Assignment 4b Instructions and Anti-gay Bullying Essay Notes

Complete all tasks for Assignment 4b

Notes Note this page only includes the instructions for Assignment 4b — the dropbox can be found separately on the main course page, and will only be available after you receive your grade and feedback for Assignment 4a. Before you begin this assignment, make sure that you have completed: The Academic Integrity Skills Module and the Academic Integrity Quiz. The MLA Documentation Skills Module and the MLA Documentation Skills Quiz. Remember, all paraphrased material and direct quotations in your final essay must be properly cited and referenced. Your essay must be submitted through the appropriate assignment dropbox. Do not email your assignments; if you are unable to use the assignment dropbox, contact your tutor. Remember to include a cover page with your assignment, including your name, ID, the name of the course, the name of the assignment, and the date. Please also remember to number the pages of your assignment. Instructions As a starting point for your work on Assignment 4b, refer to the outline, rough draft, and feedback you received from your tutor for Assignment 4a. Review, revise, and edit your rough draft to produce a final polished essay. Do not be concerned if your rough draft requires substantive revision, such as re-organizing or re-structuring the material in the essay. In addition to a review of the rough draft in terms of organization, accuracy of content, and general editing, you should also ensure that you have provided proper support for your arguments and that you have not committed any errors of logic. The following log entries will be important in this final process: 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 37, and 38; however, you might also want to review the log entries you used in the development of your outline and rough draft. In addition to the General Grading Matrix found in the Course Information, your essay will be graded on how well you address and incorporate the feedback from your rough draft into your final essay. As such, the grade on your rough draft may not necessarily correspond to the grade you receive on your final polished essay. Your discussion should show a clear understanding and appropriate application of the concepts covered, and should take a stand regarding the impact and the relative worth of the author’s arguments on the issue discussed. kindly review assignment 4a and its remarks. see the bellow Anti-gay Bullying 1. Use one of the two active reading methods to read the essay for this assignment. Submit all your notes. For those steps usually done “in your head” (such as recite), note briefly what you did in the step. If you use a Reading Inventory, when you reach Rereading, only answer the first three questions listed in Reader’s Choice, page 41. State the author’s purpose and main idea. a) The title of the essay, Anti-gay Bullying is direct. It can be assumed the target audience would be adults who have experienced bullying, it may discuss strategies to improve bullying. It can also suggest that the article sheds light on the bullying that gay people face daily. The title shows that the authors will be delving into issues surrounding anti-gay bullying. b) The general subject of the essay is preventing bullying and bringing awareness about the bullying that gays face and persuade them into taken a stand against this negative behaviour towards this group of people. The authors’ approach is a bit of a narrative but remains factual by providing statistics. c) Daniel Fricker has a degree from Queens University. An established media career, working as a producer and journalist. Lars Kushner attended business school and works as an associate counsel. Based on both author’s qualifications they would appear to be middle aged and qualified to discuss the subject at hand. They seem to believe in others standing up for what they believe in, to freely express who they are and to stand up for themselves. d) The essay originally appeared in Outlooks, a Canadian magazine for the LGBTQ+ community in 2010. It was written around the time when many LGBTQ+ teenagers took Anti-gay Bullying their lives from anti-gay bullying. Therefore, the tone is serious and persuasive. The authors have an engaging, yet serious approach to the subject. They are not too serious to drive readers away, but they are serious enough to convey their messages. I would like to learn further what initiated the essay, why they felt the need to write, what are they hoping to address? Bullying is a broad subject. I would also like to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community to prevent bullying. e) The author’s discuss bullying that is happening against individuals based on their sexual orientation. Poignantly: evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret. I looked up this word as I had not seen it before. I assumed it was an emotional descriptor, based on its usage. I am surprised that it is all American statistics and American entertainers. I thought the authors were Canadian. It is disheartening to read that things are not improving, but only getting worse. Being a mother of an 18-year-old son who has developmental disability and gay, these readings have really touched me as my son does not only face bullying for his mental and physical disability but also for his sexual