FINAL Draft

Don't you just want to snuggle up with a cat or dog on a rainy day?  Or, if you don't like cats or dogs, don' you what to have a pet companion in your life? However, choosing a pet can be a difficult task as there many steps to consider before and while getting one.  Keep in mind when choosing and purchasing a pet, that some things to consider are which type of pet is best for you, whether you can handle the responsibility that comes with caring for a smaller creature, and the whether the pet is affordable and within your price-range. 

One of the first steps to take when purchasing a pet is what type of pet you would most desire.  The are a plethora of pets to choose ranging from dogs to fish to hamsters or rats and nearly everything in between.  Then, it is necessary to research which stores are nearby that have the pet you would like in stock.  It may be beneficial to call the stores first instead of driving to each one to determine whether the store has the pet you are looking for.  Finally, after arriving at the store, it is time to chose the perfect pet for you.  Some things to consider while choosing your soon-to-be pet is how "cute" they are.  This "cuteness" factor can depend on multiple things that can include the color of the pet's fur, skin, scales, or feathers.  Also, choosing a pet it can depend on their size- whether they are big or small.  Finally, the last factor in choosing a pet can depend on their age and whether they are babies or adults.  

Additionally, before even deciding to have a pet, you should think about whether you can handle the responsibility that comes with owning one.  If you do not want to have too much responsibility, I would advise getting a fish, or another type of pet that doesn't require much effort to care for.  Just remember that caring for a dog or even a guinea pig can have its struggles.  I know that when I had my guinea pig, I would never like cleaning it's cage and my mom had to help at some points when I was too occupied to clean the cage or feed her (my guinea pig).  

Finally, one of the last but most important things to factor into purchasing a pet is the cost and affordability.  Not all animals are cheap.  For instance, certain types of dogs can be a lot of money.  Additionally, some animals may require veterinarian care, which is also an expense on you on top of the cost of the pet.

Overall, after going through all of these steps and thinking about important factors like responsibility and cost, it is a life changing experience to own a pet.  A pet is a companion that you can always rely on to be there, until they die and then you possibly get a new pet.  If you do not love or feel a connection to any of the pets at the store at a first look, don't worry.  Occasionally, this can be a long and challenging process.  Keep going to other stores until you find a pet that suits and achieves all of your expectation. Now, I hope with these steps in mind, you are able to find the true perfect pet for your home. 

Final but not final draft

There are many aspects to consider when purchasing and choosing a pet.  First, you have to decide which pet you would most desire.  There is a plethora of pets to chose from including cats, dogs, fish, hamsters, birds, guinea pig, rabbits, etc. 

Next, you need to research what pet stores are nearby and which you would like to purchase a pet from.  After deciding which pet store, you go to the pet store and ask where the pet you want is located. Then, you chose which pet is the best for you.  Some things to consider when choosing the pet of your choice is how "cute" they are, the color of their fur/scales/feathers, their size (big or tiny), or even their age (whether they are babies or adults).  

Also keep in mind that the process to buy a dog can be different than that of a hamster.  If you want to purchase a dog, it is common to go to certain stores that have breed the animal you are looking for. At that store, you need to know which kind of dog you would like.  Some dog types would include golden retrievers, poodles, shitzus, pugs, etc.  Then,  you purchase the dog that you feel is best to be your pet. 

If you do not love or feel a connection to any of the pets at the store, don't worry.  This can be a long process.  Keep going to other stores until you find the perfect pet for you. 

Now, I hope with these steps in mind, you are able to find the true perfect pet. 

How-to choose a Pet

(Rough Draft)

There are many aspects to consider when purchasing and choosing a pet.  First, you have to decide which pet you would most desire.  There is a plethora of pets to chose from including cats, dogs, fish, hamsters, birds, guinea pig, rabbits, etc. 

Next, you need to research what pet stores are nearby and which you would like to purchase a pet from.  After deciding which pet store, you go to the pet store and ask where the pet you want is located. Then, you chose which pet is the best for you.  Some things to consider when choosing the pet of your choice is how "cute" they are, the color of their fur/scales/feathers, their size (big or tiny), or even their age (whether they are babies or adults).  

