What is better? What is best?
--Benjamin
Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist and philosopher |
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Prewriting
–Idea Generating
a)
What do each of these quotations mean to you?
b)
Can you think of any famous sayings or quotations
about truth, social change or human rights?
c)
What do you think are some of the most controversial
issues in the world today?
d)
What are some local controversial issues?
e)
What controversial issues affect your life?
Before
reading the following essay view these short videos:
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=IrVDkjLzuZM&feature=related
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=fL38PFux6wE&NR=1
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNedC3j0e4&feature=related
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=45idgCylhaw
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr6D3pwKMYg
|
Car Ads:
Give US Some Truth By Brian J. English ¡°Drive equals
Love." What a concept to sell cars! So untrue; yet so similar to the
inaccurate messages sent via many automobile ads. For example, the grandson
of the man credited with inventing the horseless carriage claims that life
does not get any better than a "throaty V-8" and a good car stereo.
Another ad uses the first white man to climb Mt. Everest as an apparent
spokesman to draw a parallel between driving and adventure. The trend in car
commercials for the last few years has been to show cars, and especially
SUVs, as vehicles to conquer nature rather than vehicles to transport people.
One of the first such commercials showed SUV drivers holding mallets and
tearing up a northern California cliff while playing a motorized version of
polo. More recently an ad shows two "cowboys" tipping over a
rhinoceros and then escaping in an SUV. However cute and creative these ads
are, they are sending a false and dangerous message to the consumer. Over thirty
years ago, our society started speaking out against the tobacco companies
that glorified cigarette smoking with commercials that portrayed smokers as
sexy and adventurous. Cigarette commercials were consequently banned from
television. Even today, public health groups lobby for the de-glamorization
of tobacco products in Hollywood movies. Are not cars just as much of a
health hazard as cigarettes? According to the
US Department of Transportation statistics, over 10 times as many people die
in car accidents every year as died in the WTC attacks on Sept 11, 2001. This
mention is not to equate car companies with terrorists; it is only to stress
the need for consumers to be vigilant in requiring truth in advertising. How
can the slogan "drive equals love" be true for the families of
those 40,000 plus car crash deaths every year? One out of every 9,000 people
living in the US today will be dead as a result of a car accident in the next
year. In an average lifetime a typical passenger or driver has about a one in
one hundred chance of their life ending as a direct result of a car accident.
According to the Disaster Center, the chances of being injured in a car
accident are one in one thousand for any given year. If any other
consumer product were this blatantly dangerous, it would be required to carry
warning labels. Our society requires we put ratings on movies and music for
fear they might indirectly cause tragedy. Yet, we allow car companies to
continue to seduce people into thinking the cars they drive define who they
are, that people need to drive to enjoy life, and that cars mean freedom.
Cars are tools. Transportation tools. When they are being "pushed"
as euphoric thrill machines, it encourages dependence on motor vehicles.
Society's addiction to automobiles threatens the health of humans and the
environment every bit as much as cigarettes or illegal drugs. Car abuse is a
real addiction. The advertisements vulgarly glorify the addiction. The
consumer buys into it all. Commercials for such a dangerous product should at
least provide one of those fast-talking disclaimers such as drug companies
are required to have when they advertise their products. Finally, the
absurdity of the "car conquers nature" genre of commercials becomes
ironic when considering the actual impact cars have on the environment.
Putting aside liberalist arguments that the need for car fuel may in turn
fuel wars; it is undeniable that oil is a threat to a healthy environment
both in the pre-use transportation stage and the post-use emissions stage.
Periodically, oil tanker accidents ruin thousands of miles of coastline while
trying to satisfy our thirst for gasoline. Petroleum by-products that make it
into our waterways through road run off and sewage waste do similar damage to
coastlines and estuaries. Perhaps, though, the most alarming environmental
impact comes from the nearly invisible atmospheric pollutants that
automobiles produce. The average car driver burns about 500 gallons of gas
every year and the average SUV driver about 700 gallons. That translates into
six and a half tons of pollutants per car per year; and nine tons per SUV per
year. Those pollutants are in the air we breathe and the rain that waters our
crops. There is no
denying the automobile has its benefits. However, like so many temptations in
people's lives, overuse and abuse of cars is behavior that should be
discouraged, rather than encouraged. Car companies send a message with their
advertisements that cars are about nature, freedom and power. A car is a
tool; so why is it advertised as a luxury or an instrument of pleasure? For
years the individual consumer has been leery of the stereotypical dubious car
salesman. Perhaps, now it is time for society to start being leery of the
dubious tactics car companies are using to sell a false image, a false
lifestyle, and a false future to the unsuspecting consumer.
|
Video:
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=cY6t2ckpb5g&feature=related
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=YhEl6HdfqWM
Essay number 4 is an
argumentative essay. You have a wide choice of topics; however, it is important
to choose a topic early so you can begin gathering information to support your
arguments. The following are some possible topics that you could choose to
write an argumentative essay:
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Should
the university entrance exam system be changed?
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Assisted
suicide
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Genetic/stem
cell research
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Intellectual
property rights and piracy
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Animals¡¯
rights (eating dog, fur coats, animals in laboratory testing)
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Gambling
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Illegal
immigration
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Mandatory
English classes for high school students
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Use
of TOEIC scores for job applicants
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Universal
health care/health insurance
AFTER
YOU CHOOSE A TOPIC START WORKING ON AN ANGLE!!!
(TIP: Start thinking
of the pro and con arguments for your topic!!!)