HALLOWEEN!

One Halloween evening, I was walking through a cemetery and tripped on a tombstone.  When I got to my feet, I noticed that when I fell, I accidently moved the top of the grave.  I went over to put the top back on, but when I looked in the grave, there was nothing there!  Suddenly, something tapped me on the shoulder.  As I turned around in fear, I was terrified to find a zombie.  I ran from the cemetery as fast as my feet could carry me and returned to the safety of my house.  The house was set up for Halloween so it had fake blood, candy, and pumpkins everywhere.   My brother tried to scare me when I came in the house my saying boo, and while wearing an evil looking monster mask.  It did not work as usual, so I went to the kitchen to get some pumpkin pie.    I got on the computer and went on YouTube.  As I was watching a hilarious video my computer sparked and died as an orange ghost flew out of the monitor.  I was done with scary Halloween stuff for the day, so I decided to go to sleep.  The End

Letter from a Birmingham Jail They say/ I say

1.  In the first paragraph they are saying that MLK's statement was "unwise and untimely" but then MLK comes back and says "Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas.".  He is saying that he does not have to respond to every critic that comes his way and he is right.

2.On the bottom paragraph of the second page, it is talking about how the action of MLK and his associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely.  He comes back saying that the new Birmingham administration  must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act.  They are talking about the upcoming election for the mayor of Birmingham.

3.In the middle of page 3, they are saying that they express a great deal of anxiety over the black people's willingness to break laws.  MLK fires back stating that there are two types of laws: just and unjust.  He is basically explaining that the "laws" that his people are breaking are unjust so it should not be held against them.

4.In the first paragraph on the fourth page, they are saying that what they are doing is just and there is nothing the black community can do.  He says that he wants people to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right.  He also wants them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.  He wants the African-Americans to be treated equally because it is morally right.

5.In the first paragraph of page six, they are saying that the activity in Birmingham as extreme.  MLK says that he is disappointed that the fellow clergymen would see his nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist.  He is saying that the clergymen is taking his nonviolent approach to solve an enormous issue as extreme and that is not the case at all.

Exercise 2

In the Introduction to "They Say/ I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to help young writers learn the basics of writing a persuasive argument paper. Specifically, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer a guide to students about writing a fantastic paper and knowing how to write a paper that makes sense.  As the authors themselves put it, "Again, none of us is born knowing these moves, especially when it comes to academic writing.  Hence the need for this book.".  Although some people believe that people should be able to be creative with your writing and people are naturally talented, Graff and Birkenstein insist that this is not the case and you need this book to learn how to write.  In sum, then, their view is that people need to be taught how to write properly.  I agree with their opinion.  In my view, the types of templates that the authors recommend help students in writing papers and just nudges them into writing a well written paper.  For instance, this essay I am writing currently is based on a template and I feel it is going well.  In addition, I needed to be taught how to write in order for me to get to where I am today academically.  Some might object, of course, on the grounds that you are taking away kids freedom of speech and creativity.  Yet I would argue that they are only providing guidelines for the paper instead of denying their ideas.  Overall, then, I believe that templates help kids write papers- an important point to make given this is based on a template.

Exercise 1

Abortion, to many people is the equivalent to murder.  They see that taking a life away before it is fully developed is the same as killing a neighbor or classmate.  However, to others, this is not the case at all.  On the contrary, an unfit teenage soon-to-be mother that doesn't want a kid should be able to have abortion as an option.  The truth is, there are two very different sides of this issue and it is a controversial topic.  In this essay, then, closely analyzing the two sides of this heated debate and clearly show that abortion should be an option for women.