Also keep in mind that the process to buy a dog can be different than that of a hamster.  If you want to purchase a dog, it is common to go to certain stores that have breed the animal you are looking for. At that store, you need to know which kind of dog you would like.  Some dog types would include golden retrievers, poodles, shitzus, pugs, etc.  Then,  you purchase the dog that you feel is best to be your pet. 

If you do not love or feel a connection to any of the pets at the store, don't worry.  This can be a long process.  Keep going to other stores until you find the perfect pet for you. 

"How-to" Topics

Topics:

1. How to prepare a survival kit-                                                                                                

How to prepare a survival kit might be a good topic because there is a vast amount of things to talk about.  There are especially a lot of items that you could talk about that are needed for survival.  For example, batteries, fire, knives, water, etc. would be useful items to have in a survival kit.  Additionally, I think this is an interesting topic because it informs people that survival kits are important and people should have one just in case something bad happens.  Not many people have survival kits, and this could help to encourage more people to have them. 

2. How to choose a pet-                                                                                                                   How to choose a pet can also be a good topic because most people don't just say "I'll get a dog" without actually examining each one and then choosing which they would like.  In this speech, there is a vast amount of things to be talked about.  For instance, the "criteria" to a pet could be talked about.  This criteria includes concepts such as cuteness, how furry the animal is, how big they are, etc.  Lastly, what type of animal to get can be talked about in this speech.  When choosing a pet, there are a ton of animals to decide from. 

3. How to score a game of tennis-                                                                                                                    I think this would be a good topic for me to do a speech on because I love tennis.  For me, this topic wouldn't require much research since I know how to score a game very well.  Also, not many people may know about tennis, or, in fact, how to keep score in a game.  By giving this "how-to" speech, it would inform my audience about a game that they may not have known about before.  Also, this speech may encourage them to go out and play this wonderful sport called tennis. 

The Great Debates

Regarding our second debate topic on whether social media has a positive or negative effect on people, I think both teams did a better job preparing and stating their arguments in this debate than the first on the legal drinking age.  In this debateI think that my team's (the affirmative side) opening statement had a clear thesis that stated our argument and had some good points about why social media has a positive effect on teens.  The other team also had a good opening statement with some great specific points and statistics to back their argument up.

The next part of the debate was the rebuttal.  Compared to last time, I believe that both teams had stronger rebuttals that in the first debate.  There were definitely less fallacies than there were in the last debate rebuttals.  For the most part, both teams brought up good points that attacked what the other teams said in their rebuttals.  Around all of the  points were brought up in the rebuttals and talked about.  I know that my team tried to plan the rebuttals ahead this time because in our last debate, our rebuttals were not the best.  Consequently, I feel this prepared us more to go against the other team's argument.  There will still some points that we weren't prepared to hear in the negative side argument.  But, overall, I think the rebuttals served their purpose to say why what they said wasn't/wasn't necessarily correct. 

Finally, the last part of the debate were the closing statements.  I don't think my team (the affirmative argument) had a very strong argument compared to last time.  In this debate, the closing statement was just a list of what points were made in the argument.  There were no important points left 

Ultimately, this was a much better debate than the first but could still be improved.  After being timer for this second debate, I realized how our time wasn't utilized very effectively.  Either time ran out and people got cut off from what they were saying, or they didn't talk long enough and didn't use the whole time period to debate.  If there was a third debate, the debate could be made better if both teams used the full time to their benefit.   This also pushes the debate teams to be more organized and prepared for planning what they will say in the debate based on the maximum amount of time they can use. 

The day after the second debate, we started what is called "lightning debate round."  Overall, I think I did pretty well on this assignment because it was on the spot.  I argued my topics to the best of my ability.  By the second time I did the lightning debate, I got a feel for the little amount of time you have.  In my first lightning debate round, I got cut off in the middle of my rebuttal because time was over.  Today, when I debated for the second time, I made sure to use as much of the time as possible.  Consequently, these quick debate helped me to learn how important time is. 

