inquiry contract progress -- #1

I think I am making a little bit of progress, but at the same time I do not think I am. I am still stuck on trying to figure out a topic for my contract. However, the one that has came to mind is abortion, which is a pretty hot topic now-a-days, especially with the excessive amount of teen pregnancies in this decade. I would be able to get an actual personal perspective of how the person felt mentally about the abortion procedure, which would make the contract a bit more interesting since I have a reason to ask them questions.

Even though I seem to have sort of a good plan, I can still picture myself bored, exhausted, overwhelmed, and frustrated while continuing the research from now to January. So, I am going to continue thinking about effective topics for my inquiry project while researching the abortion topic. I understand that our “why we chose the topic” two page paper is due Monday, therefore, I must have a topic by then.

potential ideas for inquiry contract

I have thought about a variety of topics for my inquiry contract, however, I can picture myself getting very frustrated and irritated while researching the specific topics for many months. The topics that I have thought about are the amount of homework given to high school students, customers always being right, fashion (the latest style of clothes, how the hot trend now-a-days is not really new, it was worn before, but just modified), and going to the NBA (must have at least one year of college to go to the NBA).

I think they all sound like pretty good ideas, but I think that I will get really bored and exhausted when it comes to making progress throughout the months and processing more pages for the final draft.

So basically, if you have not already noticed, I need help on trying to figure out what topic to research. I believe there are many things I am passionate about, but even though I am passionate about them, I can still get tired of the topic.

effectiveness of the proposal

The sample essay that I have chose to debate its effectiveness is the first reading, Laurel Wilson’s proposal. The purpose of the proposal is to address “the problem of an inequitable tipping policy for hosts in a national brewpub restaurant chain” (Writing Arguments 339). We are reminded that a host is a person who greets you when you come in the restaurant and escorts you to a table.

Wilson establishes her credibility in the single spaced letter of transmittal. In the third paragraph of the letter, she states that fact that she is a former host at the Stone’s End and Brewery restaurant. “… I often felt unappreciated by both servers and management” (Wilson 340). She lets the reader, the CEO of the restaurant, know how she felt while working hard as the host. She splits her letter up into four different sections, problem, proposal, justification, and conclusion.

Problem: The problem is that the hosts feel unnoticed and unappreciated. She then gives a lot of data about the amount of money that a server makes versus the amount of the hosts. She also makes it clear that being a host is as stress and active as being a server. Wilson says that host must organize the dining room, make sure the servers are not overwhelmed with the amount of tables that have, clear and wipe down tables for the busy waitress, etc. Proposal: Wilson proposed that serves give 1 percent of their tips to the host. Justification: “But perhaps the owner don’t currently recognize the disadvantages of this policy, which leads to disgruntled hosts and a high turnover” (Wilson 342).

Wilson talks a lot about how the hosts feel while writing her proposal. However, it is not easy to justify that all of the hosts of this specific restaurant feel unappreciated by the servers and management. She does not present feelings or opinions of the hosts other than herself. But, I am sure a lot of the hosts would agree with her because there are many people who are willing to turn down a little bit of extra money. Although I believe that she has set up her proposal neatly and has given a lot of data, I do not think that there is much of effectiveness of the proposal. It is said in her letter of transmittal that she left the host job for another job of better pay. If it was possible for her to do, I am sure that others would do it if they felt the same. I do not think that the restaurant would change their policy based on the one letter of opinion or proposal from Laurel Wilson. She should have more backup, people other than her self that support her opinion and it would make the CEO feel more sincere about the feelings of the employees.

terkel`s c.p. ellis

C.P. Ellis’s story offers a credible way of overcoming misunderstanding and hatred between races. He is allowed to do this because he has his own personal story to tell in his writing. In the beginning of his passage, he informs the reader that he is a low-income white man who believes that it is someone else’s fault for his low-income standpoint. The group of people that he suggested to hate were the black people, may as well hate someone and it had to be the blacks fault because they are doing too much of demonstrating. He believes that Ann Atwater is a perfect example of why he should hate black people because she does too much of demonstrating, he highly believes this until he actually meets her and has a conversation with her. When they talk, they are discussing how there children come home from school in tears because they child’s teacher is talking about them in front of other students. He joins the Klansmen, but in the end regrets joining with them.

