3 Fallacies (from each type)
1. Emotional
– The SPCA’s commercials when they show how sad animals are in shelters, when they pick them up, and Sarah McLachlan’s music in the back. Animals are often happier in shelters and are loved unconditionally. Evoke feelings of sympathy to get you to donate or volunteer
2. Ethical
– PETA says that since pitbulls bite more people on average then they are an “aggressive breed” who need muzzles put on them so it must be true.
*eye roll*
PETA uses mostly statistics from Micheal Vick’s dog fights.
3. Logical
– A person visits an adoption shelter and didn’t take the time to actually see if they connect with the animal, so they return them saying they are “too much to handle” therefore every shelter animal is too much to handle. This person didn’t want to try the animal so they think every animal from adoption shelters are all the same.

My topic: Animal Cruelty/Maltreatment in the United States over the last 20 years
Creditable sources:
Works Cited
1. MACIAS-MAYO, AMBER R. “Plowing the Landscape of Terror: How Recognizing the Link Can Diminish.” American Journal of Family Law, vol. 33, no. 2, Summer 2019, pp. 301–314. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx direct=true&db=aph&AN=136792410&site=ehost-live.
2. Lockwood, Randall. “Animal Hoarding: The Challenge for Mental Health, Law Enforcement, and Animal Welfare Professionals.” Behavioral Sciences & the Law, vol. 36, no. 6, Nov. 2018, pp. 698–716. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/bsl.2373.
3. Holoyda, Brian James. “Animal Maltreatment Law: Evolving Efforts to Protect Animals and Their Forensic Mental Health Implications.” Behavioral Sciences & the Law, vol. 36, no. 6, Nov. 2018, pp. 675–686. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/bsl.2367.
4. Greenwood, Arm. “Animal Advocacy.” ABA Journal, Jan. 2017, pp. 18–19. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=120554744&site=ehost-live.

Instructions: Answer the following questions for two other issues.

Issues: Gun Control and Supporting Farms/ Farmers

Questions:

• Gun Control
• How big of an issue is this?
  -Chicago has the strictest gun control laws and has had the highest crime rate in the nation.
• How do you know (what evidence is there)?
  -Statistics over the last 10 years show that Chicago surpassed L.A. and New York by 2010.
• What communities does it affect?
  – Civilians have the right to bear arms according to the 2^nd amendment and restricting citizens from owning guns is a violation of their 2^nd amendment right.
• Which communities does it negatively affect the most?
  – This affects the citizens who legally own their guns.
• Am I a part of or do I empathize with these communities?
  – I support the NRA and try to go to marches as much as possible
• What are their perspectives on the issue?
  – The NRA fully supports the Constitution in all.
• What are other opinions on the issue (informed, uninformed, and misinformed)?
  – My family is very much in support of the 2^nd amendment, while other fellow classmates in many of my classes say that we should have guns in general.
• Why is this issue important to me?
  – I own quite a bit of guns and would not like them to be taken from me against my will
• Why should it be of importance to my classmates?
  – My classmates should consider less Gun Control Laws because criminals don’t follow the law and they have that right to protect themselves.

• Supporting Farms/ Farmers
  • How big of an issue is this?
    – Farms and farmers are the heart of America. They provide the food and recycle more than the average person.
  • How do you know (what evidence is there)?
    – Growing up on a farm we recycled water, compost, and spoiled food.
  • What communities does it affect?
    -This affects the whole nation because without farms and farmers we would have to rely on a foreign nation.
  • Which communities does it negatively affect the most?
    – Not supporting farms and farmers affects all communities when it comes to vegetables and fruits along with dairy products.
  • Am I a part of or do I empathize with these communities?
    – I empathize with farmers because people think that they abuse their livestock day and night, but it’s quite the opposite. Farmers love their livestock.
  • What are their perspectives on the issue?
    – Farmers helps provide for America.
  • What are other opinions on the issue (informed, uninformed, and misinformed)?
    – Most people I talk with say they would support a bill to help out farmers more.
  • Why is this issue important to me?
    – Growing up on a farm I know the struggles that they go through. If crops don’t grow right, then you can’t harvest them.

Why should it be of importance to my classmates?
– This is important to my classmates because these farmers need help with volunteering and helping out around the place.

