Starting off the semester in ENG- 206 Critical Literacies & Community Writing, I didn’t know much about writing. I had a little background on the basics of writing and like to write in my free time but I didn’t know the importance of having a better understanding of rhetoric and how it affects writing. Throughout the semester I started learning how to put to better use the visual representation. With the assignments, I got more practice. I felt almost as if it was training, and with the experience, I got better. I enjoyed reading short stories and analyzing them. The free writes were very fun and sparked my writing inspiration. I feel my writing has indeed improved since the beginning of the semester. I can now write with a better understanding of the voices, how to write to specific audiences, and shape my writing more into what I actually want to communicate. I also learned that writing can have different voices, it does not always have to be formal. Many of the times I enjoyed more was when I just sat down and write whatever comes into mind. I enjoyed a lot reading 1984 for the second time. The first time I read it in high school I didn’t quite analyze it the way I did this time around. Also, knowing the story, I was able to steer my attention to different things in the novel. I enjoyed it more than the first time! Maus I and Maus II was also the same. I read it in high school but I wasn’t paying much attention. Rhetoric is what controls how your message is transmitted to your audience. I enjoyed writing the literacy narrative since it was a flashback to the very beginning of my experience with reading and writing. It made me think back and see how much I have grown as a reader and writer. Reading is something I enjoy a lot. This semester, 1984 paved the way for the Utopian Assignment. This is one of the assignments I had the most fun completing. Being able to think about what would be the perfect society, how would it work. Before this class, before reading 1984, I would’ve thought differently from how I do now. It also made me more aware of our society. Especially right now. With the COVID-19 pandemic, stay home orders, and unemployment rate through the roof, society is changing and acting differently. We all had to adapt to different circumstances. Us (students) had to adapt to taking classes online. The teachers had to adapt to give the lessons online.  People had to go improvise to be able to work from home. Things are different now, I believe we need to work together as a society to be able to get better. 

Thank You for a great semester! It was a very fun course and helped me grow a lot. 

Extra credit Assignment

For two days, I deleted all my social media apps on my phone and decided I wasn’t going to turn on the TV during this time. I still used my computer for school work and my phone for communication with family and school workgroups. Some of my friends have told me that they delete social media apps on Mondays and download them again on Fridays. They only use these apps on weekends. I had never experienced a full disconnection without being away while traveling and having no internet connection. It was something new for me and was curious to see how this affected my productivity level. 

I started by deleting social media apps and disconnecting my TV. This way not only I wasn’t able to access it but I wasn’t tempted to use it. At first, I got a bit anxious since I am used to using Instagram when taking a break from classes or homework. Whenever I finished an assignment or got stuck, I would browse social media for “a couple of minutes”. I usually end up spending a lot more time on the app than expected. It is designed in a way that it attracts you and it has algorithms to keep appearing different set of data based on your interest. During the day I usually never watch TV since I try and keep myself occupied but at night I always watch about an hour of TV before sleeping. 

I realized that more than TV or videogames, I would waste more time on social media. I noticed that I was a lot more productive, I used to think 10 or 15 minutes of social media didn’t affect my productivity but I was wrong. It was not only the time I spend using it but also the time It took me to refocus. I had more time afterward. I also enjoyed a lot more instead of watching TV, going outside to read a book, just walk in the back yard or swim in the pool. I like social media and I’m not sure I would like to delete social media but I definitely feel it’s healthy and it helps me be more productive. Technology definitely helps us and I use it a lot with alexa and social media but I do believe if we are not careful we can end up wasting too much time. I felt a lot more relaxed and everyone should try reducing the time they spend on social media or simply not using it for a couple of days. I felt a lot more relaxed and it was almost therapeutic. I will definitely do this once in a while to disconnect a little and have time for myself.

A logical fallacy is a mistake made in reasoning. They are common in most of our conversations. The ability to identify fallacy is an important skill. It helps one to protect his or her dignity. Gay marriage is one of the topics that utilize logical fallacy. Some of the fallacies are discussed below.

The legalization of same-sex marriage comes in the form of a slippery slope fallacy (Ferrer). If gay marriage is made official, then other groups may want favors for them to be legalized such group is polyandry. According to this fallacy, the fact that same marriage is legalized, doesn’t guarantee that other groups seeking to legalize of polygamy will take place (“Same-Sex Marriage”). Legalizing homosexual marriage is part of the rights set up by the constitution to each and every citizen of the US. Polygamy is people who already enjoy the right to be married but want more people included in that marriage, so this separates them from homosexuals. Mankind is made up of both heterosexuals and homosexuals. Allowing same-sex marriage will not destroy humanity in them (“Same-Sex Marriage”). The change of the traditions of a country doesn’t necessarily mean that we would have lost the morality of our country. Each challenge should be handled separately.

False analogy fallacy, it is presented in the situation whereby people in marriage should be able to get children (Ferrer). So gay marriage should not be legalized because same-sex people cannot get children. We have people who get married when they are past the childbearing age. If the government allows them to get married, then same-sex marriage should also be allowed. False analogy fallacy also comes in when people in a same-sex marriage have a negative impact on society (“Same-Sex Marriage”). Yet the truth is people in this kind of marriage do not change from the normal human beings that they are, despite their sexual orientation. Such treatment will make those who do not have an issue with same-sex marriage to start developing negativity with that kind of marriage.