preference/orientation. My son wrote a suicide note at the age of 12, thank God that the note was seen on time at his school and we were able to save my son Jaron. f) The authors purpose is to discuss bullying and encourage readers to take a stand. They accomplish this by telling an engaging story with relative statistics to back up their tales. Even without the stories, the statistics are alarming enough but by providing names with family Anti-gay Bullying details they evoke more emotions. This is their intention, using emotion to get the desired results. Activism. g) I believe that everyone has the right to express who they are without facing discrimination. Bullying is a violation of that fundamental right and it leads to losses of young lives. It is imperative that we, as adults, ensure that we teach our children to be respectful and loving of one another. The main idea of this article is that bullying should be taken more seriously as it leads to serious repercussions, and people should be acting against bullying. The authors point out the various initiatives that celebrities and locals have taken to show LGBTQ+ youth that they are not alone, which persuades readers to take their own initiatives against anti-gay bullying. h) My initial reactions are those of shock and disgust. To elaborate, when the authors were relaying the aftermaths of anti-gay bullying, I felt shocked and disgusted that people—kids—would treat other kids so terribly. Kids are supposed to be innocent and loving but that does not seem to be the case nowadays. Learning that all those innocent children were compelled to take their lives from the torture they faced for being gay is just baffling. So, this article is especially important to me, also because of Jaron, my son, and I think that the authors are doing something amazing by shedding light on this very real issue of anti-gay bullying. The purpose of the essay is to persuade the readers to acknowledge the seriousness and take initiatives against anti-gay bullying. They achieve this by presenting their arguments in a logical manner. They begin by saying that bullying is not taken very seriously but it should as many people have taken their lives in response to the bullying epidemic. They give statistics Anti-gay Bullying on anti-gay bullying which persuade the reader that anti-gay bullying is a very real and excessively big problem. They then offer solutions to the problem by giving various examples of established organizations and initiatives taken by celebrities. This motivates and influences the audience to also join the organizations and celebrities in the fight against anti-gay bullying. They use logical reasoning and factual evidence to support their arguments which help them to achieve their purpose of the essay. i) The authors most likely assume that the person is well-informed and open-minded individual. Otherwise, it would be hard for the authors’ message to be accepted by the reader. That is why they would make such generic assumptions when producing their arguments. j) I understand this essay very well, and I understand the relationships among ideas and arguments presented within the essay. The authors introduced the essay very well as they connected the lack of seriousness around bullying to recent events surrounding a bullying epidemic. This directly shatters the misconception that bullying, specifically anti-gay bullying, is not a real problem. The authors then continue to give statistics to support their argument that anti-gay bullying is a real problem engulfing our youth. They provide current solutions and initiatives that people are taking to combat bullying. This encourages the audience to take a stand and teach ourselves and our children to respect others. It is a professionally written and excellent essay that shows people solutions to the serious problem of bullying. Excellent!! Extremely detailed, well organized, and very fully expressed. 30/30 Anti-gay Bullying 1. Complete an outline or a map for a Critical Review essay (Log Entry 38) that you will write on the article that you have chosen. The first part of your outline provides a guideline for writing an accurate summary of the author’s argument(s). Log Entries 17, 18, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, and 33 will be particularly useful for completing the first part of the outline as you should identify the parts of the argument, assumptions, and the specific kind of argument that is presented. 2. Outline: Summary I. Authors introduce topic, bullying, discuss how it has evolved and is widespread. Fricker and Kushner argue that bullying is an epidemic that should be taken seriously. A. Premise: primetime TV shows lacked representation of bullying situations involving school life of adolescents, they also showed previously depicted bullying situations as nothing serious B. Schools did not focus on it, they rarely discussed or explore the harmful effects of bullying and its prevention II. There is a bulling crisis that needs to be acknowledged A. Bullying considered “epidemic” across North American schools by media outlets, celebrities, school councils, churches, and organizations B. Many teens have lost their lives due to suicide because of anti-gay bullying C. Statistics show that teens struggling with their sexual orientation are more likely to commit suicide III. Awareness is the first step to addressing the problem