Looking back on my time in my English classes this year, I feel that I have taken great strides in my writing skills. In the beginning, I had problems with organization, clarity, and other writing abilities. After plenty of constructive criticism and encouragement, I have absolutely transformed my writing. After reviewing the goals that I had set for myself at the beginning of the semester, I feel that I have met every one. I have made improvements in every aspect. From my writing style to my organization, growth is evident. Possibly the strongest evidence that I have to prove my growth is the change in my writing scores. At the beginning of the semester, I remember getting a four on an analytical essay. At that moment, I felt highly discouraged. I jumped around that score for a while. But, after reading every red-inked comment on my essays, I finally made some improvements. At the end, my last analytical essays were both eights. In my eyes, that is something to be proud of. I had exceeded my expectations. Looking back in my writing portfolio, I can see where my problems were and how I began to lose my bad habits in writing. I believe that this course has drastically improved my chances to obtain my goals in journalism. My mind now allows itself to be more creative, I am now able to think outside the box. I know that I will keep the lessons that I have learned in this course and implement them to their fullest extent. I can only hope to get better from this point and in seeing what improvements I have already made, I’m sure I can.
“Singer Solution to World Poverty” Argumentation essay
There is a side of society that often goes unseen by the middle and upper classes—a side ridden with poverty and misfortune. In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” Singer calls on the prosperous to provide for the less fortunate. Although the belief that the wealthy should provide for the poor is a burden to the fortunate few, the positive aspects outweigh the negative: selfless acts can create a moral majority and a world dilemma can be saved by those who have the means.
The idea that social responsibility should be laid upon the wealthy is a rather controversial issue that has been long debated. But as argument drags on, world problems worsen. A comparative debate of the upper class’s responsibility to the rest of society is the debate about taxes. The 2008 election campaign of Barack Obama professed that tax cuts would be given to families earning less than $250,000 a year. The prosperous citizens of America felt that this was an unfair measure that manipulated successful hard workers. Supporters of this proclaimed that it is a civic duty to pay taxes but some simply have the means to better support the government. This political debate can be easily applied to Singer’s argument that those with the means should support the well-being of the world. The negative aspect is that not the wealthy would be paying out an unequal share. The difference between tax cuts and Singer’s suggestion is that helping organizations such as UNICEF is voluntary—the donators feel that their actions are necessary.
The prosperous have an unequal power in society that is not always utilized in the best manner. Should this power be rightfully implemented, serious world issues could be solved. Materialism plays a large role in Western culture and important world crises are often absent from consciousness. Singer argues that “whatever money you’re spending on luxuries, not necessities should be given away.” It becomes clear that Singer is channeling the notions of famous philanthropists JP Morgan, Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie. These three men, among others, excelled in their particular craft and were largely successful in monetary terms. They believed that they should share their great earnings. This idea came from the Social Gospel—the idea that the wealthy should use their money to assist the less fortunate. Singer’s wish that prosperous citizens should donate money to organizations such as UNICEF would certainly reap the most ultimate positive benefit: the salvation of the hungry and sick who live without the means to help themselves.
Through my personal experiences of community service, I have learned the positive effects of selfless works. The act of service without personal gain reaps substantial benefits to the people involved. Singer believes that the wealthy are not always as helpful as they could be considering their available means. If the ways of the wealthy were to change, a new moral majority can be formed. Rather than making selfish and outrageous expenditures, people can spend their money on saving lives. The American habit of excess is prominent and it seems that selflessness is almost unheard of. Acts of charity are almost always tax deductible and public—personal gain now comes hand in hand with philanthropy. Yet there is a small minority who are helping the world little by little. UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, the Peace Corps—these are the organizations that work to improve conditions for those less fortunate. If these groups were to be further supported by the powerful and prosperous, a substantial growth of morality would be evident. This new morality has implications for a new reputation of successful Americans—a new moral majority.
In the debate of the social responsibility of the economically successful, most would agree that service should come before materialism. Where this debate ends, however, is how much responsibility should be laid upon one group. While the wealthy should not be solely targeted as the group responsible for the world’s well being, it remains that with cooperation important crises can be resolved and these acts will form a new sense of morality. Should the wealthy accept some of this responsibility, the efficacy of every country will develop and the world would be in a better position to become united.
In the original draft of my argumentation essay, I had a few organization and grammar problems. Overall, I feel that I am at a good start for this particular essay and I think that I can only improve from here. Personally, this is my favorite essay. I feel that this essay has the most freedom when it comes to the thought that goes into it. The changes that I made helped to improve the cohesiveness of my paper. I messed around with the topic sentences and clinchers and I changed the ideas in my third body paragraph. I actually enjoy writing this essay and I don’t think that I would mind practicing them more.
