Author: Hania Gad
Research and Audience Assignment
Iâm going to write my research paper in the form of an argumentative essay about gun violence and control to argue both sides that are affected by it and all the controversy that revolves around this issue. Gun Control is a term revolving the many laws and policies that control everything related to the use of firearms by the people.Â
This issue is relevant today in the country and society and all the audiences involved in it, the people, the government, the politicians etc. because this issue is a very hot and controversial topic and there are so many opinions surrounding it and many parties involved for different reasons. Gun control is also very relevant because based on my research, thirty three people are killed with guns every day in America. In 2018, in the span of two months there were eighteen school shootings. While Idaho and Montana have one the loosest gun control laws in America, other states like California and Connecticut after experiencing very unfortunate events because there were no strict laws about firearms which resulted in gun violence and a lot of unfortunate events like the Sandy Hook tragedy in Connecticut. Fortunately these states decided to make a change and took action by enforcing strict rules revolving firearms making it harder to get a gun and in Connecticutâs case, completely banned the purchase and possession of those weapons. I believe that others states should do the same or at least take some type of action against the gun violence. There has been 45 school shootings within 46 weeks across the country. Thatâs almost like one school shooting occurring every week. Some of them have been an accidental discharge of the weapons but itâs still shots fired and too many peopleâs lives/ serious injuries at risk.Â
The issue of gun control is very controversial and always becomes a heated discussion about either political/legal, social or ethical views and opinions. Because people for gun control say that the second amendment gives an individual the right to have a gun and that guns are absolutely needed for self defense against criminals and that by them owning a gun it lowers the amount of crimes. John Lott even has a book called âmore guns, less crimeâ in which he claims that more guns we own the less violent crimes there are and that states should pass those laws in addition he also included an analysis of crime data in every county in America during 29 years from 1977 to 2005. This goes to show how passionate people are about this issue and the extend they go to to try to prove a point or simply show that their opinion is more accurate or right and try to convince the rest of the world of that. The discussion of gun control is always either about self defense/crime control or people referring the second amendment. I donât agree with people who say more guns equal less violent crimes. Studies have shown that in 2015 in America guns have taken the lives of more than 36,000 people which is unbelievable. Iâm not saying guns should be completely banned and no humans should have access to any firearms, even though as I do more and more research and read more about this complicated issue, I do think to myself wow no human being no matter who they are and what position theyâre in should have ownership to firearms just because of how horrifying the numbers of people affected by them are and the frequency of those incidents happening all over the United states. The second amendment was initially created to give individuals the chance to defend themselves but different studies have shown a home with a gun/guns in it not a safer home and that itâs more likely for the owners to get hurt than the invader and not just because them defending themselves could go wrong in many ways itâs also that having a gun in your home increases the chances of suicides and people hurting themselves or someone they know. Also studies have shown the rarity of people using guns to defend themselves and that having access to more guns doesnât lower gun violence and crimes in America and that the claim that states âmore guns,less crimeâ is false, itâs nothing but a statement made by someone who has a lot of power speaking to the minority of people who think the same as him and in a way trying to get more people to agree with this statement and see the âpositiveâ side of possession and purchase of firearms.Â
I just believe that giving an individual this kind of power is a very dangerous thing to do because you never know what itâs actually intended for or that by owning it, it can drive people to do unacceptable things and call it self defense or whatever. and again being in charge of something this powerful that it could completely take someoneâs live. I just think it does more harm than it does good. Or if someone needs to really purchase/ own a gun for very convincing reasons there should be crazy restrictions and a very tedious, detailed process that allows the government to keep tabs on that individual and be able to track them whenever where ever and for some people that might be âinvasionâ of privacy but itâs not for personal reasons, itâs for a safer, greater good. And if someone has an issue with the rules and regulations of the purchase and possession of firearms then they shouldnât buy them.
