Passage A
1. Did you know that until May 5 of every year, you're not really working for yourself?
2. A group in Washington, D.C. has learned that it takes workers an average of four months and four days to earn enough to pay their taxes.
3. In its study, the group learned that taxes constitute 34 percent of all the income in the United States.
4. So, if workers used their entire income for taxes, they would not be through paying them until May.
5. Being that May 5 is the first day people really work for themselves, the study group has some advice.
6. It would like for a bill to be passed naming May 5 “Tax Freedom Day.”
7. On that day, you would give yourself a break, regardless of how hard you worked.
8. Because, from May 5 on, you would finally be your own boss.

Passage B
1. Did you ever daydream about writing you’re life story?
2. Do you think that your life is too dull, or you can’t right?
3. Anyones life story is filled with fascinating events, and writing them down in the best way you no can give you a sense of accomplishment and, perhaps, leave a valuable inheritance to your family.
4. The first thing to do is to buy a looseleaf notebook.
5. Each page of the book should be titled with a significant milestone in your life—from your first dog to your proudest moment.
6. You should then jot down a few key words in the book whenever a memory comes back to you.
7. The idea is not to begin with “I was born . . .” and try to write a chronological history of your whole life.
8. Just delve into your passed at random; one memory will trigger another.
9. It will become quite easy after a while.
10. It is also important to write in your own language.
11. Plain honest writing is the goal.

Explicit Writing Worksheet

I do not think that you should go out with him because he has no job, therefore he may be lazy and unable to support you. Also, he just broke up with his long term girlfriend, so he may not want to make any new commitments at the moment.

Despite what many people want to believe, racial discrimination is still an important political issue in America today. For example, President Bush recently addresses schools about hate crimes that were being committed. More efforts must be made to fix this problem and reduce the amount of discrimination.

Argumentative essays should first address the problem, then clearly define the authors' views and opinions in order to help sway the reader towards his side. An essay may take a clear stand by either supporting or disagreeing with an issue, but it must also give valid evidence to help the readers believe in what the author is saying. For example, the author cannot just list why capital punishment should be abolished, he must also connect with the reader and give reasons to support his claims.

"How to Say Nothing in Five Hundred Words," by Paul Roberts, was full of great and useful information, but I unfortunately had no way to relate to any of it. Reading it was like listening to a boring lecture in a school subject that I am not interested in.

In-Class Writing Revisions

Many practicing engineers and scientists admit they spend at least half of their time writing memos and reports. On the contrary, the majority of college students going into business careers think their secretaries will ultimately do all of their writing for them. This attitude shows a naive faith in the competency of their secretaries; and young business people seldom have private secretaries in the first place. Moreover, students going into the technical or scientific fields often think that writing is something they seldom have to do. Therefore, many of them foolishly object to taking courses in writing because of their unrealistic that only poets and novelists have to write. Ultimately, in order for a person in any field to succeed, it is crucial that they know how to clearly express and articulate their ideas into words.

Topic Proposal

• I am taking a global approach to presenting a policy argument about to issue of police corruption in the United States of America.
• The issue at hand is that police corruption exists in America today, and not enough measures are being taken in order to prevent/stop its occurrence.  Corruption, which is by definition, "the abuse of police authority for personal or organizational gain," comes in many forms, including drug trafficking, money laundering, stealing equipment, bribery, blackmail, extortion, illegal use of lethal force, or personal favors for friends and family members.  Police forces are supposed to be upstanding, virtuous protectors of the people, but this is not always the case. 
• A solution to the prominent problem of police corruption in America includes a multi-fold program initiating the help of U.S. government, U.S. law enforcement agencies, and also of U.S. citizens.  The solution involves many areas, specifically, higher recruitment standards, a more stringent emphasis on ethics during training, an increase in the responsibilities of police management officers, and working to control both the future and present actions of the officers in ways that both prevent and put a halt to unlawful behavior through punishment. 
• This proposed solution would help fix the problem for many reasons.  First, part of the issue alone is that unqualified, undeserving officers are being hired, and more competitive recruitment qualifications would fix this problem alone.  Secondly, if the officers are trained from the onset of their careers to behave like the respectable, hard-working policemen that they should be, they will be less likely to stray from their intended career paths.  Also, officers in managerial positions need to be more focused on controlling the behaviors of their subordinates so as to report and punish officers who are doing the wrong.  Preventative actions can be taken to ensure that officers do not even have any opportunities to act corruptly, and disciplinary actions can be taken to establish a reason for officers to fear corruption and the consequences of it. 
• I am basing this proposal on the perspective which stated that too many police officers in America today are abusing their power and doing more harm than good.  People who support this opinion believe that corruption is a major problem among law enforcement agencies, and it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. 
• Goldschmidt, Jona. "The Necessity of Dishonesty: Police Deviance, Making the Case, and the Public Good." Policing & Society 
• Holloway, Brandon. "Police Corruption." International Encyclopedia of Justice Studies
• "Police Corruption." Inquisition 21st Century
• I am concerned about being detailed enough in my proposal to stop/decrease police corruption.  I hope that I can clearly articulate exact, detailed ways to stop the problem, instead of just proposing broad, general ways to try and fix it.

