Argumentative Essay (300 word limit)

                                   Dominic Dominguez
                                                    Period 5                     
            Being ahead of his time Thoreau brought ideas of simplicity and experience to the world. He would live in his own cabin in nature and far away from people so he could experience life his own way. But this was in the eighteen fifties and many things have changed since the time this book was published. Although being published more than a century ago Thoreau's ideas and beliefs on how to live or just life in general can still be used today in contemporary society.

      Thoreau is all about simple things in life and that can be relatable today as he says in one of his quotes "Simplify!" if people just take out all the unnecessary objects from their life it can help. Now people have phones and computers to keep busy and  entertained but if they just trashed those objects then they will have less to worry about and instead of spending time on the internet they can be outside their home just experiencing life. Somebody can say that in minimalist houses or in nature people still have phones or computers but it is the concept of just using what they have for what you need like information nothing more. Also what is still a relevant idea is Thoreau's thought of following your dream or passion with there being risks and this is shown in this quote “Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence” like many people who love art or just have a real passion for something.

        Thoreau’s ideas are still very relevant today and will be in the future. People don't have to live in cabins to agree with Thoreau's belief's they just have to have the concept of a minimalist mentality.

Current event Journal "Guns Are Our Shared Responsibilty"

         The author of this op-ed is a very well known figure in the United states, Barack Obama and he gave his opinion and thoughts on how to help with the "crisis" of gun violence. He gives statistics of number of deaths in the united states to show his reasoning and how citizens are a big part in stopping this issue that will take time to be stopped. He also points fingers at the gun industry because they are making any improvements on the safety measures of guns like how easy it is for kids to use them or any adults to buy them. 

         Obama is trying to get the readers of this article (mainly citizens of the United States) to help with the crisis of gun violence because that is the only way that it will be solved. He is doing so by showing examples like the 15 year old who jumped in front of gunfire to save three girls and also was reaching out to the people to realize the problem we are having with guns in the states. His main focus was to inform the reader about gun violence but he does so by trying to get on an emotional level with the reader by giving reference to an actual kid who died due to this or by showing that women, gay, and African Americans rights took time to be solved but with the help of citizens uniting to make a change it has affected the United states greatly.

Obama, Barack. "Barack Obama: Guns Are Our Shared Responsibility." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. 

Current Event #1 :Gun Control

            This Op-ed by Jonathan Swinton called "Gun access and mental health: We can do better" is written by a therapist who thinks he can help eliminate gun violence not all at once but a step at a time. He gives evidence that most deaths by gun are suicide and how be has had personal experiences with patients that have had suicidal thoughts but also own a gun. This op-ed is very informative because people don't normally think the same way as this man or in that manner and it gives the reader a bigger perspective on the issue of gun violence and how in many cases mental health is part of the problem.

                         Work Cited
"Op-ed: Gun Access and Mental Health: We Can Do Better." The Salt Lake Tribune. 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/3463818-155/op-ed-gun-access-and-mental-health>.

Anger Article Rhetorical Precis

Stacy Schiff is the author of this op-ed article called Anger: An American History posted (December 18, 2015), and Schiff's main claim is that hate and aggression has been a big part of America and its way of settleing things. Schiff starts off her claim by with an ironic question that shows her position, then says that anger and hate might "sound un-American" but it really is, then she goes on to give examples from America's past to back up her statements, then she shows how America has shown hate again but with newer events like Donold Trump and others. Schiff wants to give as much information as she can to the readers with these examples to show how ironic America is and that hate has been a part of its roots and she can relate to the present as well. Her audience is definitely liberalist and even democratic because she gives a quote by a republican that just so happens to be running for president and this is on purpose because she wants to show that if this man that is not a positive figure (for some) can be in the running to be president then it justifies her whole claim. Some other citizens of the United States may not agree with Schiff but her audience would because they agree on what she's saying and what she's trying to show/inform them.

Rhetorical Precis- Period 5

In Charles Blow's article named "Suicide of A Dishonest Officer" he demonstrates that life is not as simple or straight forward as some people seem. The author first demonstration of generalizing deaths and putting them in a certain category: then he gives evidence of past officers or people in general that were killed and it stirred up a big problem because of it: blow then states his opinion on how people should look at deaths and not categorize them into racial or anti-police killings. His purpose is to stop people from taking deaths as a call to action in order to stop all this racial tension and police tension. Blow's main audience is definitely anyone that watches the news and knows about the main topics in society because he wants to changes people outlook on killings and peoples death and not to blow it out of proportion.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/opinion/suicide-of-a-dishonest-officer.html?ref=topics&_r=0&referer=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/index.html

Dominic Dominguez