audience and speaker thought they were right.  I think he could have also done a better job distinguishing religion as he sees it and religion as it is manifest in derogatory manners elsewhere. He addresses the “creed of conversion by conquest” but doesn’t talk about extremists and how to differ between the two. I think his approach that people and religion are inseparable could have been approached differently. 

Pathos: Why I can't Stop Reading Mormon Mommy Blogs

How does the author use pathos to appeal to the reader?

At some point in time, everybody feels like their life is unfulfilling. Everyone needs an escape from reality.

That's the main emotional link that the author uses to hook the reader. Mommy blogs are her escape from a reality of work and other chaos. Each one of us has a reality of conflicting conflicts, and can relate. Furthermore, some people argue women can't "have it all"--a life of a flourishing career, a happy family with kids and sanity at the same time. This article has the author on the opposite end of the spectrum from the bloggers she discusses, thus appealing to people on both ends of the spectrum as well as everyone in between.

Reflective Statement

I think the trap that I fell into was treating this opinion editorial like a personal statement. Instead

of making a strong argument for something, I really just wanted to write a bunch of creative,

quotable sentences that left a punch. I was more interested in being catchy than the actual

substance, when it really should have been the other way around. However, spending time on

writing sentences I enjoyed did make the writing process more interesting.

The hardest part of writing this paper was making my ideas flow nicely together. I ended

up with about five catchy and wonderful introductions, then a few short paragraphs of

substance. The difficult part was reversing that order—getting one wonderful introduction and a

myriad of meaty points to back my claim up.

 The other part of this assignment that was difficult was that my personal opinion

switched halfway through writing this paper. I read a book by Elder Bednar, “Act In Doctrine”,

which articulated quite a few amazing ways to teach that essentially persuaded me that

teaching the doctrines instead of discussing the questions was a more important topic to

discuss. If we taught, and were taught pure doctrines and principles, there would be no need for

my essay. If I was to redo my opinion editorial, I would discuss how our classrooms need to

focus more on teaching pure Gospel Principles and Doctrines and less on applications of

Principles and Doctrines. This is essentially the entire converse of my argument but essentially

gets down to the core of the issue.

 All things considered though, I think the most useful thing that I did in preparation for this

assignment was rereading my favorite opinion articles collected over time in order to see how

different authors effectively utilized their own styles.

Styelacademy #1

I use appositives in abundance in my writing. In fact, my writing is so full of appositives

my sentences last forever, which is not a good thing. When writing essays, I find that I

constantly use appositives to define things that I am talking about, and give examples of

what I think something means. This both adds and detracts from clarity. It makes it very

clear what I mean to express, but muffles my writing because appositives detracts from

the central purpose the sentence is trying to convey-essentially shrouding an intent and

idea in definitions and examples. See? I just created a run on sentence using

appositives. I end up adding so much information that I feel is imperative to

understanding what I am trying to convey, that my meaning gets lost in a sea of words.

What I hope to gain from this video is how to create appositives to help make a

sentence more impactful and less distracting. It would also be beneficial for me to learn

how to make my appositives to flow better.

From the video I learned that appositives have four main purposes: to identify or

rename, to explain or give examples of previously given sentences, to define, and to

summarize. Definitions and appositives typically occur after the noun that they are

describing. Appositives can be surrounded by either commas or dashes. Dashes help

add drama to the sentence, drawing attention to the information between the dashes. I

hope to continue using appositives in my writing, but I feel that I would benefit by using

fewer for the sake of clarity. A rule that I have been trying to implement is that my thesis

statements should never be longer than fifteen words long. Afterwards, however, I will

permit myself more words per sentence.



Appostives

Exercises

Find and underline the two appositives in the following sentence and then categorize them.


It is an astonishing thought that every last backdrop and foreprop of our lives, the sweet 

air we breathe, the cool water we drink, the speed bumps we bump over, all consist

of discrete, hollow particles, trillions upon quintillions of vacuum-filled atoms that 

will get close to each other, but never too close.

Propose: to give examples and thus define, describe

- Natalie Angier, The Canon, pp. 91


Combine all the sentences to make one sentence and to create an appositive.

1. Drew Gilpin Faust recently testified before the United States Congress to encourage the

government to fund more science research. Faust is a historian and the first woman to

serve as president of Harvard University.