My issue: Animal Cruelty/ Abandonment Across the Nation
How big of an issue is this?
– The number of animal cruelty is shocking, but most of the time it never gets reported. Animals have feelings just as much as humans do.
How do you know (what evidence is there)?
– “Surveys suggest that those who intentionally abuse animals are predominantly men under 30, while those involved in animal hoarding are more likely to be women over 60.” -from the Humane Society website
What communities does it affect?
– Animal cruelty/abandonment affects many communities because people get animals with the intent to hurt or leave them. Children are affected because when they see animals abuse in the house they are more likely to abuse animals in the future.
Which communities does it negatively affect the most?
– Hurting an animal is never okay in any community. The more animals that are abandoned the more likely they are to get hit by vehicles.
Am I a part of or do I empathize with these communities?
– I try my hardest to be active in helping the Humane Society or PACC with getting animals homes
What are their perspectives on the issue?
– Those who I speak with at PACC agree that we need more no-kill shelters.
What are other opinions on the issue (informed, uninformed, and misinformed)?
– I would need to do more research on other opinions. I only know my own personal opinion along with a few others who feel the same way I do.
Why is this issue important to me?
– This issue is important to me because animals just want to be loved for the short time they are here and those who feel the need to hurt them are pieces of shit who have no love in their hearts.
Why should it be of importance to my classmates?
– If you own an animal then you know that they help you relax after a long day and show you that the simple things in life are worth smiling over.

1. How was the experience of writing the second essay compared with the first?
   – I really liked Essay 2 because I am better at telling stories than trying to figure out rhetorical analysis. I suck at anything to do with rhetorical analysis in general, even had issues in high school. Tell me to type a story and give details? That is something I am very good at.
2. In what ways do you think your writing may have benefited from this assignment?
   – My writing benefited a little bit. I learned I can go into more detail and those details will help tell the story better while helping the reader visualize what was happening in that moment.4
3. What style(s) of writing do you prefer?
   – I prefer story telling. I can make up a good story or tell one from experience. It’s definitely my favorite style of writing so far.
4. What topics do you enjoy writing about?
   – I don’t really have a topic I enjoy writing about. I just enjoy writing whether it’s on a computer or handwritten. I enjoy writing stories for children (if that counts as a topic). Writing a story for a child is a great way for them to learn a lesson or a way to calm them down.

What Makes a Father?

Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad. -Unknown

For as long as I can remember my father, John Clark, never wanted to be in my life, but I still loved him because he was blood. My mom used to describe him as a handsome man with these beautiful blue eyes who was skinny and tall like a bean pole. The first time he ever broke my heart was when I was a child. I remember my mom’s friend babysitting me, when I was 5 years old, at her tiny cottage-like house. Suddenly, my mother came in crying—and it wasn’t from sadness or pain—it was from anger. My mother is a beautiful woman who has hair black as night, brown eyes like chocolate, a calm voice, and only about 5’6”, so seeing her cry was a knife in my heart.

“What’s wrong mommy,” little me asked.

She pulled me into a tight hug and said we needed to talk about my father. I was expecting to hear that he died or was in the hospital, but I didn’t expect my mother to tell me that he packed up the family he loved more, which included my step-monster and half-brother, and left the state, leaving me behind lonely and confused. Why did he leave me? Where did he go? Does he even love me? Will he ever come back? A child should never have to ask themselves if their parent loves them, but I did. I wanted nothing more than to cry and scream on my babysitter’s hard, wooden floor, but I didn’t. I held it in till I went to bed and I cried myself to sleep wondering if my father ever truly loved me. I eventually moved on from that heartbreak and thought that I would never have a father-daughter relationship like everyone else, but I longed and prayed for one every day.

Everything changed in 2010 when my mother, Stephanie Clark, asked if I wanted to see him because he had moved back to Tucson. He never called me or my mother in those years he was gone. I was thirteen with no real father figure in my life, so naturally I was excited and overjoyed that I was going to finally be loved by him. Things were great in the beginning. I felt proud to say that my father was back, and I wanted all my friends to meet him. All my mom every wanted for me was to grow up with a dad and I finally felt like I was going to get the father-daughter relationship I dreamed about. I would spend the night at his house on weekends and he would be working, but he would apologize by buying me whatever I wanted, which most of the time would be books instead of toys. I got to spend some of winter break with him along with the rest of his side of the family, we would laugh, play games, start a fire, and just make fun of one another. Things were simple and fun up until I started high school. I was excited for him to come to volleyball games and marching band competitions, but I got an excuse every single time.

