3/27 Lecture

How to convey energy in prose

• Adjectives: positive, dynamic,avoid cliches and overused language
• Adverbs and other modifiers
• Verbs: active, simple verb forms
• "I believe that people might be interested in a concept like this one." -incredibly boring, vs. "Conscientious people believe in existentialism."  Both sentences are saying the same thing, the second sentence is just more specific.  It's stronger because it has an active verb which means something. 
• Be specific! Avoid being vague.
• Avoid self-reference. 
• This doesn't mean you can't ever use "I", it just means that you shouldn't interject yourself into every situation. 
• If you're talking about an experience you had that supports your point, obviously you should use that.
• Public writing is not academic writing; use second person.
• Don't presume too much about your audience, though.
• Consider your audience, work on your ethos.
• Use assertive, aggressive short sentences to make your point.

Affirmative Action Definition

Affirmative Action, essentially, is a policy put in place to give minority races the extra help they may need to get jobs, college degrees, etc.  The thought process behind Affirmative Action is that after 300 years of being treated as a a sub-human race, these groups deserve and require certain preferential treatment to level the playing field.

Affirmative Action is a sticky subject.  The acts of violence and unjust exclusions that African-Americans have had to face in the U.S. since before its creation are indisputably wrong.  How to go about fixing these injustices is a more difficult subject that plagues many majority Americans, and especially law-makers, college deans, and CEOs.  I think that Affirmative Action is simply the easiest and most fair solution we have been able to come up with.  In practice, it clearly has its problems.  Many white Americans with low-class backgrounds may find themselves stuck in a cycle of poverty and discrimination without the resources to escape and make something better of their lives while African-Americans in middle-class society find themselves being given opportunities that help them to climb even higher.  The fact is though, that these scenarios are the exception rather than the rule.  I am a white, upper-middle class college student with two siblings who will be college-bound in the next few years.  I receive several scholarships, but my parents are constantly pushing me to find more.  The fact is that there are few available to me because of my race and my parents' income level.  My parents find this unfair, but the fact is that there are a limited amount of finances available for scholarships and financial aid.  I would have to agree that, in general, most African-Americans truly need the money more than I do.  Affirmative Action is a complicated issue but as a whole,  I agree with it.