Sunday, January 11, 2015

Praise for Rafaella's Argument Essay!

            Rafaella’s Argument Essay (“Banning YA Books Argument Essay”) was effective and sophisticated. She achieved this “grown-up” tone in many ways.
            First of all, in order to get her point across effectively, Rafaella used a very sophisticated vocabulary. Some “power words” she used are: “…questionable…worrisome…intricate…daunting…gruesome…” and many others. A strong, mature vocabulary makes the reader look at the author on a whole new level. I never hear words like “daunting” come out of Rafaella’s mouth, and it really caught me off guard for a moment! Rafaella’s vocabulary helped create a sophisticated tone.
            Second of all, Rafaella’s use of statistics in her introduction made her seem professional, and brought our attention right to the text. She writes: “There was a daunting total of 307 challenged books reported in 2013, many of these being very popular and considered extremely touching.” We hang on to every word she writes after this, all the way to the conclusion. Statistics are like an attention grabber. Rafaella’s use of statistics makes her seem very professional.
            Lastly, Rafaella’s unique quote choices give her a personal tone. Rafaella consistently uses quotes that relate back to “the average American”-someone’s daily life. For example, “Mother Amy Freeman from Maryland agrees.” We associate ourselves with “Amy Freeman,” and therefore feel as if this essay relates to us, also. By doing this, Rafaella can secretly push her ideas into our brains without us knowing-a very smart technique. Quote choice can be an effective way to deliver your ideas.

            Overall, Rafaella’s essay was truly incredible. Her use of vocabulary, statistics, and quote choice made her seem very “grown-up.” I’ve noticed this sophisticated tone in lots of her writing, and I think it’s really great. I’m going to try to incorporate some of this maturity in my own writing. Personally, I disagree with Rafaella’s opinion (I believe that YA books should be free of all restraint), but the techniques she used to get her point across really swayed my views. I can easily tell why Rafaella’s argument essay was chosen as one of the “All-Star Argument Essays!” Good job!

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