I do not really think that such “solution” would be workable on a large scale. I do not believe that it would be as easy for the voters to change their mind and vote for example, a Klansman. Many people take what the person has did in their past against the actual person, therefore, he would not have got the three fourth votes.

yoshino && the mainstream

When Yoshino says “Civil rights must rise into a new, more inclusive register. That ascent makes use of the recognition that the mainstream is a myth” (Yoshino, 605). The normal people belong to this mainstream but who is to say they are “normal”. He is saying that the mainstream is a myth because there is really no normal. Who can define what normal is when it comes to people? I do not think that there is an actually definition to a “normal” person. When people say “that person is not normal”, I think they use the word normal in a sense that that person is not like the popular. That person does not do what most people do.

His reasoning is somewhat persuasive, but in a way it is not. Yoshino uses the example, “With respect to any particular identity, the word ‘mainstream’ makes sense, as in the statement that straights are more mainstream than gays”. I totally agree with the example that he used to define with word mainstream. I just think the mainstream is the popular. There are more straight guys than there are gay guys. I believe when it comes to agreeing with Yoshino by his reasoning, it depends on who you are. I have already thought about this particular subject before, therefore, it was easy for me to agree with Yoshino and his thoughts about the mainstream. I`ve already thought this same thing before.

incidents in the life of a slave girl -- #3 [Linda && her freedom]

Many slaves granted the wish to become free and go to the north. Linda finally managed to become free after going to the north. However, she was not automatically freed as soon as she stepped in the north. Still there were some slave ownership in the north. Linda had to be bought by the second Mrs. Bruce and then set free. Mrs. Bruce was the lady whom Linda worked for who lived up north in New York.

Linda has mixed emotions about her freedom, being that she had to also be bought even though she was in the north. She did not quite understand that fact that she had to be brought then freed since she was already in a “free” state, New York. Linda was afraid that she would be brought by another person, a slave owner, while in the north because she thought slavery was just about a process of different slave owners buying slaves and then selling then buying other slaves then selling them.

incidents in the life of a slave girl -- #2 [Jacobs && credibility]

The passage that I`ve chose in which Jacobs is using her own honesty to establish her credibility is; “In such cases the infant is smothered, or sent where it is never seen by any who know its history. But if the white parent is the father, instead of the mother, the offspring are unblushingly reared for the market. If they are girls, I have indicated plainly enough what will be their inevitable destiny” (Harriet Jacobs, 52).

In the passage above, Jacobs is establishing the credibility by actually saying what would happen if the infants were girl. She knows for sure that their life would be somewhat like hers because she is a girl herself. She is doing this to allow the readers to know that what she says is really true by putting her own knowledge of being a girl and what happens to the girls into her writing.

I believe that many things in the writing establishes Jacob`s credibility because how can anyone really write the explicit things that she does when you have not even experienced what she has. Why would one want to write about something like this when they have no idea of the facts? How could one not actually believe in what Jacobs has to say about her slave life?

incidents in the life of a slave girl -- #1

I think that it is important that the book is truth, not fiction because it allows the readers to actually get a sense of what actually went on. It allows the reader to actually get a better understanding of what went on since they are reading it from the perspective of someone who actually has experience during slavery. As I read it, it was like reading someone`s life, like what went on during Jacob`s life. I liked how it was from the actual perspective of a slave, rather than it being something from the history books. This book also makes me believe in more of what happen during slavery because I know that this is a true story and a real person that is talking about the slavery and a person who was actually there to witness the time period.

My opinion about the editor cleaning up the writing is that I`m glad she didn`t. If she were to clean it up, I really wouldn`t want to read it because it would be just like the other history books about slavery. What I mean by just like any other history book is that it would be the boring, “making sure it`s appropriate for school”, usual type of reading. I`m also glad it wasn`t cleaned up because I don`t think the author wanted for it to be cleaned up. She wanted to let the readers know the facts of slavery and that what she was writing in the story was actually true and not written by someone who just studies history. After reading from an actual individual who experience the slavery, I find myself showing more sorrow. When reading a history book with research, I don`t find myself showing as much emotion towards slavery.