References:Â
https://www.hercampus.com/school/agnes-scott/why-gun-control-important
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/more-guns-do-not-stop-more-crimes-evidence-shows/
https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/here-are-8-stubborn-facts-gun-violence-america
Movie review (opening scenes)
âThe Matrixâ (1999)
 when the matrix came out it was so popular. The matrix is a movie that blows your mind. It starts out with a conversation between two people and makes you wonder who this person is. It grabbed the audienceâs attention and set the tone for what the movie is going to be. They didnât give away much in the opening scene or do a lot of talking, they made the audience question what theyâre watching .The opening scene is brilliant because It makes the audience ask a lot of questions and makes you hungry for the answers.Â
âRaiders Of The Lost Arkâ (1981)
 this movie came out in 1981 and no one really knew who Indiana Jones was but Spielbergâs brilliant work perfectly captures and introduces who Indiana Jones really is. It shows us that he is an adventurer with guts, a lot of skills and a great sense of humor. He messed up a few times but he can solve any problem heâs faced with and can overcome any weapon or any danger that comes his way. Critics say that raiders of the lost ark has more exciting and thrilling scenes in its opening scene than all of the popular action movies. In my opinion the opening scene of this movie was perfect because Spielbergâs choice and introduction of Indiana Jones is what made it such an iconic film series and so successful. The opening scene was significant, because when the first few minutes is this exciting you know the movie is going to be huge and thatâs what made everyone a fan and interested from the beginning and the reason to the success behind all the movies.  Â
âThe Dark Knightâ (2008)
The dark knight opening scene is 6 clowns robbing a bank and talking about the guy who set up the robbery âthe jokerâ, he told each one of them to kill the other one after theyâre done with the job. Turns out thereâs a plot twist heâs the last man standing with the money after the robbery. Something I found very interesting about the opening scene of the dark knight is that itâs shot in broad daylight. I remember thinking that the first thing I was going to see was going to be someone in a dark narrow street or something because Batman is the ultimate superhero of the night so why was it shot in the morning? The opening scene really pulled me in.Â
âThe Warriorsâ (1979)Â
in the opening scene of meet the warriors set up the movie by a guy saying: â Everybody says that Cyrus in the one and only. I think we better go have a look for ourselvesâ. The opening scene shows the warriors looking at a subway map and also shows a lot of different unique gangs who seem to be on similar missions. In the first few minutes of the movie, weâre introduced to the main characters, the main events and we understand their world more. Itâs important how the director gives background information about a character and an event so the audience has an idea of what could happen. Itâs obvious that a big event is about to happen and later in the movie when the truce us broken and everything gets crazy and out of hand itâs no surprise to the audience because of the opening sceneâs exposition.Â
âCasino Royaleâ (2006)Â
A lot of people were skeptical about Daniel Craig as James Bond. It was crucial that the opening scene of Casino Royale made a good first impression on the audience and the lovers of the James Bond movies. The opening scene was shot in black and white which was something new, it explained to audience James Bondâs first kills as an agent. They show him beating up an enemy and then drowning him in a sink which shows how much of a savage Daniel Craig is going to be as James Bond. the opening scene was extremely important because it had to change peopleâs minds who didnât know what to think so the directors wouldâve lost all the James Bond fans which wouldâve been a great loss.
âGoldeneyeâ (1995)
The story starts in the cold war in 1986. The opening scene is set up to make us think thereâs going to be a stunt with the plane but then it quickly shows him standing on a mountain so tall and he bungee jumps it was so crazy and unexpected that it was known as the âbungee jump of deathâ and the stunt with the plane is even crazier. Everyone wants their movie to stand but especially a James Bond movie opening scene has to be unforgettable. It sets up the movie for the audience and how ridiculous this and outrageous is going to be which is why people love James Bond movies anyway so they expect nothing less.