Drew Gilpin Faust, a history and the first woman to serve as president of Harvard

Universe, testified before the United State Congress to encourage the government to fund

more science research.

2. The word cow contains a diphthong. A diphthong is a vowel sound that kind of glides

from one vowel sound to another.

The word cow contains a diphthong, a vowel sound that kind of glides from one

vowel sound to another.

3. Saltair was once called the Coney Island of the West. Saltair was built in 1893. It was

built on the southern shore of the Great Sale Lake in Utah. Saltair was built by the Los

Angeles and Sale Lake Railroad Company. Saltair was designed by Richard Kletting.

Richard Kletting was a Utah architect of German descent.

Saltair, once called the Coney Island of the West, was built in 1983 on the southern shore of the

Great Sale Lake in Utah by the Los Angeles and Sale Lake Railroad Company, designed by

Richard Kletting, a Utah architect of German descent.

Introduction to Styelacademy

First Impressions of "Introduction to Styleacademy":

- I don't like the narrator's voice.
- This was not meant for entertainment purposes.

Second Impressions:

- This is actually a pretty useful site.
- I might watch these even if I don't need to.

Something that I think is interesting, is individual style. You can't respectfully break the rules without first mastering them. Wolf, for instance, is obviously a literary genius but mastered simple sentences before she broke the rules and made super long run on sentences. Along the same lines, EE Cummings is able to break the rules of punctuation after he's mastered writing in a conventional manner.  Just some food for thought. Not really related to the video though.

GASCAP

Generalization: George W Bush’s speech: Freedom at War with Fear aka “You’re either with us, or against us.”

I know, I know, this isn’t an article. But it’s the perfect generalization example. Here, Bush assumes that you either are patriotic by supporting the war, or you aren’t. Some would argue that they were more patriotic by not wanting to go to war because it was the “better option” hence helping the country more than a war would.

Analogy

In President Obama’s speech almost a week ago now, he compared the threat of ISIS to the threat of Al Qaeda. This is effective in several ways. Firstly, we were essentially able to wipe out it’s top members, Osama Bin Laden and Atiyah Abd al-Rahman. This infers that we should be able to do the same. Secondly, Al Qaeda is fresh in people’s minds since it was recently the anniversary of September 11, raising patriotic emotions.

Signs

Geopolitical Risks and Markets, Economist blog, Buttonwood’s Blog (one of my favorite nerdy places to read :)

The Economist forecasts that the market are going to go down even more, and that conflict is inevitable. He compares world conditions to those at the turn of the 19th century, with dwindling markets and conflicts in many of the same geopolitical circles; between China and Japan, Western Europe and Russia, Africa, etc.

Cause

“Are Liberal Jewish Voters a Thing of the Past?” NYT, Joseph Berger

Pretty self explanatory title. His main supporting cause is that orthodox Jews are having far more children, and that politicians are starting to cater to their wants.

Authority

“Putin Threatens Retaliation against “Strange” Western Sanctions”-Moscow Times

The article states that Putin has said they will take over the the rest of Ukraine if needed. The article essentially uses his word as the only source for validity in the article.

Principle

“Fighting Terrorism under Democracy”-Boston Globe, Alan M. Dershhowitz

Argues that we haven’t been able to find the correct balance between our democratic ideals and protecting ourselves and preserving the rest of the world.  The principle used is that democracy is not working the way that it should, and appeals to the inner patriotic American.

Thesis proposal/ideas

Thesis proposal

Young Latter Day Saints are leaving their faith in droves. Materials questioning church history and doctrine are widely disseminated. Often, these materials raise issues that Millennials are learning about for the first time. This shock exposure can lead these people to mistrust what other sources have told them about the history of the church and the principles of the Gospel.   In order combat this phenomenon, we must hold honest and genuine discussions concerning historical events and controversial gospel principles in our homes and classrooms. However, this must be done using the Spirit and love in the interest of preserving testimonies, not nullifying them.

