Exploration Three - Emily Shearer

Literacy Events and Opposing Issues


1. A little over a month ago, I decided that it was time to get a job. After years (yes, years) of saying I was going to start filling out applications, I realized that I needed to stop procrastinating on everything that I did, whether it be schoolwork, organizing my room, or whatever else there is in life that one can procrastinate on. I was about to be a college student, with actual responsibilities, and shouldn't have to rely on other people for every little thing. There was no way that I could just sit back and wait for things to happen if I wasn't going to do anything to make those things happen. Most high school students have after-school jobs, but I was never one of them. Juggling school, homework, chores at home, and practices nearly every day after school prevented me from even really thinking about what kind of responsibilities that I would have to face once I graduated. However, I have been happy working after classes and on weekends; it gives me a sense of accomplishment that I hadn't known before, being more independent and proactive.

2. "Issues of evaluation are questions about whether something is good or bad, or right or wrong, desirable or undesirable, effective or ineffective, valuable or worthless." This is where many people's morals come into play, and whether they think something is right ethically/morally permissible. We ask ourselves these questions almost constantly throughout our day-to-day lives. Determining whether something is right or wrong is almost always an opinion; there will never be a 100% guarantee that everyone will think exactly the same things.

3. An issue that is brought up frequently is the discussion of abortion. It is a religious issue, whether or not people want it to be, and in all honesty, I will say that I am Pro Life. I believe that even though a baby is not yet born, if it is developing, then it is living. Many people may make the argument that a woman's body is her own and she can do whatever she wants with it, but does that mean that other lives are no longer significant? I have thought long and hard about what I believe is right, and being a woman made it even harder to make up my mind. So many scenarios played out in my head, like what about in cases of rape or incest, or just the fact that the woman doesn't want a baby at that time. First of all, I strongly believe that if someone gets pregnant because of lack of precaution, then that baby deserves to be born. My mother became pregnant with me at age 16, and I can guarantee that she did not want a child at that age. I very well could've been just another statistic.
      If a woman wants a baby, killing her and the baby would be a double homicide, but if the child is unwanted, all of a sudden it doesn't matter? The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 is a United States law which recognizes a child in utero as a legal victim, if they are injured or killed during that commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence. Along with the whole "women's bodies" arguments... the mother and the child are completely separate. The baby is not part of the woman's body, it just happens to live there. The baby needs the mom for food and shelter, which happens to be exactly what it needs once it is outside of the womb. No one advocates killing a baby after it has already been born. Adoption is always an option. Even in circumstances of rape or incest, are we punishing the child for the actions of adults? The baby did not just appear. If a woman was raped, for example, and ended up having the baby, she would always have the baby as a reminder. Same goes for adoption. And same goes for abortion. The woman will not just "forget about it" if she became pregnant through rape and decided to have an abortion. She will have that reminder throughout her everyday life, when she sees another baby or hears the word 'rape', or smell a certain cologne, the list goes on and on.