There's no hating debating! :)

Affirmative Argument 

Thesis: Social networking has a positive effect on teens more so than a negative effect because it can boost ones confidence, is a good way to communicate with others, helps people form relationships with one another, is used for music, is used by colleges for teaching or recruiting students. 

Supporting Details (Evidence- Logos and Ethos):

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/21/living/social-media-positives-teens-parents/

- A child advocacy group called Common Sense Media did a study and found that every one in five teens said social media makes them feel more confident.  Only 4% who said it lowers their self esteem. 

- 29% of teens say that social media makes them feel less shy 

- 52% of teens say that social media has helped them develop friendships with others. Only 4% said that their friendships were negatively affected by social networking 

http://socialnetworking.procon.org

- Spread information quickly- more than 50% of people learn about news through social media.  Social media is the second most common way that Americans learn about the news.  27.8% of Americans hear about news through social networking, 28.8% hear about news by newspaper, 18.8% by radio, and 6% for other types of print publications. 

- Improve relationships/Make new friends- "52% of teens using social media report that using the sites has helped their relationships with friends, 88% report that social media helps them stay in touch with friends they cannot see regularly, 69% report getting to know students at their school better, and 57% make new friends" (ProCon.org). 

- Makes teens feel less shy- 25% of teens report that because of social networking, they feel less shy, 28% more outgoing, and 20% more confident. 

- Social networking sites are use for teaching- More than 40% of US colleges use social networking for teaching.  Communication- 30% of teachers use social networking as a direct source of communication to students.   "Educators from around the world interact with each other and bring guest teachers, librarians, authors, and experts into class via social networks like Twitter and social networking tools like Skype. Edmodo, an education-specific social networking site designed for contact between students, teachers, and parents, reached over 49 million users in 2014" (ProCon.org) 

- Many people listen to music through social networks- 64% of teenagers listen to music on YouTube, rather than on the radio or through.

- Used by colleges to recruit students- "96.6% of four-year institutions use Facebook to recruit students, 83.4% use Twitter, and 79.3% use YouTube. (ProCon.org) 

Pathos (Stories/Examples):

Communication-

I have younger cousin who I only see once a year during the summertime when I go and visit her and her family.  She hasn't gotten to the age yet where she needs a phone so she uses her moms Facebook account to keep it touch with my family throughout the rest of the year.  Without social networking, it would be much more difficult to stay in contact with her. 

Quick Information-

"Twitter and YouTube users reported the July 20, 2012 Aurora, CO theater shooting before news crews could arrive on the scene [3], and the Red Cross urged witnesses to tell family members they were safe via social media outlets" (ProCon.org) 

Used to fight against bullying-

A freshmen varsity soccer goalie named Daniel Cui from Hillsborough, CA was "blamed for and bullied about a losing season until over 100 of his teammates and classmates changed their Facebook profile photos to one of Cui making a save, silencing the bullies and building Cui's confidence" (ProCon.org)

Discovery because of social networking-

At the age of 12 years old, Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube.  Then, in 2012, at the age of 18 years old, Bieber’s net was worth about $80 million

Keep Calm, and Debate On!

For our first class debate, I think think my team (the negative side) did okay on the debate.  The other team was a little more organized than us, and got their points across clearer.  The affirmative team (the other team) won the debate mainly because they had a clearer argument on why the drinking age should be lowered.  However, there is room for improvement for both teams.

First off, our opening statement (for the negative side) stated our position clearly and had a good thesis, but didn't get into enough depth of why the drinking age should not be lowered.  The whole opening statement was a total of only a minute long.  Next, our rebuttals weren't very strong.  It was mine and another persons job (two people) to rebut the argument, but I don't think either of our rebuttals were that affective to the overall argument.  For me, it was hard to think of what do rebut against because the affirmative team made good points in their opening statements that I didn't think they would mention.  Therefore, I couldn't think of a quick argument to go against what the other team said. The other person rebutting after me, however, should have mentioned the points I forgot to bring up in the argument about what the other team had said.  I also didn't realize how little time we got for the rebuttal.  I was cut off when time was over, and I hadn't finished making my point yet.  The second rebuttal was the opposite of mine.  It was short and didn't really argue anything that the opposing team had brought up in their argument.  Finally, I think our closing statement was good.  It served its purpose of wrapping up the argument, and also gave the audience a good point to think about that wasn't mentioned previously in the debate.

