Blog Post 9- Debate Outline

Annabel Lettelleir

6 December 2012

Abortion Debate Outline: Leader of the Opposition

(Ready)

I. Introduction: The constitution states that we as American citizens have rights to freedom, privacy, and should feel comfortable with our self and the choices we make.

These rights, which also apply to women, include the concept that abortion should be available and not be restricted. This is not to say that abortion is being encouraged, this is to say that abortion should be based on personal choice, despite the situation the women is in. There are many reasons a women may get an abortion, and we as a society should be accepting of a women’s reasoning for the abortion.

(Aim)

My purpose today is to disprove my opponent’s speech and give you two reasons why the proposition should be rejected: first freedom of choice, and second the health of women.

Transition: We, as opposition, believe that we should not restrict abortion because we want to respect the rights, health, and the choices women make.

(Fire)

II. Restricting abortion invades on a women’s freedom of choice.

A.      Women should have the right to choose if they want to keep the baby.

1.       The Roe vs. Wade case in 1973 allowed women to have the “fundamental right” of choosing to have an abortion.

2.       There are many reasons why women choose to have the abortion such as rape and incest, she is very poor, or just does not feel she will be a good mother at this time in her life.

3.       Feminism is a big role in a women’s freedom of choice. It is the advocacy of the rights of women based on the theory of fairness between sexes. If women do not have control over their bodies, they are forced into a submissive role in society.

B.      Women should have the right to decide what happens to their body.

1.       Personhood is biologically proven to begin at birth, not at conception.

a.       To be an individual, it needs to breathe and have its own heartbeat.

b.      A fetus will not be able to do this until out of the mother’s body, thus the fetus is not alive until it is out of the body.

c.       A fetus starts out as a bunch of cells, just like the rest of your body. If you remove your tonsils, you are essentially murdering your tonsils just like you would be doing when having an abortion.

2.       The mother provides all the necessities for the fetus to live off of, so the mother should choose whether or not to have an abortion.

III. Restricting abortions causes’ major health risks to the mother.

A.      Conditions may develop in certain pregnancies that if an abortion is not performed, there will be many health risks to the mother. There are many health problems that can happen such as heart failure, serious renal disease, high blood pressure, and serious depression.

B.      If Abortion was restricted, many women would still get an abortion, but it would be unsafe.

                                                               i.      Women will find ways to terminate the pregnancy themselves.

                                                             ii.      Examples are shooting the belly and puncturing the fetus with sharp objects, thus causing excessive bleeding.

                                                            iii.      When abortion is not restricted, it gives women a safe place to go, and causes fewer deaths than if restricted.

IV. Now let me rebuke some of the points from the Government team. They give two arguments which are both insufficient.

A.      First they say that… but, this is wrong because…

B.      They also say that… but, this is wrong because…

(Flag)

V. Conclusion: Having the option to have an abortion should be unrestricted because women have rights, and if it is unrestricted, it can harm pregnant women.

If the government is pro-life and not pro-choice, then they will not intrude on a woman’s rights of having an abortion if they want to. They also will not put women at risk of harming their health, and at risk of death. Because of these reasons, we choose you to side with the opposition.

Blog Post 8- Links to Three Articles

1. http://abortion.procon.org/
2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/figuring-faith/post/pro-choice-and-pro-life-on-abortion-americans-say-its-complicated/2012/05/29/gJQAjj0qyU_blog.html
3. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/keyword/pro-abortion

Blog Post 7: Impromptu Speeches

When I gave an impromptu speech, I gave an evaluation on another students impromptu speech. I personally found this easy because I payed close attention on what the speaker did good and bad at so I could remember what to say in front of the audience. The difficult part about giving an impromptu speech is making sure you aren't to repetitive. I always get nervous that I am going to say one point several times because I cannot think of anything else to say. Other than that, I really enjoyed the impromptu speech and getting to listen to other people's speeches.

Commerative Speech Manuscript- blog 6

Growing up, I did not have a Mother to watch over me or to do the things a little girl would want. Every morning when I wanted a new hair style to show off at school, my Dad would do it. Every time I wanted to go shopping for that luxurious pink sweater, my Dad would do it. Every time I wanted to play Candy Land and get the princess card, my Dad would do it. Every time I wanted someone to tuck me into bed and tell me everything would be okay, my Dad would do it.  

It never occurred to me that most children had mothers until fifth grade, when my peers would always ask me why my Dad came to all the show and tells, and Christmas Parties and not my Mom. It hurt my feelings, and made me start to have resentment towards my dad. Being naïve and young overwhelmed my sensitive and delicate emotions. I always wanted to run away, I thought that my life wasn’t normal and that my Dad purposefully took my Mom away which was not the case.

Although my Dad may not have been the best at doing my hair, I can confidently say he does an amazing job at being a Mother, Father, Cleaning the House, having a full time job, and taking care of me by himself. He tries to do everything for me, and for that I can say he succeeded at his job of being a parent. Francis Bacon once said, “There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that lost by not trying.” Today I am going to Pause and Praise my Father, a man who has always tried his hardest on making my life the best it can be.

