Lesson 4

The thesis of my revised essay is that people have to be willing to challenge themselves in order to grow in character and to discover things about themselves. To back this thesis up with evidence I talked to the head teacher of the school I attend. I asked him why students should challenge themselves and what happens when they do not. He asked me how else would a student reach their potential and then went on to say, "When a students does not challenge himself he becomes mentally lazy. His mind stagnates and he does not advance."
I then looked up some sources on line to take a look into what actually goes on in the brain when a person is challenged and I used their examples in my paper.


1) Which of the suggested Tasks from Writing Arguments did you find most helpful in pre-writing your revision? Why?

Task #3 Choose several areas of controversy for exploration - I was able to practice hitting different problems from different points of view.

2) Which genre of argument would you most likely write on your own? Why?

I would most likely choose Scholarly Journals. I would do this because my opinion would have a greater chance of being heard even though only to a smaller number of readers.

3) Did you ask anyone else to make recommendations about your revising process? Why or why not?

Yes, I asked two or three of my school teachers for help on how to revise my paper because I felt very unsure of what the assignment was really asking for.

4) Why and how is argument both a process and a product?

An argument is both a process and a product because there is an exchange of information, ideas, and opinions. That is the process. Also in an argument someone is usually persuaded to see differently, and that is the product.

5) What is the goal of argument?

The goal of an argument is to persuade someone to your way of thinking (hopefully) in order to benefit society.