What is a Logical Fallacy?

A logical fallacy is, roughly speaking, an error of reasoning. When someone adopts a position, or tries to persuade someone else to adopt a position, based on a bad piece of reasoning, they commit a fallacy. I say “roughly speaking” because this definition has a few problems, the most important of which are outlined below. Some logical fallacies are more common than others, and so have been named and defined. When people speak of logical fallacies they often mean to refer to this collection of well-known errors of reasoning, rather than to fallacies in the broader, more technical sense given above.

Just a little rant :)

Today on the bus on my way home from work I stumbled upon a sign that not only made me reflect and think about how women are being objectified and degraded but also made me cringe to realize that women are allowing this to happen to themselves knowingly. A sign that said, "Girls, Girls, Girls," as if it were some sort of circus act. 

 I have never come across a sign that said, "Boys, Boys, Boys!" NEVER. And though I am sure there are some in existence, they are not publicized the way that women night clubs are. Men are applauded for their dirty works and women get dirty looks.

                As women, we should not let ourselves become objectified. We are not objects and should not be treated as such. And for those that think selling themselves is the only solution to financial problems, think again. You gain finances, but lose morals. Money comes and goes but you cannot repurchase dignity.

Analysis Essay

Joan Didion's essay, "Los Angeles Notebook," offers an insight of the concurring environmental event of the Santa Monica winds. She spreads awareness to her audience by stating that the winds are a huge threat to humans before, during and after they hit. This lets the reader draw the conclusion that this is in fact an issue that should be taken seriously because of its permanet effects both on the environment and health that humans and animals  are exposed to. It's prolonging effects such as a high ratio of postive to negative  ions in the air, suicide rates increase, and symptoms of headaches and nausea become popular and of great concern.  Didions's awareness is conveyed through the use of rhetorical devices, such as imagery, selection of detail, and alarming tone.

                Didion has a great use of imagery in her essay. Her opening line, " there is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension," you can clearly visual a populated urban city and feel worrysome and uneasy in that setting. She also refers to this as "earthquake weather." Suggesting that due to the tragic outcome of an earthquake we can predict that we should be alarmed because earthquakes are known to cause massive destruction, especially in populated cities, like Los Angeles.

Her great use of imagery is made possible by her selection of detail. She mentions that the Indians would throw themselves into the sea when the bad wind blew and she could see why. It was because the sea, which turned ominously and glossy during the winds, was an escape, an outlet from the deteriorating world surrounding them. The world they knew would soon become inhabitable to live in, let alone breathe in. She also mentions foreign types of malevolent winds that have distinct characteristics all of which make people unhappy in the circumstances that they dwell.

                Didion's views and opinion towards the winds is successful in persuading her audience because of her alarming tone. She awakens and causes concern among her audience by sharing other people's experiences with the winds. As Raymond Chandle wrote, "every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the curving knife and study husband's necks." Here we are able to understand that the winds are more than just an act of nature.  They are affecting us mentally causing us to behave abnormally. The winds are not to be reckoned with for they are more than just a whistle and more deadly than what is expected. Didion is able to prove just that, its continuous effect is prominent.

Argument Essay

Being an immigrant is not something to be labeled as. Many people leave their native lands in search for a better life. The difficulties these people have to endure is not easily tolerated. Many leave their homes, customs, and families behind. They have to adapt to a new and completely different lifestyle all while trying to maintain their culture alive. Often times they are forced to abolish their traditions, something as simple yet very meaningful as their language. We are going through another time in our history in which the people fight for their rights, such as the emancipation proclamation act abolished slavery. Colored people were not treated as people, rather as something materialistic, and they stood up for themselves. Of course many rebelled, but it was those rebellions that caught the government’s attention. Immigrants today Filipinos, Muslims, Hispanics, etc are fighting for their rights as humans and as the people to live a decent life.