Anti-gay Bullying A. The It Gets Better, IGB, project was launched 1. Famous gay celebrities have shared their stories about growing up gay, with the overall message being it gets better IV. A city councilman from Texas made a video for IGB project A. Viral, shares personal story, “intimate, direct, personal” B. “Bullying is a weapon” 1. Youth takes stand, protesting in front of school V. Youth need understanding and support A. More resources, more positive spaces B. Education on consequences of bullying 1. This begins to tie to the conclusion that more needs to be done to prevent bullying and it is not being taken seriously as an issue. VI. Unifying incident that brings about change A. Parents share story of their sons’ suicide B. Call for action VII. Concludes with information on how to get involved in Canada 1. Anti-gay bullying is a serious social issue that must be acknowledged VIII The issue is being highlighted which shows its importance 1. There were many lives lost to suicide because of anti-gay bullying IX The fact that innocent and young lives were lost shows how detrimental bullying is Anti-gay Bullying 1. The statistics that gays are more likely to commit suicide and have been harassed for their orientation at schools shows how vulnerable they are as a community X. Gay youth are not safe at schools which is a serious problem, there must be something done to prevent loss of life and to protect their fundamental freedoms of expression 1. Awareness is the key to alleviating this problem a. The It Gets Better, IGB, project was launched and has successfully been used to help teens that are facing bullying crisis b. Well-known gay celebrities have shared their stories and words of encouragement to motivate these teens into following their dreams and not giving into the bullying c. Thus, this project has helped prevented teens from committing suicide from facing anti-gay bullying 2. The reader must act against anti-gay bullying a. A city councilman from Texas made an intimate and emotional video about his life as a gay man i. This video has millions of hits which shows how significant his gesture was as a non-celebrity, his voice has made significant impact which shows that regular people can make a difference as well Anti-gay Bullying b. Overall, seeing these videos of successful, everyday, gay people have given hope to gay teens that life does get better 3. The arguments provided were valid a. They were supported by relevant, factual, and appropriate premises b. The premises not only engaged the reader, but also effectively proved the argument c. It is essential for the public to acknowledge and act against anti-gay bullying i. We must educate ourselves to teach others to be respectful d. The essay is persuasive, and the argument is valid Again, this is a great effort: very detailed, and extensively use of indentation and numbering. I did find your methods of numbering and indentation inconsistent at times, and it wasn’t altogether clear whether this was to be construed as two separate outlines, and if so, exactly where the second began. (Unlike the first, there was no heading.) I also want to note that what we really wanted here was a single outline, with two main parts, corresponding to your essay below (which was also to have these two main parts). Finally, this outline is just a tiny bit more verbose than I think is ideal; although just barely. 24.5/30 1. Using the proper essay format for a Critical Review essay (Log Entry 38) and the outline you completed in 2, complete a rough draft (approximately 1000-1250 words) of a critical review essay of the article that you have chosen. Although you will be producing a rough draft only at this stage, include proper referencing for any paraphrased material and direct quotations you use to ensure that you understand how to do this for Assignment 4b. This rough draft will form the basis for Assignment 4b, which is the polished final version of the draft you have produced here Anti-Gay Bullying- A Critical Review Authors Daniel Fricker and Lars Kushner wrote an article titled “Anti-Gay Bullying” in 2010. They aimed to bring to light the serious issue of bullying, specifically bullying against LGBTQ youths. They argued that bulling is an issue that must be taken seriously. In fact, they emphasized that people must be extra vigilant in terms of anti-gay bullying. They support their arguments by stating the negative effects of anti-gay bullying on teenagers in recent years and, after acknowledging how serious bullying is, they offer some solutions. Their goal is to persuade the audience to take a stand for members of the LGBTQ community, preventing further suicides from bullying. They utilized inductive reasoning to express their arguments, with strong premises supporting their claims. They are considered strong because they directly tie into the conclusion supporting the authors argument that action must be taken against bullying. Awareness is the first step, they argued. They noted the “It Gets Better Project”, a well-known initiative taken by influential gays and allies. This project has had positive impacts on young members of the LGBTQ+ community. They continue their persuasion by providing examples of celebrities participating in the IGB project. They, then, explain that local politicians and people have also taken part in this project to fight against anti-gay bullying. This