Persuasive Essay

Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

In my fifth grade year of basketball, my team made it to the championship and we tried are hardest to win. When that buzzer went off we were down seven points, and we were so disappointed that we lost. In the end, we received a second place trophy and it gave us motivation. So, we practiced really hard for the next championship game and we eventually won the title: Champions. At the trophy ceremony, everyone received a participation award even if they lost. Our team earned our first place trophy while the other children still received trophies; therefore, we felt discouraged. Correspondingly, trophies and awards have been given out since the Ancient Greece era, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that participation trophies were offered to people. In the 1980s, California started giving out participation awards to kids that lived in poverty because they believed it would “boost their self esteem” (Stern). This trophy trend has spread throughout the United States in youth sports and events. People are becoming aware of this topic and they either love it or hate it. In a statistical study, many young people believe that we should have these trophies, but the older people are most likely to disagree (Blake). Throughout America, many people consider participation trophies a wonderful thing for children, but I believe that participation trophies are the downfall of society causing many children to be entitled and selfish.

Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening. My own two children Fin and Max are deciding to leave and disappear out of my life, for what could be forever. How am I suppose to go on living my life, when I know that they are out there in a dangerous and scary world. Where bombs and nuclear weapons can explode at any time. They should have stayed, they need me. I am their mother. I could have protected them, given them a place to stay and given them food.

Life is a wonderful thing but at times it can be quite cruel. If you have a belief that is not common amongst anyone else or is unfavorable to many, then you find yourself in a stump. People will always fight with you, argue with you, yell with you, fight for you. But it is always hard, for sometimes it is not your place since you are not there yet. I know what I want to do with my life but because I know, does not mean I will. Society is a tough place for me and others like me... unless you are of another race or your skin is darker, then it is much harsher for you. I want to change the world, discover the world, explore the universe, but will the life of a society like ours, let me?

To many people I’m always smiling, bringing people in. I welcome everyone into my life. Yet, I get betrayed and pressured into wrong things. Useless opinions cloud me like what people think the color of my room should be, the friends I choose, the places I go. This might be why I’m always in my pink rosy room, wasting away the days I should be happy but, I can’t smile forever, right? There is this girl named tiffany. We played every weekend. We played barbies all night. But then one day she left me. Completely. I miss her. I think that I can never be happy again like how I was with her.

Who feels special when they receive a trophy for doing nothing? Nobody, trophies show what you have accomplished, however kids still earn participation trophies for showing up. These participation trophies cheat kids from learning a life lesson. Instead of learning to work for what they want, kids are getting trophies for just showing up and participating. Awarding kids participation trophies makes them not capable of enduring the disappointment that they will be required to cope with later in life, and participation trophies cheat kids from learning a valuable life lesson and essential skills, while giving kids participation trophies teaches children participation, participation trophies should not exist because these trophies do not teach kids to do an laudable job to obtain what they want.

We have grown accustomed to the wonders of clean water, indoor plumbing, laser surgery, genetic engineering, artificial joints, replacement body parts, and the much longer lives that accompany them. Yet we should remember that the vast majority of humans ever born died before the age of 10 from an infectious disease. S. Jay Olshansky.Genetic engineering is the deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genetic traits. As you may know, we have been eating foods that have been selectively bred by humans. Humans selectively bred organisms to develop or consist particular characteristics. One good example is dogs. Dogs are selectively bred wolves. Whether it is for a different size, look, ability etc, wolves were selectively bred and itis the dog we know today.Selective breeding keeps traits that are desirable, and over time it becomes different, which mostly have certain desired traits it was not supposed to have with natural selection. Artificial selection made animals and plants easy to use, easier to grow, and more useful to human. GMO can drastically reduce the amount of time and effort, which will benefit the environment and resources used. Some believe that GMO may disrupt the natural ecosystem, however, I believe that the benefits brought about by this technology outweigh such consequences. This can be for reducing a spread of disease, make organism's immune to disease, and use fewer pesticides.

Paul Sheldon: Decides to kill off the main character (Misery Chastain) from his most popular series in pursuit of writing new stories

Snap! Tweet! Ding! As humans we are constantly bombarded with texts, “tweets”, and “snaps”, in hopes of bringing closure and feelings of togetherness. By definition, we as humans are social creatures that rely on the comfort and validity of others. However, this lifestyle can become addicting and eventually turn us into media-consuming zombies that spend hours swiping through the pictures of our peers, friends and families. After a while, our lives become so saturated with the media and technology that we desire a retreat from these devices; and to do so some of us may follow the path of switching off our phones for an extended period of time. While cutting down media consumption and tuning out unnecessary information can be beneficial to maintain our sanity, some people take this a step further...sometimes in the most idiotic manner possible. For example, Chris McCandless was known to have it all, he was a Harvard Law School graduate, and he hailed from a rich family. However, this materialistic life wasn't up to par with Chris’s inner desires, and in order to fulfill his desires of minimalism Chris decided to move into the wild. Sure, moving away from human life is normal, but the way at which Chris went about the matter makes him an arrogant idiot who was unimaginative and overconfident.

“Harvard University withdrew the admittance of at least 10 incoming freshman who had reportedly posted violent, racist, sexually explicit content in a private Facebook group,” (Schools are Watching [...], 1). A distinguished University is looking into what students are doing online and because of this many students are paying a large price for posting inappropriate posts on social media. Schools should not have the ability to censor speech because they can impede on students’ free speech and they would be stopping students from learning and growing if they were to stop students from expressing themselves.

In motorcross it's all about the bike you ride. With so many manufacturers it’s hard to decide which bike you want. Each manufacturer has different tools to persuade people to buy their newest greatest bike. Between commercials, free giveaways, meet and greets, and short videos posted online, they have a good chance of winning some buyers. Personally the biggest advertisement that grabbed my eye as a young teenager was the posters sold. As a thirteen year old American teenager, I wanted to cover the walls in my room with my favorite bands, zombies, and motorcycles. So I would always buy these posters of a professional rider standing next to the newest bike, or them jumping a new bike across an enormous jump.

The issue with one’s personal seclusion coexisting with society’s public safety is that it cannot be transpiring. This controversy is a complex situation because with the extensive amount of cameras and microphones installed throughout everywhere you go, it is almost impossible to not be invasive of one’s privacy. The topic has silently existed for decades, however with technology enhancing at a rapid rate, the discussion has emerged and several writers have decided to explore the matter in depth.

Over the past year, many athletes playing american football have been kneeling during the performance of the national anthem during publicly broadcasted games. Players from the National Football League as well as players from high schools across the country took part in this disrespectful kneel to protest racial inequality. But with kneeling, came big controversy. There were an innumerable amount of alternative ways to protest, but many athletes unfortunately chose to kneel to show their protest. Supporters of the act continued to disgrace the nation, while opposers started to publicly vilify the act. Although some may say it is the freedom of the individual to kneel during the anthem, it should be a punishable act because it disrespects the flag of the nation, it clearly exhibits a form of disregardment towards a player's coach, and in some cases, it can possibly breach the signed contract of an athlete with their association.

Dreaming about a seemingly unachievable goal is easy, but there are people who persevere no matter the odds to achieve their goal and make their dream come true. President John F. Kennedy and Susan B. Anthony fought against seemingly impossible odds and made their dreams come true for the greater good of humanity. They both overcame all the challenges that were thrown on them, regardless of the difficulty. President John F. Kennedy and Susan B. Anthony likely encountered the most overwhelmingly difficult challenges of their lives and they were both filled with determination to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans and people abroad.