Arjun Agrawal Essays

     If a glass is filled halfway, is the glass half-full or half-empty? This is a commonly asked question to test a person's outlook. Although both choices are correct, each represents a different outlook. If they say it's half full then they are most likely a positive person. If they say it's half empty then they're most likely a negative person. Having a negative outlook on life can be pretty depressing. However, this is not permanent. It can be fixed. In order to have a positive attitude you must appreciate what you have. You can start out by cherishing nature, cherishing family, and cherishing knowledge.    The world is a beautiful place. You must learn to cherish it. Travelling and hiking are both great ways to appreciate nature. Mountainous landscapes formed by small rivers will amaze you. You don't have to go far to embrace nature. Every morning there is a beautiful sunrise right in your backyard. Chances are, if it in your backyard, it is everywhere. How

     My name is Arjun Agrawal. I am a 16 year old teenager in High School. I have received a lot of feedback stating that I have social anxiety and am scared to mingle with strangers. I will be taking three steps towards addressing this. I will play less video games, play more physical games with familiar people, and interact more with strangers.      Firstly, I vow to play less video games. Video games give instant gratification and happiness. This creates addiction. Addictions to video games consume a lot of time. It takes away time from interacting with other people or playing outside. Playing less video games will create much more space for social interaction.      When I am invited to play basketball with my friends, I don't join. This is because I am afraid that I will embarrass myself. Therefore, I dedicate some of my free time playing physical games with familiar people to build confidence. First, I will play basketball with my little brothers outside in my front yard.

   John A. Fisher is a concerned parent. He believes that garden education is vital to the future of children.  His article, "Growing the Kinder-Garden" argues that schools should teach garden education. In order to convince his audience, Fisher instills a feeling of guilt, appeals to logos, and uses collective pronouns.      First of all, Fisher instills a feeling of guilt into his audience. He talks about how children in today's society barely know about gardening. He provides a strong point stating that, "if you have a young child, ask him or her where food comes from. Don't be surprised if the answer you get is 'From the store!'" This shows that most children don't know where food truly comes from. They are so isolated from the real world of farming, they think that food comes from the stores. In reality, all food comes from farms and gardens. Kids these days are becoming obese. They're eating manufactured foods instead of natural food

Chelsea Humphrey is a well known writer. She is concerned about powerful landowners buying properties in public beaches. Thus, she writes the article, “Beaches, Our National and Natural Right.” In this article, she argues that beaches should be open to the public. Humphrey uses rhetorical questions and appeal to ethos to persuade her audience First of all, Humphrey asks many rhetorical questions to stress the importance for the publicity of beaches. She persuades her audience that the ocean is a very special place by asking, “who can look across the expanse of the ocean and not sense how magnificent creation is?” This has her audience imagine the ocean with the positive connotation. Further, it reminds how important and beautiful beaches are. This makes audience want for public beaches.           Secondly, Humphrey appeals to ethos. Throughout her article, she reminds the actions being taken by a higher and more trustworthy authorities. California passed the California Coast

Bobby Braun is a Science research critics. He has written about under investment in basic and applied research in paper titled , “Space Technology, a Critical Investment for Our Nation’s Future.” He believes US should  continue to invest in NASA in order to remain the national leader in aerospace technology. These investments would spur ease of doing business, transactions, and compliance of law. Braun convinces his audience using diction, appeal to nostalgia, long term benefits. First of all, Braun utilizes diction to emphasize how important NASA is. He cautions that NASA is endangered as a result of “chronic under investment…” The word chronic generally has a negative connotation. Since it is often associated with chronic diseases, he suggests that like disease the issue is recurring. It must be fixed. The use of this word instills this urge to fix the under investment. If it isn't fixed, this "chronic" problem may get worse. Secondly, Braun appeals to

     In response to the decline in eligible voters who vote, Reginald Macdougall writes an article to persuade his audience that voting is a civic obligation. He does this by using repetition, appealing to nostalgia, and providing a strong and supporting example.      First of all, MacDougall uses repetition to emphasize on how few people voted. Throughout this piece, he will constantly mention "two-thirds" didn't vote. For example, when he speculates why many didn't vote, he words it as such, "When two-thirds of the electorate -- two-thirds of us --cannot be bothered to vote..." In the same sentence, he says "two thirds" twice. This helps catch his audiences' attention and create a sense of guilt about how most of them could've voted but they didn't. This guilt helps persuade his audience.      Secondly, MacDougall appeals to nostalgia. After mentioning how the vast majority of people don't vote, he talks the American Revolutio