Michelle toval 

10/24/22

             Cover letter 

In this final draft my targeted audience are people who believe that teens should be/ should not be allowed to have guns. These can be politicians or an average person. I tailored my language as a speech because they would rather listen to someone speak than read. “Recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages and their users, and be open to communicating across different languages and cultures.” This phase helped me this course learning outcome because it pushed me to make a strong speech with a tone of concern. The concepts and terms that impacted my learning and writing practices (mostly with purpose) is hearing about many mass shootings in America, expressing that it shouldn’t be as much as it is. As for the most meaningful insights I’ve gained in this phase is when in class we saw a speech/protest on the board. I don’t remember much about it but I remember coming out of the classroom with a different mindset. 

We need gun control

Raise your hand if you feel unsafe in school? Raise your hand if you feel like going or attending school is dangerous due to a student or a teacher? Raise your hand if you trust the security to protect all of you? Raise your hand if your answer would be different if New York did not  have strict gun control? As many of you know, America has the highest amount of school shootings in the world. The most recent one being in october 4th in dorchester. That was only 20 days ago. As of this year, we have had 212 mass shootings in America, 35 of those shootings took place in schools. The numbers in shooting have increased in an unbelievable amount in the past 10 years. So why haven’t they implemented stricter gun control? 

There are many Americans who believe that there shouldn’t be strict gun control. For one, criminals don’t typically follow the laws and they feel defenseless not having a gun in their home to protect themselves and others. These criminals would usually obtain guns illegally so there is no way to stop that. (theft, someone else buying it for them, borrowed or traided etc.) as for background checks, if they have no criminal history, false information about their mental illnesses, obtain a gun to commit a crime then it’s hard to prove that they will commit anything until it happens. Although this is a big factor, people who are buying guns for the “right reasons” can always change their mind with it in their possession.

One thing that was found out was that most school shootings were caused by 18-19 year olds. The question is why do they even have access to guns? In some states there is no age limit to obtain a gun if someone over the age of 18 accompanies them to buy it. “ But a child’s parents could. “If dad wants to give his son a rifle or a shotgun on his 13th or 14th birthday, he’s pretty much free to do that in most states,” Webster said” stated in the the Washington post. This shouldn’t be allowed. Young teens having access to something that can eventually kill someone doesn’t sit right for me. Even if they are taught to use it properly or only when necessary, once the guns are in their hands they can choose whether to listen or not. Most teens don’t understand the responsibility regarding a gun so why are they allowed to have possession of it? 

It has also been reported that if there is a gun in the household, a person is 3 times more likely to commit suicide (and have a higher chance in succeding). over 2,800 people in  the age group of 15 to 24 have attempted suicide using a gun. Not only is gun violence affecting the people around us, it gives people the option to kill themselves with a higher chance of dying compared to jumping off bridges, drug substances etc.

There should be no reason why teens should have a gun under their name. The United states have to consider having strict gun control if they aren’t going to ban it. 

Michelle Toval 

India Choquette

English composition

We need gun control (analysis)

As someone who is currently a student in America, the topic of gun control is not something new to us. Me and my other peers are terrified of the fact there can be a shooting while class is in place. I myself had experienced a hard lock down a few years back because of a shooting nearby. In this world, school shootings(or an average shooting) does not compare to the numbers we have in america. Shootings have risen dramatically in the past 10 years, even during the height of the pandemic there were shootings being placed. This argumentative speech I’ve made is intended for politicians who don’t believe that gun control should be in place. The politicians who think this way tend to lean towards the republican side. My purpose of this speech is to reach out to those in power to make a difference. 

The rhetorical strategies I’ve used in this argumentative speech are pathos and logos. With my speech I used a persuasive and a sarcastic tone when speaking to my audience. I didn’t want it to only be an informative speech but hit a nerve to those who disagree with  me. The numbers don’t lie. I also quoted Webster (washington post) who admitted that even if adults buy these guns legally, they can always give it as a gift for someone who can be underaged. In the logos side, ive given data of the average shooters age range and average suicide rates that involves guns. When buying a gun, you can be mentally unstable but if you have no records of it, there won’t be much of a hassle to obtain a gun. 

Another rhetorical strategy I used was analyzing the cause and effects. If someone were to buy a gun, a shooting is more likely to happen regardless if they are stable or not. Also buying a gun can encourage others to buy whether it’s for the right reasons or the wrong reasons. No one can really tell who will use it responsibly until something happens. I found these strategies to be effective because it helped me make my statements clear in my argumentative speech.