My chosen genre is the film industry and one article that I found really interesting is How Will the Movies(As We Know Them) Survive the Next 10 Years?Â
This article talks about how big studios are taking over each other and how the smaller movies and even the brand titles are struggling and how every single aspect of the movie industry is being called into question. A big producer, Jason Blum said:âThis is the biggest shift in the content business in the history of Hollywoodâ.
People in the movie industry are scared and not sure how it will look like years from now.
So the reporter of this article assembled quotes that were said by the key Hollywood figures and he concluded from what they said that their message to the industry was clear: adapt or die.
He goes into depth of how the movie industry will look like down the road. How and why itâs changing in these drastic ways and based on what these hollywood figures think and from their expertise about the movie industry and from personal experience in their fields they predict how the movie industry will most likely look like and how companies and actors are going to deal with this change.
Literacy Narrative
My experiences with reading, writing and speaking is what made English not my favorite subject. Iâve had a few experiences in which I thought the English language might not be as hard as I think it is but whenever my teacher would give us an assignment that most of the time required a lot of reading and writing it always reminded me how hard English really is to me. The fact that English is not my first language has always discouraged me to try and be perfect at it because I thought that no matter how hard I tried Iâll never be as good as my âAmericanâ classmates. I only started taking English in fourth grade and my teachers were never American so I never learned the language properly or the way I always wanted to. Until I went to high school here and all of a sudden Iâm taking difficult english courses. I remember the first week of this English class my teacher gave out poems and stories to read and asked us to write analysis, write 4 page essays about what the author is trying to say, figure out the tone and asked us to figure out things I never even heard about and was never taught, she said that her course over the next couple of years should prepare us for the AP test and that if we do good in her class we would do great on the AP test .I panicked when I heard what she expected of us in her class and also thought âwow Iâll never do good on that AP test and will probably fail this classâ. Because I found myself in a class where all of my other classmates were American or at least spoke the language since they were very young and understood everything she was talking about and all of them could write at least 2 page essays in one class and I was the only one who was seriously struggling. I also didnât know anyone in my class to ask for help or relate to so that just added to my anxiety. After class I decided that I needed to speak to my teacher to explain to her my situation and ask her if I needed to be taking an easier English course because I genuinely thought I was going to fail, but she reassured me and told me that she is willing to go over my essays with me and give me tips on how to improve my writing and that if I pay close attention to her in class Iâd be fine. She suggested that I fit in the front too. She really helped me overcome a big struggle and she gave me hope that itâs not as impossible as I thought it was. After thinking that I would never pass the class I actually ended up passing her class and getting a really good score on the Ap test.Â
English is still not my strong suit but the way I struggled with it taught me a lot. It taught me to believe in myself and that if I set my mind to something, itâs achievable.Â
A lot of people donât like change(and Iâm one of them) but change is inevitable and change doesnât always mean something bad or negative, you might think it is but either way youâll always end up learning something from it.
Personal Experience EssayÂ
Personal experience essayÂ
Iâve had many personal experiences with reading and writing throughout my life but the one that stood out to me wasnât that long ago. I started taking English as a language when I was in 4th grade and never really thought anything of it other than the fact that it was another language that I was required to take and had to study for. We used to read a lot of books that were so interesting so I liked English class and I had something to look forward to. Even though I wasnât good at English when I was young I felt like reading a lot of books at a younger age in my English class helped improve it. English not being my first language reading and writing always felt like so much work and they were a challenge to me. An experience that stands out to me wasnât until my junior year of high school when I started taking AP English and my English teacher prepared us for the AP test every class. She would give us a new SAT word every morning and made us read so many poems and write essays almost every class. Every time she gave us a poem to read or analyze I never understood the poem the first time around and her response was always the same âread it over and over again until you get itâ.
One class she gave us this rather difficult poem to read and I understood it the first time around, figured out the tone and analyzed it before class was over. I was so happy and realized how wonderful reading and writing is and how you can express yourself or what the writer is trying to tell their audience through it. I kept thinking why did I have trouble with the English language for all these years when itâs simpler than I thought.