leads to their conclusion that as the reader it is our turn to stand up for change along with these people. This is a very well written introduction to the essay you are evaluating; but you should also introduce your essay. You should make clear, by way of introduction: your purpose in writing, your overall assessment of their reasoning and, perhaps, some very brief outline of the rest of your essay. If you were to add this to your current paragraph, it would be too lengthy, so I recommend either breaking to a new paragraph to introduce your essay, or abbreviating your introduction to their essay. The essay begins in narrative format, telling a story of how in the authors’ youth, bullying was not taken seriously. It was portrayed as a fluffy after school special, a soft topic that everyone knew about, but no one paid attention to. Sticks and stones. (Fricker & Kushner, p. 431). Through emotion they persuade the reader to support their argument introducing that bullying can be linked to increased suicide rates amongst LGBTQ+ youths. They also supported their argument by stating that bullying was not highlighted during 90’s prime time television shows. They also indicated that this issue was not explicitly discussed among staff and students during that period. This argument is valid because the premises are relevant and true. It is evident that bullying was not taken seriously as it received little coverage at that time. The reluctance to discuss and portray such sensitive situations to adolescents contributes to the lack of awareness and seriousness around anti-gay bullying. Therefore, the argument is valid and sound. Adolescence can be challenging for everyone; the authors share personal stories of their youth illustrating embarrassing moments. LGBTQ+ youths have a much harder time navigating adolescences as many populations still cultivate hate, intolerance, and violence against gays (Fricker & Kushner, p. 432). They also provide statistical support; one of the statistics states that suicide is the third leading cause of death for people under the age of 25, another statistic states that gay teens are up to four times more likely to commit suicide than their hetero peers (Fricker & Kushner, p.432). The statistics provided indicate that youths, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community are at a much higher risk to commit suicide because of bullying, confirming the conclusion that bullying is an epidemic, needing to be addressed. I think this paragraph would benefit from reorganization. You summarize their reasoning, then (positively) evaluate it, and then introduce yet more support (the appeal to statistics). I think this would be a smoother paragraph if you summarized all the support before evaluating. Also, be careful with the word ‘valid’; this term is normally used only for deductive reasoning, and their reasoning is not deductive; ‘compelling’ might be a better word. Finally, you rightly note that they appeal to emotion in order to persuade. Usually appeals to emotion are mentioned in order to criticize; so you might incorporate something, in your evaluation, to justify their appeal to emotion. Their next argument is that all forms of bullying, especially anti-gay, is a crisis in North American schools. The argument is supported by numerous premises. Firstly, the authors state that bullying has gone to such an extent that it was being considered an “epidemic” by countless news outlets, school councils, celebrities, organizations, and churches. This shows how serious of a problem bullying is in schools as it was being covered across the continent. If it were not serious, it would not be highlighted so vastly. Secondly, the authors give examples of the young lives that were lost from suicide due to anti-gay bullying. This displays how detrimental the effects of bullying are as they lead to unrecoverable loss. This is a key part to the argument as it strikes emotional relevance which is important in gaining the empathy of the reader. It also relates to the severity of the issue at hand which is being argued by the authors. Thirdly, the authors relay some statistics about bullying and the LGBTQ+ community. These statistics show the negative connotations of the LGBTQ+ community. The premises provided to support the argument is relevant and true as they contain facts about anti-gay bullying. Thus, it is conspicuous that bullying is, in fact, a severe crisis that is being faced by adolescents. [good] They continue their narrative with the assumption that the reader agrees, bullying is an epidemic. [We use the term ‘assumption’ to refer to supporting claims that are unsupported; is this what you mean? Do they not support the claim that bullying is epidemic?] Fricker and Kushner move on to discuss the ways in which the recent rise in suicides has prompted action but express that it should not have taken the death of youths for people to pay attention. The most notable action is the “It Gets Better Project” (IGB). The project is a platform for famous LGBTQ actors, writers, musicians to upload video monologues sharing their stories of adversity, but also hope (Fricker & Kushner, p. 433). The videos are intended to raise awareness for the public to the serious issue, as well as reach out to bullied teens. Famous gay celebrities and their important contributions to the IGB project are