In class: There is NO mad tofu disease

Today I brought in a button that says "there is no mad tofu disease" I, myself, have been raised on a ranch my entire life, and was completely supported by my parents cattle buying business. However, i couldn't really find any grand object in my own room, so I went next door to my roommate and best friends room and stole this button from her. She has this button because of a cute joke, but she displays it to make an ethical appeal. She has been a vegetarian since a very young age. It was not a decision that was pushed on her, but one that she chose willingly because she believes deeply that it is the right thing to do. However, she is by no means president of PETA. She rides horses, and is actually on the team with me. And just in case someone was unaware, her saddle and riding boots etc, are all made from leather. I think what makes her argument ethos instead of pathos is because her reasoning for being a vegetarian isnt "o poor cow". She is very unhappy with the way the meat industry is run. She believes that meat production is very wasteful of not only the animal but also of water etc. She has does large amounts of research on this and can argue with the best of debaters that eating meat is not ethically right. It really is quite funny that we are so opposite but yet best friends, but I believe that is because we dont let our emotions get in the way of our belief systems and can agree to disagree

Space Proposal

As I wrote in class, I am fairly certain that I will am going to use the barn that the TCU Equestrian team rides at for my pubic space. This barn is hidden outside of Mansfield Texas and has about the same emotional appeal to a horseback rider as a deflated football would have to Tony Romo. In most of the team members opinions, the barn is in chaos and is a complete disaster.
We currently board probably twenty horses at Fieldstone and I live in constant fear for their safety. First, they don’t even have enough stalls, so each horse has to share a stall with another horse. One horse will get it during the day, and the other will get it during the night. This can lead to many problems like the transmitting of diseases. I also can’t quite tell if they are actually feeding our horses or not because they all have seemed to drop an average of fifty pounds over the year.
The owner of the barn also doesn’t seem to like us too much and seems highly annoyed by our presence there. I feel like she thinks the girls are too snooty. This may be true, I myself even admit to turning up my nose to the way the business is being run. However, our attitudes usually have cause, if they aren’t jumping horses that are lame, then one of our horses is lost, or we can’t ride because they have chosen to water the arena right after a large rain storm has just occurred. For instance today, I spent most likely thirty minutes trying to locate one of our horses. The mare was supposed to be in her stall, considering she gets turned out at night, but she was of course mistaken for another and was off in a foreign pasture.
The pastures that the our horses are supposed to be turned out in, supposed being the key word, are actually not too terrible. However many of the other pastures are completely filled with debris. One time, my coach, actually had to untangle one of the owners ponies from a trash heap that it was trapped in. Also, many of them are enclosed by a simple hot wire, that I have never actually seen on. The horses could easily escape, which some have, and marched out to the highway that runs in front of the barn.
However, I seem to have a clearly very one sided opinion of Fieldstone. Besides the team, there are many other borders that keep their horses at Fieldstone and also take riding lessons from the owner. And even though I can never imagine stabling my horse at the location, there is something that seems to appeal to those who do. I plan to go out there at many different hours and observe the array of people that spend their time riding at this barn, and maybe after observing them, I will have a better understanding of the barn and its borders.

In class: Possible space

Im fairly certain that im going to use the barn that the TCU Equestrian team rides at for my personal space. This barn is hidden outside of mansfield texas and has about the same emotional appal to a horseback rider as a deflated football would have to tony romo. The barn is complete caos. We currently board probably twenty horses at Filedstone and I live in constant fear for their safety. They dont have enough stalls, so each horse has to share a stall with another horse. One horse will get it during the day, and the other will get it durignt he night. This can lead to many problems like the transmitting of diseases. i also cant quite tell if they are actually feeding our horses or not becuase they all have seemed to drop an average of fifty pounds over the year. The owner of the barn also doesnt seem to like us too much. I feel like she think the girls are too snooky. This many be true, I myself even admit to turning up my nose in the way the business is being run. However, our attitudes usually have cause, if they arent jumping horses that should enver be jumped, then one of ours is lost, or we cant ride because they have chosen to water the arena right after a large storm has jsut occurres

In class: Oh thursdays

I have started to really hate thursdays. Because im on the Equestrian team, we have to set up our schedule to fit the demands of practice and workouts. Usually I am able to take a few classes everyday in the morning and i am done by eleven and than i can go to practice. Well, it didnt workout liek that this year. Now, instead of rpacticing on every afternoon, i practice all day on monday,wednesday, and friday. I therefore have to go to school all day on tuesday and thursday. My weekends are fabulously lengthy, but my tuesdays and thursdays are tragic. Ever tuesday and thursday we get up at five forty five, and walk down to the DMC for workouts at six. After our two hour workouts, we then eat as a team, go shower, and then make in time for my nine thirty (English 20803), i then head off to one of my PR classes, follwoed by a communication in society class, and finalyl ending with a rivoting lecture from my presidency class. Its enough to shoot myself when the sya is done. However, because wednesday is our day off from workouts, i am now able to go out on tuesday nights, which is a cool little break in the middle of the week. I am not counting down the hours untill i can bust out of the "highschool" setting at 3:30 and get ready for a very long and needed weekend.