Campus Issue

I would choose to improve the issue of parking on the USC campus. This is a persistent and extremely prominent problem amongst both students and faculty, and it would be very helpful if the school did more to help fix the problem. There are more cars than there are parking spaces, so often, people are forced to park in illegal spots, or spots with meters that have very short time limits. I personally already spent $350 on a garage spot per semester, and still have accumulated an outrageous bill for parking tickets in addition to the initial parking permit fee. The parking permit that I purchased only allows me to park in one, singular parking garage. So, what happens when students need to drive elsewhere on campus? They have nowhere to leave their cars, so, having a car is almost useless because it can only be left in one place. In order to fix this problem, more effort could be made to build more parking garages in places where only small lots exist. Also, people with parking permits to one garage could be allowed access to an array of parking lots and garages, not just one. Another helpful change would be if the costs of parking tickets were lowered. The university has complete control over these prices, and they seem to be greedily creating revenue that is not necessarily deserved. If students do not have access to the classroom buildings, workout facilities, and residence halls, then what is the point of them paying such exorbitant housing, book, and tuition fees in the first place? The school is here for the students to learn in, so why should they be punished for parking outside of their own dorm building or their own classroom building for too long? Tickets should not be given so frequently and at such high rates, and more effort should be put towards creating more ample parking lots, garages, and spaces around campus.

Free Write

One instance that changed my perspectives on an issue of importance occurred in my senior year of high school when two girls in my graduating class announced that they were pregnant. Coming from a small, private Catholic high school, it was always taught in our religion classes that abortion is never the answer. However, once these girls both became pregnant and decided to keep the babies or have them and give them up for adoption, they were frowned upon and ostricized by much of the community. It seems that there is a double standard, and although so many people believe that abortion is inhumane, should be illegal, and is an ethically and morally corrupt act, many of the same people judge a girl for NOT getting an abortion if they are pregnant out of wedlock. I now believe that abortion is unfair to the unborn child, and if a mother decides to keep her child, despite whether or not she is married, or too young, etc., she should be admired and not judged for having sex in the first place.

SWA #11: pg. 336 #9

The credibility of an article can be measured by whether or not the source is associated with an upstanding, recognizable organization, by the domain that it is listed under, by whether or not the source is published in a peer-reviewed journal, by if it is current, well-edited, reasonable, well-documented, and by if it is moral, ethical, and supported by evidence that is unbiased.  Based on these various types of criterion, not all of the articles on homelessness in Columbia would be considered credible.  The most credible articles might be those such as "What Did Not Work: Effort to Centralize Homeless Services" by C. Grant Jackson, and "Opposition to Shelter Rises" by John C. Drake.  These articles provide quotes from people offering opinions about the matter at hand, and they insert data and solid facts that serve as evidence to help support their points.  In contrast to the many editorials presented in this chapter, these articles are much more unbiased, and they portray all sides of the issue.  

Some of the less-credible articles in this chapter include "Columbia Council Should Support Mission, Homeless", "Columbia Must Care for Homeless as Well as Bantus", because they are editorials, and they do not even provide the reader with an author's name.  The level of  credibility is instantly detracted from because the audience does not know whether a trustworthy, reliable person is writing the words, and they are provided with no logical reason as to why they should trust the author's opinion.  These articles present much less solid, factual evidence helping to make their points, and instead, they offer subjective views about one side of the issue.  These would not make good sources in a scholarly research paper because they are limited as to the amount of reasonable proof and support they provide.  Less credible sources can however be used in a research paper if the writer is trying to sway the audience one certain way instead of arguing all sides of an issue.