mentioned, Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris. [You are not consistent in indenting the first line of a new paragraph, as with the paragraph below.] More notably was a local politician, City Councilman Joel Burns from Ft. Worth, Texas. He shared his own personal story of bullying, it went viral. His message was direct, intimate, and emotional. He discussed how his parents were not supportive and he struggled while in school. He, like everyone else who shared, are determined to reach youths with their message “while it may be tough now, it does get better” Fricker & Kushner, p. 433). This video has over 1,500,000 YouTube hits. This premise is pertinent to the conclusion that action is needed against anti-gay bullying as it proves the beneficial effect of standing up against anti-gay bullying. In this essay, Fricker and Kushner provide multiple premises for their argument. They were able to effectively persuade their audience that action is needed immediately against anti-gay bullying. The premises were strong because they were true and related to the conclusion. Each premise was thoroughly substantiated, adding to the conclusion that people everywhere need to stand up against anti-gay bullying. [I think this is not a good place for this summary of your evaluation. You continue below to outline other elements of their reasoning, and this overview is best left until the reasoning is fully summarized. Also, you might extend this summary (whever you put it) with some commentary about how their appeals to emotion help to persuade readers; this is rather different then the strength of their support, since it concerns how likely they are to persuade the average reader and, more importantly, move them to action.] Fricker and Kushner continue their arguments by stating that awareness is the first step to treating the bullying epidemic. They explain that in the wake of the loss of young lives, many people have taken notice of the bullying problem. The IGB project has helped motivate gay teens to continue living their lives with confidence as it connects them with celebrities, writers, musicians, and others who are in a similar situation. Well-known gay celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris have used their media platforms to reach LGBTQ youth to give them hopes of a better tomorrow. These actions have benefitted kids who were considering ending their own lives. Their small gestures of kindness and support were clearly imperative to preventing more loss of life. Therefore, the premises given are essential and appropriate for the authors’ argument. Thus, the argument is valid and sound. The final argument is that the reader must act against anti-gay bullying. The authors support this notion by giving examples of regular people who have participated in the stance against bullying. For instance, an IGB project video from Texas City Councilman Joel Burns circulated to over one million five hundred thousand YouTube views. His intimate and emotional video about his personal struggles as a gay man struck heart strings of people across the country. Seeing this gay, successful city councilman with a beautiful family and life shows people that there is hope and that life does get better—for normal people, too. This depicts how important it is for members of the public to also share their stories and bring awareness to this current issue in society. The premises are relevant and true to the argument. Thus, the argument is valid. There were many arguments shared in the essay by Fricker and Kushner. They explore the issues surrounding anti-gay bullying and even offer solutions to the problem. They eventually try to persuade the reader to join organizations and communities that fight against anti-gay bullying. The premises that were provided for each argument was relevant, factual, and appropriate. They supported the arguments very well and made a successful persuasive essay. Yes, it is important that the public acknowledges the dangers of bullying and support those affected by it everyday. In conclusion, the argument that bullying must be fought against by readers like myself is sound and valid as it is supported by true and relevant premises throughout the essay. I support the cause and fight against anti-gay bullying for all gay people especially my son Jaron. I think this is very well done! You write very well, your analysis and summary area rightly focused on their reasoning, and you make strong cases for your positive assessment. I did have recommendations for improvement, which I described above; but I also have one other, more general recommendation: You describe this essay as if it contained a series of related arguments, and I think this is a very plausible way to understand the essay. But on the other hand, it makes it a bit difficult to follow your analysis, since the reader is introduced to different arguments as they proceed through the body of your essay, which you evaluate individually. It might be helpful to preface your detailed analysis with a brief overview of the arguments in the essay; this could then be followed by your detailed analysis. This would help your reader to see the overall effect of your observations on individual bits of argumentation, to help throw light on your overall assessment of the reasoning in this essay. Finally, be sure to include a Works Cited at the end of your final draft. 33/40 Total: 87.5/100 (!)