“I am not feeling good,” he would text me.

“I work that night sweetheart” was the common excuse.

“My phone never went off” he would say if I called more than three times on game nights when my team already won.

That year, he broke my heart for the second time when I was a freshman in high school. Suddenly, he would not reply to texts or calls from both my mom and I. Naturally, I thought he left the state again, but my mom and I found out he was still in the state, he just wasn’t communicating with us anymore. I was hurt and the only way for me to get the anger out was to write him a letter stating my disappointment in him and my anger for him not being the father I needed. It took me a few days to write the letter—but once I did—it was like a weight lifted from my shoulders. Now what do I do? Do I send it? Do I store it away until the right moment? I eventually decided that I wanted to give this letter to him and at the time I didn’t really care if he offended about the language I used. After I dropped the letter off, I felt a million times better. On the day of my high school graduation I really didn’t expect John to show, but he did, and I was happy. After tossing our caps I got an awkward side hug and he stayed for about 15 minutes before he left without a goodbye.

The final time John broke my heart was the worst and I am still recovering to this day. He never really approved of my decision to join the U.S. Navy and unfortunately, I had to get his signature to leave for bootcamp. My recruiter told me that he had his mind set on not signing the paper, but she somehow got him to sign it. I left July 29, 2015 only two months after I graduated high school. I texted him asking if he could come up to Phoenix and yet again I the excuse, “I am working that day.” Two of my cousins and my half-brother on his side of the family took the time off work and showed up, but his work was more important than his oldest child leaving. That was the last straw for me. That day I no longer considered John Clark a father.

During the year 2013 my mom, Stephanie, informed me that she started dating a man by the name of Adam Brady again. Adam is a tall man who acts like a five-year-old, he always knows how to make my mom and I laugh, he is always covered in grease and oil from working on his truck, and most of all he is my dad. Around the time they started dating again was about the time I found out I had the opportunity to go to Europe. Adam helped my mom and I pay for this trip, he made sure I had everything I needed for this trip, he helped my mom raise me even though he had two daughters of his own, and he showed up to both my high school and boot camp graduations even though he didn’t have to. I remember thinking one day that he has done so much for me in such a short amount of time while still raising his other daughters, but it’s an act of congress for me to get John to answer a text.

My mom and I love to take drives up Mount Lemmon or just small road trips. Adam, even nowadays, will always ask if we want to take a drive. He includes me in whatever activity he likes. It didn’t take me long to figure out who loved me and who wanted to be there for me. I already considered Adam my dad, but I had no clue if he even wanted me to call him dad. Will he accept me? I kept thinking to myself that he wouldn’t want me because who wants a young girl whose own father didn’t want her? I finally worked up the courage and asked him Christmas of 2015, my first-time home since leaving for the Navy, and I will never forget how I felt when he told me, “You have always been my daughter.” I remember crying along with my mom, I am talking ugly crying here.

Adam has given me that father-daughter relationship I thought I would never get the chance to experience. He is my one and only dad in my eyes. Adam is a truck driver and he isn’t home a lot, but when he is it’s like he never left. When we talk on the phone, he constantly tells me that he is proud of me for going back to school and before we end our phones calls he always says “I love you my daughter” which always brings a small tear to my eyes.

In conclusion to this depressing and happy story, I figured out who really loved and who faked their love. I have not spoken with John since 2015 and that doesn’t bother me much anymore. I am I still upset that my own biological father wants nothing to do with me? Yes. Am I the luckiest girl in the world to have a dad like Adam? Hell yes. I learned that blood family will not always love you the way you deserve, but eventually someone will come along and show how you should be loved. My mom’s boyfriend is the best dad I could have ever asked for and I know he will be there to support me more than John ever has or will.

5 Titles for my essay
1. My father and stepdad
2. John or Adam
3. Abandonment and Supporting
4. Who is better? Father or dad?
5. To support or not to support

What did you learn about others from your experiences?
– I learned that biological family doesn’t always love you and sometimes someone who is not related can give you the love you always wanted.
What did you discover about yourself?
– I discovered that I don’t need the love of those who won’t give it back. I can give that love to someone who will always be there for me.
What did you learn about the world and your part in it? (How to survive?/How to be true to yourself?/What’s most important to you?/How to fulfill your needs?/What’s needed of you?)
– I am still recovering from the heartbreak cause by my biological father, but it will heal over time. I found a part of myself in this heartbreak by learning to see who loves me for who I am. Having my mom and stepdad there for me is what is most important.