The main purpose of getting married is to bear children. Red herring fallacy comes in a situation where homosexuals are denied to get married because they are of the same sex (Ferrer). Marriage should only be for people of the opposite sex. It also serves as the main way to sanction and solemnize the union between people of the opposite sex (“Same-Sex Marriage”).  Marriage is basically built on the sexuality of ladies and their ability to reproduce. People in marriage should be able to complement each other in whatever they do. In same-sex marriage, there is no difference between the two. Both of them have a similar physical orientation.

Gay marriage denies the individual to fully enjoy what is entailed in a normal marriage. People in same-sex marriage do not use contraceptives in the course of their marriage that is part of a normal marriage (“Same-Sex Marriage”). Strawman fallacy comes in here (Ferrer). People no longer have the belief that full sexual relationship would begin in marriage. Gay marriage denies people in marriage the ability to enjoy being a mother or a father. Most people regard child upbringing is the best part of any marriage and family set up. The picture in figure 1 below shows a homosexual couple that has just wedded.

Finally, the fallacies above discuss how gay marriage has impacted the normal society. Constitutions and rules governing states and governments have advocated equal rights for every citizen of each state. The logical fallacies discussed do not give enough justification on why same-sex marriage should not be legalized or should be legalized.

Works Cited

Ferrer, David “15 Logical Fallacies You Should Know Before Getting Into a Debate.” 01 August 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/the-logical-fallacy-gay-marriage-opponents-depend-upon/251486/. Accessed on 16 May 2020

“Same-Sex Marriage: Breeding Ground for Logical Fallacies.” 2020

http://www2.gvsu.edu/miller90/ANALYSIS.pdf. Accessed on 16 May 2020

To what extent has Orwell’s vision of the telescreen, which invades Winston’s home, becomes a reality in our own homes? If you know your TV, your smartphone, and other devices were constantly watching and listening to you, how would you change your behavior? Consider news, social media, Google Home, etc. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this particular vision as it relates to today? Would you consider giving up your privacy for the security and safety of our country? Should we be constantly monitored to ensure our country’s safety?

Orwell’s vision of the telescreen seemed so farfetched when the book was written. Today, it is mostly a reality. With Amazon’s Alexa and other smart home assistants, it is constantly listening to us and maybe it is not to monitor us but to use our data and that information for the benefit of companies targetting us. Throughout time, people are being more aware of this, about our phones, computers and other smart devices constantly listening to us. I can see it around me with friends who used to joke about the devices listening and being careful with what you say, and now it is a reality. I love technology and I like using smart home devices like Alexa, but I think it might be an invasion of privacy. Currently, the data collected from these devices are being used for your benefit, to tailor your shopping experience and other things that benefit you. We are still not at the point where it is a threat to national security but I am also aware that for example Tik Tok, the social media platform is Chinese and owned partly by the government. This means the Chinese Government has access to much more information about its users than people think. A video went viral of a discussion in the senate where they tried passing a bill that seeks to ban TikTok from government work phones. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL). They also wanted to ban the families of Government officials to not be able to download TikTok.  The Trump administration also prepared a draft order back in March of this year to ban federal agencies from buying foreign-made drones. It has become a reality that data is more valuable than oil. This shows towards what type of world we are going to. Slowly, it will become more important for people to give up privacy for the safety of the country. The country will need to monitor the actions of people and online presence to keep it safe. I believe some things should be monitor, but they are also abusing on certain things which are not necessary. 

Topic: Didn’t go to class because a friend was visiting and forgot I had a midterm.

Friend: Hey man, hope you are doing good. I wanted to tell you about something that happened to while Guillermo was visiting. He was arriving Thursday morning which was my last day of classes in the week. I had four classes and decided that nothing would happen if I missed the classes for one day. I was wrong. I had completely forgotten one of the midterms had been changed from the date written on the syllabus. I picked up Guillermo at the airport and we went for lunch and it was there where I received the email from the teacher asking if there was a reason why I had missed the midterm. I panicked, didn’t know what to do, at this point it was too late to make it back to take it on that day because of traffic. I thought about my options, I could lie to the teacher, tell him I’m sick, or some other excuse, but I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, we both know it. I decided to be honest and tell him the truth. Luckily he understood and told me it was not a problem to take the midterm on Tuesday during office hours. I’m so relieved.

Parents: Hello Mom, I know I shouldn’t have missed class and I hope you know I would never miss a midterm on purpose. You know Guillermo is one of my best friends and he was visiting Los Angeles for the weekend so I decided to miss classes on Thursday to pick him up from the airport and enjoy the weekend to the fullest. I hadn’t noticed one of my midterms had changed and missed it. But don’t worry, I spoke with the teacher and everything is okay. I was honest with him and he understood and is letting me take the Midterm on Tuesday.

Teacher: Hello Professor, I wanted to apologize once again for missing the midterm. As I explained before, my best friend was visiting and I hadn’t seen him in a very long time. I was starting to miss home and seeing him helped me a lot. I had anticipated that nothing was due on Thursday. I completely forgot you had changed the midterm from next week to this week. I’m sorry for missing it. And I really appreciate that you are helping me with this situation by giving me the opportunity to make up the midterm next week. It won’t happen again. I would like to meet with you during office hours to discuss the material I missed during class and any apologize once again.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton