RA: Home Schooling and the Question of Socialization

For tonight I read “Home Schooling and the Question of Socialization” by Richard G. Medlin. Very importantly, his audience is a scholarly one, meaning that his specific style is very different from that which might be written for a public one. I personally found the article was very boring, but informative which is perfect for his audience. There are no from mothers who are beaming about their home taught children as I have seen in other papers. This is much research driven, focusing on a lot of different research and pointing out the various problems and conclusions that each researcher makes. This is effective with Medlin’s audience because that is probably the only way to make a good argument—through fact and research. Medline lists out the arguments of those against home schooling and those in favor of it (mostly parents).
His stance isn’t really too obvious, but he does side with those in favor of home schooling giving a variety of reasons why. However, he is not fully committed to this side as he points out the inherit flaws in the manner of collecting such data and how limited the research actually is. The effect of this on his audience is to slightly persuade them of the benefits of home schooling, but no real big push is made. I believe it is his main purpose to be informative rather than persuasive. He does argue well though, that more research is needed before any real sort of conclusion can be reached.

FW: Some more poems

This one goes with some song that goes
du-nuh. pause du-nuh- pause-du,dun,dun,dun,Du-uhn.


Softly, and slowly, and gently rises the morn.
Carefully, and thoughtfully, it brings to pas the dawn.
Glowing, emeralds flowing, the earth begins to wake
Breathing, its fist breath, of the day that’s to partake.

Gently, and softly, it rises from the shadow
Cheery, yes cheery, the gloomy world awakes

Beaming, its steaming, the sun begins to break,
Shining, its brightness upon a sleepy world.



My favorite color
My favorite color is sleep,
It is something painted on black canvas,
A black canvas that hopefully stretches for miles.
The brilliance of light comes from the contrast of color on dark.
Dream globes arise, manifesting worlds yet unseen, lands yet unexplored.
And best of all is the scent of the paint as it dries and refreshes all.

Yes my favorite color is sleep,
Though I don’t paint with it much,
I’ll have to learn to spend more time at it,
Or just get a blowtorch.

TA: Intros with contracts

With somewhere over 700,000 illegal immigrants entering the country every year, this has become an issue which deals with every aspect of society. It is estimated that there are at least 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently living within the country, while other think tanks estimate them at over 20 million. Many policies have been mentioned which you are well acquainted with: we can increase our borders, grant amnesty to the illegal immigrants, introduce a huge deportation program, etc. In looking a these policies, one must weigh the costs and the benefits, short term and long term. Deportation is something which often comes up as a means to getting rid of the illegal population, but at what cost is this implemented? If the job is done right and the cost is low the United States should pursue a more aggressive deportation policy. But what really are the costs of deportation on the United States? Would a more aggressive deportation policy be detrimental or would it be something of great benefit?

First they came in small numbers, and then they came in droves. The history of illegal immigration to the United States is a long one with various policies and government plans to curb the influx of illegal aliens. Over the years massive amnesty has been granted, major deportation stints have been utilized, but the fact remains that there are at least 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States. Some have argued that massive deportation is the best method to getting rid of the large illegal population. However, what are the costs of implementing such a method, both to the economic and moral fiber of America?

RA: Deportation

Today I am doing a rhetorical analysis on Ann Carr’s article “Targeting Illegal Immigrants for Deportation Is Unfair and Inhumane.” The specific audience for this article is the general American public, “who she believes, should be made aware of the hardships created by immigration policies.” More over, her audience is more focused to the general public who are more morally aware (religious people) and those who care on families. Most likely, the audience consists of non-Hispanics who don’t have much experience with deportation.

Carr uses a lot of emotional arguments in her article, especially focusing on the family. She relates at least two stories based on illegals who were deported when they had a legal spouse living in the United States. These stories provide a basic argument that deportation laws are illogical—why deport the breadwinner of a family expecting a new baby? Specifically mentioning the hazards of deportation with its physiological damage to young children definitely strikes a cord with those in support of families. She also advocates the right of people migrating to find better living to support the family. She has one part of pure questioning which anticipates her audience’s reaction.

While Carr doesn’t include many statistics or figures, hardly any really—the stories she tells could just be small cases—she does a really good job at arguing through the emotions. Adding to her credibility also is her occupation as a lawyer, working with immigrants.

FW: Poetry

"Hope falls down from heaven"


Scarred earth,
Harrowed by the beating rays,
Gapping earth, chap lips reaching upwards,
Mocked by spiteful skies all the day long.


Yet on drop falls from the heaven,
With gray clouds threatening storm.
A single bullet falling from above,
Falls on earth below.

Sklorsh! beams the drop, fallen onto stone.
Seeping bunches of broken rain, seep in and are sown.
Thunder crackles, heads arise towards the boom.
Unaware of what was planted which is soon to bloom.

Pristine water, finds the pores,
Rough soils is no wall.
Into holes, into cracks,
Rushes the rains fall.

Now into earth, and in the heart,
Beating red and bright,
Surrounding the pulsing giant,
Giver, master of light.

In its core rushes the cool,
Blue upon the red.
Searing steam, and wailing scorn,
But the drop moves on ahead.

Finding home in once red glow,
Now burning bright and blue,
Pulsing life, echoes the water,
Spewing it out anew.

Up through the rock,
Up through the pores,
Up to the roots once dead.
Flowing from the inside core,
Changing all that died before.

Sweet blossoms grow,
Sweet cherries bloom,
Life is come again.

From one sweat drop of heaven,
One breathe of life divine,
The earth once old and barren,
Now bears the Master’s sign.

TA: Contract Human trafficking

This is an attempt to work on contracts for papers, which go in the introductions. My understanding of this is that contracts are definitely not thesis statements—the stance of the author is not given away all at once. This is where I get mixed up. The contract is a promise to the reader but not exactly a statement of where the paper will eventually wind up. From Sinclair Lewis’ article his contract is fairly straightforward: I am rejecting the Pulitzer Prize and this is why I am doing it. For Brand’s article, the contract is much less obvious. Hence, the contract is probably best put in taking into regard the audience the article is written for.

Argument: There needs to be more effort to stopping human trafficking in America
Target audience: Voters in California, and other border states who probably are not happy with illegal immigration.

Imagine for an instance that you are invited by a friend or a good acquaintance to take up a job over the summer. You’re excited—you get to move to a different place, make some good money and have a great time. You arrive and what you thought would be a dream job becomes a living hell—something you hear about happening in other parts of the world but never imagined it would happen to you. You are forced to work twelve hours a day sewing dresses in a tiny room with no shower, measly food and under constant guard. Every night you are threatened and abused emotionally and otherwise so your courage to escape is beaten out of you. This is the life that many immigrant workers face every day. The terrible thing is that these conditions are happening right in our own country. The extent of the problem begs an answer to the question, what are we doing about human trafficking in the United States, and what can be done to help those forced into the awful reality of hidden slavery.?

RA: Immigration “Economic and Moral Factors in Favor of Open Immigration”

Target Audience: Students in attendance at the Santa Clara Student Debate Conference

Alexander Tabarrok put forth numerous ideas in support of open immigration, beginning his argument by citing a group of well known economists who all agree that immigration helps a country more than hurts it. Tabarrok holds a lot of authority as he is most likely a teacher of the students he is addressing. He touches on a lot of issues that are brought up by the opposition. He spends a lot of time meeting these arguments head on with logical thought but doesn’t provide much authority rather than his own methodology and a few quotes. One example of this is that he states that immigrants use less of the welfare system than do natives. While he provides a link to a study done on this, he does not include any hard evidence in his papers. This seems like it would be sufficient to his audience of students who hold him in respect but certainly not for another audience. Tabarrok’s tone appears slightly condescending to the audience as he implies that those who don’t agree with him are illogical and immoral. He appeals to the audience’s emotional side saying that the US failed to help those immigrants who came as a result of the holocaust due to stringent immigration restrictions. Thus, such barriers are seen to foster world wide suffering. Tabarrok uses much Christian phraseology and citation, which would be well with his target audience.