When my Father was born, he did not have a close relationship with his father. His father cheated on my Grandma by secretly being involved with another woman who had three children and two dogs. My Dad felt that the other family was more important than him and his 2 brothers and sisters. Feeling neglected and hurt, my Dad came to the conclusion at a very young age that he would never leave his children or hurt them under any circumstances.

After he graduated high school in a quaint town in Indiana with a population less than 1/8 of Kirkland, he moved to Connecticut to pursue a BA at Central Connecticut State University in Geography. Before my dad decided to go to college, he had no help or support from his family. He was the only one out of three children that went to college right away, and was the only one to complete their degree in four years. No one guided him in a certain direction, or gave him advice on what to study or what to do with his life after college.

Now that I am a freshman at Northwest, I look back and see how difficult the college process can be. I cannot imagine having no guidance or direction in what to study, or where to go to school. My Dad was the biggest influence in my choosing of Northwest University, and is also the biggest influence in most other things I choose to do with my life.

When I told my Dad I wanted to come to Northwest, he was shocked at the distance away from home. He looked me straight in the eye and said to me “Annabel, I know that you have the drive to do anything you set your mind to.” Coming all the way from Connecticut, I knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy decision. Three weeks before I was going to move to Kirkland, Washington my Dad told me he was going to move and start his life out here with me. I was in shock. I said to myself over and over, “He’s moving out here? For ME?!”  I didn’t believe him until I saw his bags and all of our boxes ready to be shipped to a small yellow house on the corner of the street. That was one of the biggest times in my life when I realized how much my Dad does for me.

In my life, I have seen my Dad go through many challenges and difficult times. He has overcome a gambling addiction, gone through several loses of jobs, moved around the country, lived in over two dozen houses, and while doing this keeping his passion of writing music alive.

But more personally, he is my father, my friend, and my teacher. He was the helpful atlas, always leading the way. My Dad always put his dreams aside to raise me, and to provide for me, and for that I thank him. He has never been selfish, and never resented raising me alone. He took it as a lesson, and something I can learn from when I have children.

Now that I am growing older, and starting to think about my future, I realize that my Father has taught me everything I need to know to succeed. Even though his father did not provide and teach him much, that made him want to teach me even more. Fathers should teach their children how to have respect for themselves, how to be strong willed, and how to make good decisions.

Dad, where your dad failed, you succeeded. You never left me, never hurt me, and never resented me. You were always as continuous as the stars that shine.

Dad, where you had weaknesses, you fixed them to make my life better. You filled my life with love, compassion, guidance, and strength.

Thank You for teaching me everything you have. Even though I had resentment towards you when I was young, looking back I feel guilty if I ever hurt you. You have been the best father anyone could ever ask for, and I have had the true privilege of having you as my father.

 Even though you don’t succeed at everything you do, you still try. Remember, “There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that lost by not trying.”

I love you Dad, and all I can say is Thank You.

Commemorative Speech Planning Sheet

Topic of your speech: My Dad, a man worth praising

General purpose: (choose one: informative, persuasive, inspire, entertain)
Inspire
Specific purpose statement: (write this down to make sure that you have thought through your purpose. You do not say this statement in the speech)

My specific purpose is to inspire my audience by praising my Father.

Introduction:
Attention step: How will you hook the audience?
I will start off with a special memory I have of him and I when I was little that always reminds me of why he is such an Inspiration.
Credibility step: (state your experience, your research or both)
As well as growing up with my Dad my whole life, I went to my Grandmother for further information on his childhood.

Central idea: one sentence (sometimes called a thesis) that sums up whole speech that you say in the introduction. It should be something like: "Today I would like to pause and praise ....).

Today I want to tell all of you why my Dad has been a true inspiration, and the main reasons he is worth my praise.

Preview: Road map for the audience your main points. (May be part of central idea).
My dad has been a true inspiration and is worth my praise because he raised me as a single parent, worked many jobs to get the items I needed, and always loved me unconditionally.


Main Points: (sum up how you will develop the body of the speech. First you will ______, then you will _______...)
First I will talk about where he is from and how he grew up. Then I will talk about how his rough childhood made him an inspiring parent, and finally I will talk about how he has helped me with major decisions in my life.

Informative Speech Outline

Annabel Lettelleir

Informative Speech Outline

Specific Purpose Statement: My specific Purpose is to inform my audience about why Zumba is such a popular workout class.

Central Idea: Today I would like to tell you about the fitness class Zumba, and why it is so popular.

Introduction

I.                    For most of us, working out consists of running on the treadmill, lifting weights, or being involved in some sort of sport.