Thoughts from Obama

Every single class that I am taking this year is a Tuesday/ Thursday class. And they all, besides this class, felt the need to show the inauguration speech on Tuesdays. I, being a republican, assumed i would be completely annoyed by the time the day was done, but my feelings were actually quite opposite. President Obama actually made numerous compelling arguments throughout the twenty minute speech, and after watching for the third time, I felt that i began to understand what he was truly trying to argue. He made many different types of arguments during his speech that include informing, convincing, and exploring. He also discussed the the past, present, and future, and argued the actions that he thinks that the country should take. One of the first arguments that President Obama made was to explore he present circumstances of our country. He admitted that we are currently in a time of turmoil and compared it to a storm. This was very compelling because he didn't pretend like everything was going swell and that nothing needed to change. Another argument he made was to inform. He explained to many parties, including domestic and foreign, what he planned to do to rebuild this country. He also explained that America's responsibility was to lead this world and that under his leadership, he planned to retake that position. In my opinion, one of the best arguments that Obama made, was when he convince the American people that we can indeed be unified. He used the words, "we" and "our" to show that it was not him making the decisions but we as American citizens were embarking on this journey together. He also explained that if a nation can come together and put prejudices aside to elect a minority as president of our nation, then we can certainly all come together to rebuild what needs to be fixed. President Obama was also very smart to argue about how much he admires to heroes of the past, that compell him to strive for the future. I believe too often, many politians forget to pay mention to those who came before them, and I was very impressed by his reverance. In conclussion, the speech didnt have a "one-liner" that will follow Obama for years to come, however, it did convince many that, the Obama presidency will truly be a change for our country.

In Class: Whats an Argument?

Before listening to our class discussion and reading the first chapter in our book i defined an argument as soemthing that has two distinct sides. Throughout higschool, I debated, so that concept of an argument was drilled into my head. I believed that it was definitely not an argument if it didnt have two sides. Now i have learned that an argument can truly be just about anything. The book tells us that from what I wear, to the way i style my hair, all the way down to what i chose to eat this morning, makes an argument about myself. This is a hard concept for me to grasp. The section that spoke about the "purpose of argument" was also intersting because, before reading, i belived that the only reason that one mgiht argue was to win someone over. Now i know that are many other types of argumentsm an inviational argument, for example, is desgined to not win people over, but rather to invite them in. other arguments are simply there to inform or to make a statement. This new definintion of argument has already tought me that there is more to arguing than "pro" and "con".

In class: sweatshops, they could be a dream job

Today i decided to brign in an article about sweatshops. When Ms. Irvin told us to find an arguemnt, i went to the nytimes and looked under the "opinion" tab, because if gured there would eb an argument there. This was really jsut the first one that came up, but it was actually pretty intersting. The article explains that most of the time people view sweatshops as inhumane and a thing that needs to be eliminated. The obama administration has actually taken a stance on trying to do away with the "terrible exploitation of people in sweatshops aroudn the world"; however, the author of this argument says that sweatshops really arent that bad. He interviewd people whose dream is to actually be able to work in sweatshops. If you take away the sweathsops, you are taking away many of these people only source of income. He interviewd a 19 year old woman that said, "I’d love to get a job in a factory. At least that work is in the shade. Here is where it’s hot." This woman currently picks up plastic for the garbages and off the sides fo the streets for her source of income. He mentions other accounts on how a ten year old boy watch people get hit by the garbage trucks while they tried to pick up garbage to sell. The aurthor also argues that sweatshops are not the source of the problem and that if you eliminate them, then you are eliminating a solid source of income. True, the conditions could be better, but at the present time, he bleives that you shouldnt take away soemthing that many in the country only dream of having.

Introduction

Hi my name is Tassie Munroe and I am sophomore at TCU. I am originally from Waco, Texas, but I decided to come to TCU because I was offered a position on their Women's Equestrian Team. I am taking this course to fulfill my a core requirement; however, because this is the only English course that I plan to take at TCU, I hope it will help me with my major. I am currently a Political Science and Public Relations double major. In both of those fields, I will have to write a great deal, so I am hoping that this course prepares me well for that. Because I have not taken an English class since my senior year in high school, I feel that my writing skills have suffered a great deal. In my everyday life here at TCU, I find that the only type of writing that I do is through informal emails, text messages, or informative essays, in which my professors could care the least about my writing skills. I hope that this class will refresh my writing capacity and make it more correct and engaging. I have also read, understand, and agree to the terms of the syllabus for this course.