No One Listens to Tears or Cockiness (B)

     I'm comfortable with disagreement. Some may even say a little too comfortable. I like to have my opinions, hear other's opinions, and have a conversation about it. I like arguing and getting into it with other people when I'm passionate about something. I obviously like love when people agree with me but where's the fun in that? A bunch of people who think and act exactly like me would be a nightmare. So I like writing about my opinions on all different topics.
     At the start of this year I'd say I was a bit more all over the place in my argument writing. I have a lot of opinions and only so much paper to share them on so I tended to be scattered and confused. Even on the mock exam I only got a 6 on the argument. It was about what my position is on the value of words. My thesis was alright.

     "The everlasting nature of words, their emotional ties, and their historical context all give words their undeniable value."

     Not bad per say, but not great. And, again, the bodies were scattered. You could tell where I was going with it but I have trouble crossing the finish line.

     Maybe it's due to my hotheadedness that I'm so scattered. I'm a passionate person, what can I say? It's hard for me to reel in my emotions and all my thoughts. But throughout the year I've realized that I need more than passion to win an argument (B). I need evidence. I need logos and ethos, not just pathos. I need to back myself up with the facts rather than with my heart. No one cares what I think, it's about what's real and what isn't. What's true and what's not. I can't just say the meat industry is bad and that I love cows so we should change it because it hurts me to see animals that look like they're crying. I need to get expert opinions from multiple sides, show statistics, find articles, and display the argument in a scholarly way because being a kid crying about the poor cows won't get me anywhere. Or, even if I do only use personal examples, you better believe it's going to be a damn good one with a story to back it up rather than just an opinion with no follow up. I will no longer have tantrums trying to prove myself with nothing behind my words. 
     I took what I learned into account and by the end of the unit I could make a halfway decent argument. Like my Certainty vs. Doubt piece which I got a 7 on. 

"Finally, certainty tends to fade as we get older and is replaced by doubt. I was certain as a kid that Santa existed and was coming down my chimney to deliver presents every Christmas. As I got older, I doubted that he did this. I wondered how he got down the chimney when I didn't even have a chimney."

     I still need to work on how I present things and I have a long way to go before I can ever be a lawyer, that's for sure. But at least I know what I need to work on. I was just so cocky before. I really thought that some rando readers checking out my arguments would go with it solely based on what I felt and my thoughts. Laughable. I was put in my place though, thank god. It's a good lesson to learn that the world isn't going to cater to you because you feel strongly about something. Sometimes that's hard for me but that's life and oh well.
     My passion hasn't faded though, don't worry. You'll still hear me arguing with my math teacher about my grades or with my sister about which one of us would win in a fight (it's me by the way). I don't think that will ever change.