Loading document…
Opening in Pages for Mac...
Your browser isn’t fully supported.
For the best Pages for iCloud experience, use a supported browser.
Learn More
Cancel
Continue
Writing Record
Tap Into the Personal:
What’s most important to you?
The environment, equality, soccer, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, track, my dog, family, friends, music,
school
What troubles you about (y)our community?
Immediate: How kids are no longer taught that they can’t get everything they want
Extended: The environment and the work we are doing to help it
What do you love about (y)our community?
Immediate: How friendly others are at school, and outside
Extended: How good at welcoming people from elsewhere Canada is compared to other countries
What is the biggest challenge we face in our world?
Climate change and overpopulation, everyday we are doing more and more to kill our planet. We’ve seen
British Columbia at the worst it’s ever been this past year - heat domes and the atmospheric river.
What’s one thing you would change if you had a magic wand?
To eliminate human’s use of gas in the world
Debate:
Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/12/29/does-empathy-guide-or-hinder-
moral-action
I decided to have a debate with Meg on a running debate regarding empathy. The argument asks
“Does empathy guide or hinder moral action?”, which includes two people going back and forth
arguing these two sides. Meg and I both agreed that we thought both had pretty valid points, but I
was especially more geared towards moral wisdom requiring empathy. Jamil had quite a few
interesting points that I found made his argument much more persuasive. In his conclusion, he
mentioned that empathy makes no sense to argue for or against. Personally, I think empathy can be
good or bad depending on the circumstance.
As an example, he mentioned that cancer patients experienced less depression and more
empowerment when their doctors expressed empathy. Thus meaning that people who behave kindly
grow happier and healthier when they are empathetic. I found including this part of the text was
quite clever, as the audience will unintentionally feel empathy towards people such as cancer
patients, as a large majority of people have experienced either themselves or loved ones going
through this terrible disease.
Listing from Lists:
Source:
https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/120-good-persuasive-essay-topics-from-
easy-to-unique.html
School:
-
Are dress codes a good idea for schools?
-
Should students take a self defence class?
Animals:
-
Should it be okay to keep wild animals as pets?
-
What animal makes the worst/best pet?
-
Are big dogs better than small dogs?
-
Should you adopt your pet from an animal shelter?
Sports and Activities:
-
What is the easiest sport to learn?
Social issues:
-
Should wealthy people pay more taxes?
-
Are people with mental illnesses treated fairly by society?
-
Is social media beneficial or harmful?
Circle of Viewpoints:
Brainstorm:
-
A majority of parents to younger children (under 13): to assure inclusion amongst others
-
Kids that are not taught to get everything they want: they’ve been brought up this way, and
therefore don’t know any other way
-
Sports coaches: it is more important for kids to “have fun” rather than “win” in the sport they
are playing, so they don’t announce the winner
-
Older parents witnessing their children’s parenting
Choosing Perspectives (1):
I am thinking of “How kids are no longer taught how to face adversity” from the viewpoint of a
baseball coach.
I think that for kids, it is way more important for them to learn a love for the sport, before they
become over competitive with winning or losing. It’s not rare for parents to push their kids so much
to the point that they don’t love their sport anymore. A question I have from this viewpoint is: Yes
having fun is a super important part of a sports game, but wouldn’t disengaging the “winning and
losing” affect their competitiveness and motivation during tough games in older years?
Choosing Perspectives (2):
I am thinking of “How kids are no longer taught how to face adversity” from the viewpoint of one
of those parents. I think that parenting can obviously be something quite challenging, and most
parents today have a very tough time saying “no” to their children, so they just give in. The parents
want so badly to be their kids’ best friends that they essentially “forget” to be parents. It is
important to keep the right balance between providing for children and teaching them self-reliance.
I am thinking of “How kids are no longer taught how to face adversity” from the view point of the
grandparents to those kids. I think that parents are being too easy on their kids these days, there’s
absolutely no discipline. When kids are not taught the valuable lesson of “not being able to get
everything they want” at a younger age, it will lead to them feeling entitled.
I am thinking of “How kids are no longer taught how to face adversity” from the viewpoint of the
kids. I don’t think it is the kids fault for becoming “entitled”, it all comes down to the parents. If
they were brought up this way, they can’t help but act this way because it is the only way they
know.
Thinking Inside the Box
Interview Your Audience:
Questions I asked:
What do your friends think of your moustache?
What does your family think of your moustache?
What makes you want to keep your moustache?
What things that are most important to you?What are your hopes
and dreams?
What are your biggest fears?
What importance does hygiene have in your life?
What length of text would you be able to read while remaining engaged: a few sentences, 200-300
words, or a 2 page essay
Do you think visuals are important to be included?
How do you think you can be most easily persuaded?