Arguments Against	Arguments against the Against
Knowledge of this information is not essentially to our salvation so there is no purpose in teaching it. We are only to teach “things essential to our salvation.”	Yes, but how can you speak against something if you don’t know what is being said against you? How can we hope to change public perception of us as a church if we avoid at all costs trying to find out what exactly they are saying about us?
Not everyone’s faith is strong enough to purposely go look for things that could be wrong with their image of the church.	It is better to find out information in a spiritually charged environment where it is easier to discern what is right and what is wrong, than to find out under your own circumstances where any number of variable factors might influence and change how you receive information. Learning about why people dislike us can actually help strengthen testimonies because it can lead to practice using the Spirit to discern what is right and wrong, true and false.
Most of it is false anyway.	Yes, but not all of it. It helps to discuss these things and help people understand that the prophets are indeed inspired and divine, but still human. Controversial church issues are also important to discuss because the church does not advocate blind following—it advocates critical thinking, use of the Spirit and understanding.
It’s better to just never know what other people are saying about us and just mind our own business.	The Gospel is for everyone. There is no “us” and “them.” We are not pitting ourselves against “them.” There is, however, differences in understanding and we cannot bridge the gap without fully understanding ourselves what the issues are and how they were formed.
Some of our history and doctrines might freak some people out.	As always, such discussions must be done with tact, manner, use of the Spirit, and the spirit of discernment.

20 minute free write, Daily Universe document

Timed write

What to write to the Daily universe about.

There should be more women and minorities in the ROTC program at BYU. Right now it is only 5% female and essentially all white, except for me. Not only is this detrimental to BYU as a whole in limiting the flow of ideas in the program, but it creates a narrow minded vision of what the army should be composed of, especially when the ROTC program offers so much to it’s cadres. 

Get rid of some of the GE’s. What if you know exactly what you want to do with your career, and your GE’s simply take up time? Furthermore, what if you are a music major? It distracts from the central focus and tarnishes BYU’s reputation.

What else

What is an issue of utmost importance at BYU? I think sometimes BYU students think they are superior to other students. I think every student should have to spent time away from BYU either in another school (especially in another state) or have mandatory study abroad programs.

It’s hard to think of things to complain about on the spot

General issues around the world

Marijuana, drugs in general, abortion, gay marriage, immigration, foreign policy, trade, feminism, LGBT rights, so many problems.

Could talk about political instability in Thailand.

Corruption in India.

Migrant workers in China.

The loss of minority languages in China.

I still like the ROTC idea. It emphasizes the whiteness of BYU, and how the rest of the world views us as this school with lots of weird people, no minorities and a bunch of white males and subversive females. The essay could focus on the ROTC program, then talk about the perceptions of the school in general and how we as students could strive to change this perception.

Could draw on personal experience—never wanted to go to this school because non Mormons and Mormons alike told me I would hate it and made fun of it all the time.

Can always talk about: 

Why people don’t listen to more classical music

Global warming

The demoralization of society

Now I’m just wasting time.

10 minutes and 16 seconds to go.

Someone once told me the church spends a ton of money trying to make their members think their church is “normal” in society. It would be interesting to do a study on whether or not we find this to be true, what mormons think of this, and what non LDS members think. But that would waste too much time and would have to be done on a much larger scale. 

- Could always write something on why people leave the church.

- Talk about women and the church. Cliche, but necessary.

- Taboo topics in the church that people don’t usually openly discuss without getting heated-the: Priesthood and women, distribution of power, etc.

Back to the ROTC thing. Why don’t more females and minorities join ROTC?

Isn’t part of their culture.

Could talk about the role of Mormon missionaries facilitating the Sino American relationship back in the 1980s. It’s a very interesting topic, but would take a lot of research to write a really good paper on it.

People say they hire Mormons because they are:

stone cold sober

follow without thinking

have no dirty history

have experience with rejection (ie) mission)

How true is it that LDS people “follow without thinking”? Would be very interesting to look into this. 

Three and a half minutes left.

Well

Um

Uh

Could always talk about pollution.

Talk about why standards are where they are. For instance, why are we allowed one piercing, but not two, or none at all? How did that get settled? How much of what we believe to be the standards as an LDS people are actual commandments and others lines drawn because a line had to be drawn somewhere? What difference is there between intent and actual outcome, and do we as a people dwell too much on the actual outcome part of the equation instead of the intent part of the equation?

40 seconds

Why we judge so much.

Why the sky is blue.

How fairy tales are unfeministic (is that a word?) and what we should do about them.