With major historical events, such as the Mexican-American War, we can see that we are accused of "provoking" the country and leading them into a war that THEY started. People view our claims as insignificant. At the end of the day we are the ones living under laws, amendments, and a constitution. Not even with such documents has the government respected people’s rights. Throughout history there have been many occasion in which the first amendment has been disregarded. We claim to be the land of the free but are we really? Racial injustice has to be put to an end. "I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing"(Gloria Anzaldua). We are valuable human beings. We should not be downgraded regardless of gender, race, skin color, social class, or religious status, rather judge based on character.

Autobiography

                I always look back and reflect upon my strengths and weaknesses as a student. I tend to feel overwhelmed and not confident about myself. I view others as strong competition and don't feel like I can compete against them. For a long time I was considering going to a community college after high school. However, I have taking AP classes, honors, and extracurricular activities. All my hard work would not be valued in a community college. Now my goal and priority is to go to a UC. I have lost confidence in myself completely and constantly told myself, “I used to be smart." Not anymore. I’m here to gain it back.

My weakness, aside from lack of self-esteem, rests on math. I took Algebra 1 in 7th grade. I had never felt uncap able of doing math until that point. It wasn't because I couldn't do it. It was a rough time for me due to injury. I was absent quite frequently and it affected my grades. I did everything that I possibly could do to fill in the gap for lost time in the classroom at home. Eventually, I did pass onto geometry, algebra 2, and finally trigonometry and found myself stuck in the same position. As my math teacher last year told my class, "within time those gaps become bigger and bigger." I had a rough start, but I fully intend to try my best and end strong.

My strengths rely on my communication skills. I love learning new vocabulary and foreign languages, which is why I am taking AP Spanish and AP English. I feel that writing comes to me naturally and gives me a voice. I like writing about politics and people rights because it makes me feel empowered. I admire a person that can carry them self through the usage of an extensive vocabulary.

To: jennysmiles143@

Emma Watson's Feminist Speech

Today we are launching a campaign called for HeForShe. I am reaching out to you because we need your help. We want to end gender inequality, and to do this, we need everyone involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN. We want to try to mobilize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change. And, we don’t just want to talk about it. We want to try and make sure that it’s tangible. I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women six months ago. And, the more I spoke about feminism, the more I realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes. I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago. When I was 8, I was confused for being called bossy because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for our parents, but the boys were not. When at 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media. When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of sports teams because they didn’t want to appear muscly. When at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings.

I decided that I was a feminist, and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminists. Apparently, I’m among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men. Unattractive, even. Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain, and I think it is right I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men.

But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to see these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they achieved gender equality. These rights, I consider to be human rights, but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn't assume that I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists that are changing the world today. We need more of those.

           And if you still hate the word, it is not the word that is important. It’s the idea and the ambition behind it, because not all women have received the same rights I have. In fact, statistically, very few have. In 1997, Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly, many of the things that she wanted to change are still true today. But what stood out for me the most was that less than thirty percent of the audience were male. How can we effect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation? Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too. Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society, despite my need of his presence as a child, as much as my mother’s. I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a man. In fact, in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to 49, eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality, either.

We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that they are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are not, and start defining ourselves by who we are, we can all be freer, and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom.

I want men to take up this mantle so that their daughters, sisters, and mothers can be free from prejudice, but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too, reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned, and in doing so, be a more true and complete version of themselves. You might be thinking, “Who is this Harry Potter girl, and what is she doing speaking at the UN?” And, it’s a really good question. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem, and I want to make it better. And, having seen what I’ve seen, and given the chance, I feel it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said, “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.”

            In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt, I told myself firmly, “If not me, who? If not now, when?” If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you, I hope those words will be helpful. Because the reality is that if we do nothing, it will take seventy-five years, or for me to be nearly 100, before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children. And at current rates, it won't be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have a secondary education. If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier, and for this, I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news is, we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I invite you to step forward, to be seen and to ask yourself, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

Thank you very, very much.