Event Essays - Taking Back Sunday, Free Essays

An Influential Person/Event Essays - Taking Back Sunday, Free Essays An Influential Person/Event It seemed like it would make her die, just speaking it. So I didnt tell anyone, not even my best friends. At school I would slip into a fantastical dreamland, nobody there knew that I should be troubled, pensive. I put on my best front and paraded around the school halls with some sort of smile plastered on my face. At lunchtime Id stare at my food thinking that my friends should know. I thought of a million different ways to tell them. Each time that I came close to telling them, I would think about their potential reactions. There would be the normal lunchtime banter going on, complaints about the ranch dressing, and I would blurt out, Hey guys, my mom has breast cancer. The whole cafeteria would turn silent and the plastic forks would drop from their hands, making a sad little clinking noise. Then I would stare at my food mentally kicking myself for having opened my mouth. I chose to say nothing. I remember very clearly the day that I went to go sit with her while she got her chemotherapy. I only did this once because it was too hard for me. I walked down an overly-lit sterile hallway trailing behind my dad. When we reached her room I wished that I could just keep walking, pretend I hadnt seen her. I went in and sat down. Her shirt was partially unbuttoned so that the IV could be inserted into the porto-cath surgically implanted under her collarbone. She was hooked up to three different kinds of poisons, and one normal IV. There were some knitting things spread across her lap and the ever present bag of lemon drops was faithfully at her side. Her head was laid back in the chair, she was tired. She and my dad tried to involve me in some nice chit-chat, I met and shook hands with the doctors and nurses, Its nice to meet you Dr. McCoy. Yeah right. They complimented her on what a beautiful daughter she had. I blushed, smiled politely then excused myself to the bathroom. I wiped a way my forming tears and gave myself a mental pep talk to be cheery. As long as I didnt look at her tired eyes I was OK. Half an hour later, she was done and we got to go home. I stayed alone in my room that night. Out of courtesy to my mom and fear that my friends would find out, I didnt have them over to the house for a long time. I didnt want them to notice anything, like the bottles of medicine all lined up at my moms place at the table. Each pill a tiny soldier waging war on my mothers body. There were always huge quantities of lemons in the refrigerator. A friend would come over, Hey Karen, why so many lemons? Its the middle of winter! I couldnt risk having to explain to them that the taste of lemons made my mom less nauseous. The ceiling of the bathroom had hair on it. She tried so hard to camouflage her hair loss by blow drying her hair for over half an hour every morning. She would turn her head upside down, use some hairspray, then blow dry, then more hairspray and more blow drying. I dont think she realized her effect on the ceiling. Eight months after she had discovered the tumor, she was done with treatment. Eventually her hair began to grow back in. She and I played with new ways to fix her short hair and since it grew in curly, we referred to that phenomenon as, Post-chemo curls. We were both disappointed a few months ago when it dawned upon the two of us that the curls were finally falling out. So she got a perm. I became best friends with my mother during the course of the cancer. I really grew up during those eight long months of fixing the family dinners, trying to be strong for her and trying to take over certain aspects of her role as mom when she couldnt. I think that while hard to endure, her cancer has been good for the family. It

Tu Quoque - Ad Hominem Fallacy That You Did It Too!

Tu Quoque - Ad Hominem Fallacy That You Did It Too! Fallacy Name:Tu Quoque Alternative Names:You did it too! Fallacy Category:Fallacies of Relevance Ad Hominem Arguments Explanation of the Tu Quoque The Tu Quoque fallacy is a form of the ad hominem fallacy which does not attack a person for random, unrelated things; instead, it is an attack on someone for a perceived fault in how they have presented their case. This form of the ad hominem is called tu quoque, which means you too because it typically occurs when a person is attacked for doing what they are arguing against. Examples and Discussion of the Tu Quoque Usually, you will see the Tu Quoque fallacy used whenever an argument has gotten very heated, and the possibility of civil, productive discussion may have already been lost: 1. So what if I used an ad hominem? You insulted me earlier.2. How can you tell me not to experiment with drugs when you did the same thing as a teenager? As you can see, the arguers in these examples are trying to make the case that what they have done is justified by insisting that the other person has also done the same. If the act or statement in question was so bad, why did they do it? This fallacy is sometimes referred to as two wrongs dont make a right because of the implication that a second wrong makes everything alright. Even if a person is completely hypocritical, though, this does not mean that their advice is not sound and should not be followed. Tu Quoque and Sincerity This fallacy can also occur more subtly, for example, by attacking a persons sincerity or consistency: 3. Why should I take your arguments for vegetarianism seriously when you would accept a transfusion of blood that has been tested using animal products, or accept medication that has been tested using animals? The reason this example qualifies as a tu quoque fallacy is because the argument reaches the conclusion I dont have to accept your conclusion from the premise you dont really accept your conclusion either. This looks like an argument against the consistency of an argument for vegetarianism, but it is actually an argument against a person arguing for vegetarianism. Just because a person fails to be consistent does not mean that the position they are arguing for is not sound. You can be inconsistent in following a sound principle and consistent in following an unsound principle. This is why the consistency with which a person follows what they are arguing for is irrelevant when it comes to the validity of their position. Of course, this doesnt mean that it is illegitimate to point out such glaring inconsistencies. After all, if a person does not follow their own advice, it may be that they dont believe it themselves - and if that is the case, you can ask why they want you to follow it. Or maybe they dont understand what they are saying - and if they dont understand it, it is unlikely that they will be able to present an effective defense for it. You Would Do It Too A closely related tactic is to move from saying you did it, too to saying you would do it too if you had the chance. In this way, people can construct arguments like: 4. The leaders of that country are insane, and would attack us if they had the chance - so we should attack them first and thus protect ourselves.5. Christians would persecute us again if they were given the opportunity, so whats wrong with persecuting them first? This is fallacious for the same reason that the usual tu quoque is a fallacy - it doesnt matter what someone else would do if they had the chance because that alone doesnt make it right for you to do it yourself.