The affirmative team's opening statement has some good points in it.  I especially liked the pathos incorporated into the debate by telling a brief story relating to the legal drinking age controversy.  Unfortunately, the other teams opening statement was very fast.  Therefore, it was hard to hear and understand/remember all of the good points that were mentioned.  Secondly, their rebuttals weren't too strong.  The first rebuttal only brought up one point about how you have rights to go to military, but can't go home for a drink.  The second rebuttal, also, only talked about one thing.  In this case, it was how I made a false assumption about European countries.  I suppose this is a good thing to call me out on though, because it makes their argument stronger and ours less reliable.  Lastly, in their closing statement, a section of it was trying to rebut the European country drinking age concept saying that it was in fact comparable to the United States, but this made the closing statement very confusing.  It would have been better if that argument was left out of the closing statement. 

Overall, since this was our first experience with debate, the debate wasn't too bad.  Yet, there are definitely some things that can use improvement for both teams.  For the opening statements, both teams needed to talk slower.  This will ensure that the audience is able to clearly understand what you are trying to say.  In the future, it will be beneficial for both teams to try and think of arguments that the other argument might bring up and think about rebuttals to the arguments ahead of time.  This required more preparation, but will immensely improve the strength of an argument.  Lastly, especially for the affirmative team, it is critical to make sure that the closing statement is clear and concise.  It is also a good idea to leave the audience with a point that was not made before in the argument. 

When in doubt, debate it out!

Affirmative Argument

Thesis: Lowering the drinking age is a reasonable decision as 18 year old are considered adults, it would help the economy, there will be less amounts of fake ID's, and the "thrill" of drinking wouldn't be as important. 

Support: http://drinkingage.procon.org 

- 18 is the age of adulthood in the United States, and adults should have the right to make their own decisions about alcohol consumption. After turning 18, you get rights and responsibilities of adulthood like being able to "vote, smoke cigarettes, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, be prosecuted as adults, and join the military - which includes risking one's life" (ProCon.org). 

- Lowering MLDA 21 would be good for the economy. More people would legally be able to drink in bars, restaurants, and other licensed establishments. The revenue from 18-21 year olds would increase immensely for private business owners.  Also, the more tax revenue would be collected by the government.

- The drinking age of 21 is not effective because the majority of teens will drink alcohol no matter the law. "According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, underage drinking accounts for 17.5% ($22.5 billion) of consumer spending for alcohol in the United States. In 2006, 72.2% of twelfth graders reported drinking alcohol at some point in their lives" (ProCon.org).  If the drinking age were to be lowered, than there wouldn't be as much of a "thrill" or need to break the law and drink alcohol for young adults.  

- Many people under the age of 21 already have fake ID's so they are able to purchase alcohol or get into clubs serving alcohol.  If the drinking age was lowered, then there would be a smaller amount of false identification and that would overall  be better for the nation's security.

Logos and Ethos: 

- A statement was made that "There are fewer drunk driving traffic accidents and fatalities in many countries with a drinking age of 18" (ProCon.org). For instance, European contires have legal drinking ages lower than 18.  In the 1980's, the United States had a lower amount of traffic accidents and fatalities.  But, despite this fact, in 1984, the US raised the drinking age to 21.   

- Drinking age enforcement isn't a priority to the police.  "An estimated two of every 1,000 occasions of illegal drinking by youth under 21 results in an arrest" (ProCon.org). 

- Lowering MLDA 21 would reduce the number of underage people who are hurt from alcohol-related injuries or accidents.  If someone does get hurt by alcohol, and they are underage, a lot of the time they are afraid to do anything about it with the fear of getting caught for underage drinking.  If the drinking age was lowered, then more people would seek to get medical help if in a dangerous circumstance because of alcohol.

- Allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to drink alcohol in regulated environments with supervision would decrease unsafe drinking activity.  However, if the legal drinking age is 21, then this age group isn't allowed to drink in bars, restaurants, or other licensed locations.  This then results in drinking at unsupervised places like fraternity houses or at house parties.  Here, there is a likelier chance to be binge drinking and doing sorts of unsafe behavior due to the fact that there isn't any supervision.

Pathos (Examples/Stories): 

Isn't it a good thing to help our economy?  I mean, we don't want our economy to fail, right?  By lowering the drinking age, more people will go to bars and restaurants and purchase drinks.  Ultimately, these immense amount of purchases would boost our economy with the increase of revenue for buisnesses and the government. 

If they say that lowering the drinking age would cause and increase in suicide rates or criminal activity of teens: 

"In a 2002 meta-study of the legal drinking age and health and social problems, 72% of the studies found no statistically significant relationship [between teens and suicide or criminal behavior]" (ProCon.org).

Negative Argument

Thesis:  Lowering the drinking age would be a horrible decision because teenagers aren't mature enough, underage drinking can cause problems with brain functions, high school and middle school students then have easier access to alcohol, and it will give more people the freedom to go to bar or clubs. 

Support: http://drinkingage.procon.org

- Alcohol consumption can interfere with development of the brain that associates with functions like emotions, planning, and organization.  There more potential for chronic problems like addiction, dangerous behavior, poor judgement, memory loss, depression, violence, and suicide. 

- Lowering the drinkign age would give high schoolers and even middle schoolers easier access to alcohol.  "Surveys show that the most common source of alcohol among 18- to 20-year olds is their 21- to 24-year-old peers" (ProCon.org)

- The drinking age should not be lowered because people are more mature and responsible at 21 than 18. 18-year-olds "are more susceptible to binge drinking, risky sexual activity, and other irresponsible behavior due to lack of maturity" (ProCon.org).

- More people can go to bars or night clubs, which aren't particularly safe environments for teens. "76% of bars have sold alcohol to intoxicated patrons, and about half of drivers arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) or killed as alcohol-involved drivers in traffic crashes did their drinking at licensed establishment" (ProCon.org). Additionally, the communities near bars or nightclubs have a greater amount of assaults and other violent crimes. 

Logos and Ethos: 

- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that the drinking age of 21 "decreased the number of fatal traffic accidents for 18- to 20-year-olds by 13% and saved approximately 27,052 lives from 1975-2008" (ProCon.org). 

- In 2007, there was a Gallup poll discovering that "77% of Americans would oppose a federal law that lowers the drinking age in all states to age 18" (ProCon.org)

- The drinking age of 21 helps to prevent underage binge drinking. Most people Binge drink when they are 21- to 25-year-olds (45.9%).  Only 1.5% of people binge drink when they 12-13 year old.  7.8% when they're 14-15, 19.4% when they are 16-17, and 35.7% when they are 18-20.  Still the people who binge drink most are within the legal drinking age (ProCon.org)

- Lowering the drinking age will result in having 18-21 year olds use more illicit drugs than before. "A peer-reviewed study from the Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs found that the younger a person begins to drink alcohol, the more likely it is that they will use other illicit drugs" (ProCon.org) The lowered drinking age would increase the number of teens who drink. Therefore, the number of teens who use other drugs would increase as well. 

Pathos (Examples/Stories): 

Imagine you are a parent.  You have a kid that just turned 18 and his college friends are taking him out to a night club for some drinks since he is now in the legal drinking age.  He drinks with his friends all night and start driving back to campus.  The driver, your kids best friend, didn't realize how much he had to drink.  He passed out in front of the wheel and swerved into another car.  Your kid died.  He died because of the lowered drinking age. 

If the other group says other countries have lower drinking ages: 

The rate of drinking among US teenagers is lower than most European countries. US teenagers also show equal or lower rates of intoxication and/or binge drinking than younge adults from European countries.  Plus, European countries report higher rates of intoxication and binge drinking for people under the age of 13.