My thoughts/notes:
-
He expressed how hygiene is important to him and that he wants to pursue a career in dentistry
(where hygiene is quite important), so that’ll be a great point to make in my persuasive text
-
Another point I can make is that it’s a good skill to learn because he’ll need to look
“professional” for a job interview in the future for example
-
He doesn’t like his texts too long, so I need to keep it on the shorter side
-
He also mentioned that visuals and making it look ascetically pleasing is a good way to keeping
his attention
-
He says that he’s worried about messing it up the first time, but if he’s taught the right way to
do it from our dad that won’t be a problem
Reflection:
What were your goals for the interview? How well did the interview address these goals?
My goals for the interview were to get more insight into my brother’s point of view. I wanted to “get
inside his head” in order to figure out what would best persuade him, as well as what formats
would suit him best.
What did you learn? What surprised you?
I assumed that Zach would just say something simple like “I like the way it looks” but it turns out
he had much more thoughtful answers, and was really more worried about messing it up or getting
zits. This of which quite surprised me, but is going to serve as some good points that I’ll be able to
argue against.
What questions do you have that were not answered by this interview?
I didn’t ask him about the mode of my text, although I believe I know him well enough that he would
not check his email, so that texts would be a better bet.
What helped make this interview successful?
Here’s the interview:
Prior to the interview, I sent my questions to my brother to give him the chance to put more though
into his answers. I also asked if he had any questions himself about my questions to clear any
confusion.
What (if anything) do you wish you had done differently?
I wish I asked him more questions about the way that he thinks - to see if he thinks more factually
or logically. He can also be quite sarcastic which makes him a little more of a glass-half-empty
type of person.
How did the learning from this interview help you answer need to know questions related to this
project? What new need to know questions do you have?
I asked him more questions about “blanks” that I had in my empathy map to learn more about what
is on his mind everyday, to get a further insight into his values. The new need to know questions I
have are: which way would you rather be communicated to (email, text, Snapchat, etc) and do you
think more factually or logically - which I will answer with a follow up interview.
Brainstorming:
Content-Purpose-Audience
Content
:
Main idea: While you reserve the right to do whatever you
choose regarding your own looks, shaving your face is a skill
that you will highly likely be using in your future regardless.
Key details:
-
You’ll need to look “professional” at some time (ie. job interview, work) or you’ll want to look
nice for prom for example
-
Hygiene is important in the career you hope to pursue
-
It is good to learn now and get good at it
-
You won’t breakout if you take care of your skin
-
You won’t get cuts if you’re taught from dad (bonus: bonding experience)
Purpose
Think: I want my audience of choice to be persuaded by my topic and believe that my points were
valid and persuasive
Do: I want him to shave his moustache in the end
Audience
:
People: The specific group I am writing for is my little brother
Questions:
-
What if there are after effects after shaving (ie. cuts and zits)?
-
What if I am not persuaded by your text in the end?
-
What if I breakout or get cuts after?
Thesis Statement:
While you reserve the right to do whatever you choose regarding your own looks, shaving your face
is a skill that you will highly likely be using in your future regardless.
Make Them Stay
Give me a month, and I will prove to you that I can change, that we can change. If I don’t, you can
still leave, but I am just asking for a month of your time. I promise I’ll drop by Petsmart on my way
back from work to replace your cat that I ran over.
Outline:
Beginning
:
- Address “people” ie. audience
-
Disclaimer (ie. at the end of the day i
t
’s really up to you)
-
Thesis
Middle
:
-
Key details to counteract what was from his point of view:
-
You’ll need to look “professional” at some time (ie. job interview, work) or you’ll want to look
nice for prom for example
-
Hygiene is important in the career you hope to pursue
-
It is good to learn now and get good at it
-
You won’t breakout if you take care of your skin
-
You won’t get cuts if you’re taught from dad (bonus: bonding experience)
-
Questions (what he may be asking)
-
Starting with a point from his point
End
:
-
Strongest point
-
Conclusion (including: I hope you have reconsidered your decisions after hearing from the
opposite point of view)
Reflecting to Revise:
Why does my idea matter? Have I communicated this well?
My idea matters because the text comes off as though I’m looking out for him and helping him
prepare for what’s to come in his future. It appears as though I’m wanting to prepare him, but on a
lighter level. I communicated this well because it never feels aggressive, more like I’m looking out
for him which makes it effective as it is manipulative.
How will this writing leave my reader feeling? What will they think? What do I want them to do?
How does my writing inspire this?
The text would leave him in a light-hearted mood, not annoyed. It’s highly possible that he might be
persuaded and decide that he’ll want to practice it now. My writing inspires this as I have a great
use of logic and reason, as well as no shaming.
What is the most important thing I want to say about my subject
?
How am I saying it in a way
that won't be forgotten?
The most important thing I want to say about my subject is that I believe he should shave his
moustache for logical reasons. The way I’m saying it in a way that won’t be forgotten is relating it
to big milestones in his life that will keep them in his mind- prom and his dream job.
What’s missing?
If I want to be more thorough, I could add a third prong, which would add to it and not take away
from it - but it is not necessary. I should also change my wording for the question regarding
hygiene - Would you want a dentist with a moustache that looks like yours? - or something else
along those lines.