Date

Stepdad vs Biological Dad

Rough Draft #2

“Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.”- Unknown.

For as long as I can remember my father, John Clark, never wanted to be in my life, but I still loved him because he was blood. The first time he ever broke my heart was when I was a child. I remember my mom’s friend babysitting me at her tiny cottage-like house. Suddenly, my mother came in crying, it wasn’t from sadness or pain, it was from anger.

“What’s wrong mommy” little me asked.

She pulled me in a tight hug and said we needed to talk about my father. I was expecting to hear that he died or was in the hospital, but I didn’t expect my mother to tell me that he packed up his family and left the state. I was confused. Why did he leave me? Where did he go? Does he even love me? Will he ever come back? A child should never have to ask themselves if their parent loves them, but I did. I wanted nothing more than to cry and scream on my babysitters hard, wooden floor, but I didn’t. I held it in till I went to bed and I cried myself to sleep wondering if my father ever truly loved me. I eventually moved on from that heartbreak and thought that I would never a father-daughter relationship like everyone else, but I longed and prayed for one every day.

Everything changed in 2010 when my mother, Stephanie Clark, asked if I wanted to speak with him. I was 13 with no real father figure in my life, so naturally I was excited and overjoyed that I was going to finally be loved by him. Things were great in the beginning, I felt proud to say that my father was back, and I wanted all my friends to meet him. All my mom every wanted for me to grow up with a dad and I finally felt like I was going to get the father-daughter relationship I dreamed about. I would spend the night at his house on weekends, and he would be working, but he would apologize by buying me whatever I wanted, which most of the time would be books instead of toys. I got to spend some of winter break with him along with the rest of his side of the family, and we would laugh, play games, start a fire, and just make fun of one another. Things were simple and fun up until I started high school, I was excited for him to come to volleyball games and marching band competitions, but I got an excuse every single time.

“I am not feeling good” he would text me.

“I work that night sweetheart” was the common excuse.

“My phone never went off” he would say if I called more than 3 times on game nights when my team already won.

He broke my heart the second time in high school. Suddenly, he would not reply to texts or calls from both my mom and I. Naturally, I thought he left the state again, but my mom and I found out he was still in the state he just wasn’t communicating with us anymore. I was hurt and the only way for me to get the anger out was to write him a letter stating my disappointment in him and my anger for him not being the father I needed. It took me a few days to write

-Mother’s boyfriend: Adam Brady

Adam Brady: He has always been there since 2013 and supported me in whatever I wanted to do. The late-night drives with my mom and her boyfriend are some of the best memories. My mom’s boyfriend helped raise even though he had two other daughters. I remember being nervous before asking him if I could call him dad and almost crying when he said he has always considered me his daughter.

Current life situation:
Over the weekend a couple friends and I went to Slaughterhouse. The excitement of walking in the dirt to reach the old abandoned structure keeps building until you reach the entrance and hear the screams of those around you. The first maze we went through was “The City of Bones” in which the actors can touch you. When you enter the building there is an ominous fog, nails scrapping the metal, and black as night corners where the actors like to hide. The second was “Circ De Solay” which I did not want to go into due to my fear of clowns. The second you enter they hand you 3D glasses and tell you to walk towards this tunnel that spins round and round to confuse you. The bright colors on wall seem to pop out from every corner. There were pinks, greens, blues, yellows, and purples to distract you from the actors slamming their fists so loud it feels like the room shakes. The last one I did was “The Boiler Room” which was the creepiest, longest, and most confusing maze there was. They had fake body parts drip blood, thick fog covering top to bottom so you could not see, actors hitting the metal boilers, creepy children laughing, and random hands trying to grab at you.

Setting in my story:
Taking a trip up the backside of Mount Lemmon is always a joy. Leaving before the sun has a chance to peak over the mountains, stopping for coffee or hot cocoa to fully wake-up, and watching as you get further and further away from the lit up city. Doing this drive with my mom, her boyfriend and myself will always leave great memories for me. Watching as the dirt covered road gets more narrow while also watching the trees start to get thicker and more frequent. Being able to breathe and watch my breath slowly dissipate into thin air as the temperature drops the further you get up the mountain.