A.      When I work out, it consists of high energy dancing, and most of all having fun.

B.      This is all because of Zumba, one of the fastest growing workout classes in the world.

II.                  According to Shape Magazine, Zumba is performed by over 14 million people in the world.

III.                In researching this speech and being a Zumba Instructor myself, I learned why these 14 million people who participate in Zumba enjoy it so much.

IV.                Today, I will talk in depth about the history of Zumba, what a typical Zumba class consists of, and the overall health benefits.

(Let’s start by looking at the history of Zumba)

Body

I.                    What is now the world’s largest and most successful dance program was actually created on accident in the 1990’s.

A.      As it explains on the Zumba Fitness Website, Beto; who created Zumba started out as a Fitness instructor.               

1.       One day he forgot his traditional aerobics class music, so he used songs that he had been listening to on his tape player such as Salsa and Meringue.

2.       The aerobics class loved the salsa incorporated music because they felt the music was “moving them”.

B.      In 2001, DVD’s came out so people could use them to workout at home; then shortly after, the demand for classes and instructors became known.

C.      In 2005, Licensed Instructors were becoming more prominent, and in 2010 Zumba was the first dance fitness program to ever launch a video game.

D.      Now, Zumba is done at home, at the gym, or even while playing video games.

(Now, let’s move into what a typical Zumba class consists of)

II.                  Walking into a Zumba class is always compared to walking into a party; there is always excitement and a lot of energy.

A.      People of all different shapes and sizes come to Zumba mainly for the fun, and the exercise is just a bonus.

B.      In a Zumba class, you start off with 2 warm up songs, then 45 minutes of cardio dance movement, and then finally one song to stretch your muscles.

1.       When choosing Zumba Music, it needs to be at different tempos such as fast or slow, because the main way Zumba gives you a workout is by intervals of fast and slow cardio.

2.       The music also needs to be at a count of eight beats so it matches with the correct pace of the dance moves.

C.      After picking the music, I have to create the dance moves that go along with it.

1.       Every instructor creates different dance moves and steps to follow; personally I make the dance moves fairly simple and more repetitive so every single person can get the moves, and will get a better workout.

2.       The dance moves are always created for the eight beats, which is also two sets of four counts.

D.      Overall, a typical Zumba class could be considered as a class where you laugh, have fun, and smile while getting a great cardio and toning workout.

(Finally, I am going to talk about the overall benefits to Zumba)

III.                People may think that Zumba is beneficial just for the calories burned and the toning of your body, but there are several other health benefits involved that people do not always know about.

A.      Zumba has Aerobic and Non Aerobic benefits, that overall improves your body.

B.      As it says in the Huffington Post online newspaper, there are several aerobic benefits that can transform your body in as little as one month.

1.       Zumba is one of the only workouts that can make you burn up to 1,000 calories in an hour!

a.       For example, I had a student in one of my classes I taught over the summer that burned 75 lbs!

b.      She told me, that Zumba is the only workout that ever succeeded for her.

2.       Also, it tones your entire body from head to toe, getting all the muscles that most other workouts don’t let you work.

3.       As well, it heightens your endurance level and will make you notice a difference in as little as one-two weeks.

C.      Most importantly, there are many Non Aerobic benefits that make people of all ages return to Zumba classes daily.

1.       Zumba is a great stress relief; it keeps your mind off of other stressful things in your life.

2.       It also can be adapted for every fitness level, if you cannot do a certain move in the class, you can just move your legs however you wish and still get a workout.

3.       The time goes by fast, and it is very social.

4.       Most importantly, it makes people happy and makes them enjoy their workout.

D.      Even though workouts are supposed to be about getting fit, there are many other Psychological aspects Zumba fulfills.

Conclusion

I. As we have seen, Zumba is a class that most people will enjoy.

II. We focused today on the history, the typical class, and the health benefits of Zumba.

III. Overall, Zumba is a great way to stay fit and have fun so like we say as Zumba instructors, come on in and join the party! 

Blog Post 3: Speech Planning Sheet

Topic of Speech: Zumba Fitness
General Purpose: Informative
Specific Purpose Statement: My specific purpose is to inform my audience about why Zumba is such a popular workout in society.
Introduction: 

Attention Step: How will you hook the audience?
I will tell a story about my first Zumba class, and how it has led me all the way to being an instructor.
Credibility Step: (state experience)
I have been a Zumba Instructor for almost six months so I have a lot of experience in what Zumba is and the background knowledge.
Central Idea:
Today I would like to tell you about the fitness class called Zumba, and why it is so popular in society.
Preview: Road Map for audience on main points
Today we will talk about the history of Zumba, what a Zumba class is like, and the health benefits that are a result of Zumba.
Outline of Main Points:
I. What is now the worlds largest, and most successful dance fitness program, was actually created accidentally.
II. Walking into a Zumba Class is always compared to walking into a party; there is always excitement and lots of energy.
III. People may think that Zumba is beneficial just for the Calories Burned and the Toning of your Body, but there are several other health benefits involved that people don't always know about.