Visual Rhetoric Rewrite-SunshineGirl

Posted on November 18, 2021 by sunshinegirl457

An African American family stands right outside of their home facing away from it. You can assume this argument is correct because there is a middle-aged bald man, a woman, and two young children, boy and girl. The mom and dad are holding a lot of things in their arms, which leads one to believe they just left the house they own. Both the mother and father have colorful collared shirts with no stains or wrinkles, and the woman’s hair is done nicely, it doesn’t look ratty. This gives one the impression that they are not poor. Maybe they are not rich either but they definitely have some money. The mom is holding the boy in her left arm, a bag in her left hand, some sort of satchel wrapped around her torso, and a coffee in her right hand. The dad carries a stroller on one arm and a computer carrier on the other, in his hands he has a drink and several toys/stuffed animals, presumably for the two children. It seems as though the parents have a lot to juggle. This is not only physically, but rhetorically the director wants us to know they are busy people with a lot going on in their lives. 

0:02

The little girl comes more into the frame from being hidden behind her father. Judging by his facial expression the girl bumped into him a little and he’s thinking “hey!watch it”! The girl seems happy as you can see a smile starting to form on her face. The little boy just sits in his mom’s arm and we can tell he is the younger one since he’s being carried while his sister walks. They are a little farther from the house here, signifying that they are indeed walking away from it. The mother’s head is slightly tilted upward in this frame, giving the impression that she is talking a breath of fresh air as she exits the house. This implies that, for some reason, they are happy to be leaving.

0:03

In this shot, the mother’s eyes are looking off into the distance, she could be looking at a person, or an object, or anything really. Her expression shows a slight curve of her lips, like she is not ecstatic but is content and satisfied with what she sees.

0:05

At five seconds, the ad shows the daughter tugging at one of the toys her dad is carrying in his hand.It is a chain of colorful rings. The fact that she is doing this could either mean that she is just a young kid who wants her toy, or it could mean that she’s nervous or excited for something. She might also be using it to tug at her dad and catch his attention, but it’s unlikely because her mouth is not open so she isn’t speaking.

0:07

Here we are shown that the dad has what looks like a bagel in his mouth. This shows that they are running late because he didn’t even have time to finish his breakfast. Also, he is looking down at and bending his body towards the stroller in his right arm, as if it’s slipping from his grip. The girl has a big smile now which means she is probably laughing at her dad. Again, the director wants to show that they are an ordinary, happy family with money but the parents are juggling a lot with the kids.

0:08

The dad still has the stroller in his arm, but now it seems like the mom is hiking up her son to not drop him! Her hair is bouncing up from her movement and she brought her left arm very high up her torso, seemingly to get a better grip on the boy. Since they have all this stuff that they can hardly carry, I’d say they are going on a trip or somewhere for the day. It won’t be a very long trip because there are no suitcases seen, but it will definitely be a long car ride and day.

0:11

At 0:11, the little girl is still pulling her dad along with the chain, and since kids don’t usually care about being late to school or boring appointments, I think they are heading somewhere fun because she seems very happy and excited. 

0:14

This shot is a picture of the dad’s legs, because they are a males legs and, again, the little boy is being carried, but the feet in this picture are on the brick ground. The legs have very nice khaki pants and brown leather shoes, which supports the idea that they are well off. To the bottom left of the screen, in the grass, lies part of one of the toys he was holding. It sort of looks like a face and has the same colors as a long piece directly above it, meaning that the head of that toy disconnected and fell into the dirt. It seems there are a lot of shots like these- the parents are dropping things and scrambling to get somewhere with the kids.

0:15

We now longer see the house in the background of the family as the shot has moved from right in front of them to to their left- we are looking at them from a side view. On the edge of the left hand side of the screen there is a car. It looks like a black/grey minivan which would make sense because that is a great car for a family with kids. This vehicle lines up perfectly with what the mother was looking at before, meaning that everyone was excited to get to this car. By now I’m pretty sure this is a car commercial without ever hearing the words, music, or watching it in its fluidity.

0:17

The dad and daughter have left the frame but the mom, still holding her son, is reaching to place her coffee on the roof of her car, probably so she can have an extra hand to get the key out or get ready to put her son in his seat. 

0:20

At 20 seconds it shows the father strapping his daughter into her car seat as she holds a bowl of cereal in one hand and her other hand is at her mouth, so she, too, did not have time to finish her meal. Both of them look very happy so we are lead to believe they are a good, loving family and (if all the toys weren’t enough to see this) the parents do a lot for the boy and girl.

0:21

Here we have a close-up of the seat belt on the girl’s car seat being strapped in. Now it can be concluded that the ad is definitely about keeping your family safe at the busiest, craziest of times. A seatbelt is a symbol of safety so I’m sure the car company is using safety as one of its main points to consider when purchasing a vehicle. It doesn’t show a group of tattooed, scarred men in leather jackets buckling themselves in, but rather cute kids and a happy family because everybody wants to keep their family safe, especially parents with toddlers.

0:22

This is a good shot because it skipped to the cereal being thrown around in the air. I assume this is relatable for most parents with young kids. The dad’s expression is of course shocked and he is yelling something, but the little girl is having a blast with the biggest smile. 

0:24

There is another close-up in this shot and the close-ups really show what the important parts of the video are, because everything else was filmed from a distance of a few feet, as if we were there watching them, although the close-ups give us an “inside view”. At 24 seconds it shows a close-up of a female hand with a wedding ring on it buckling in another seatbelt. This is the mother’s hand securing her son into his car seat, so now we subliminally know that both of the kids are safe and ready for the drive to wherever. While the quality of this video is clear and it looks well-produced, it’s meant to be messy and all-over-the-place with all of the running late, dropping stuff, and spilling things. The message to be received, though, is that no matter how hard it gets to juggle things and get the job done, safety is always most important, especially when it comes to family.

0:28

This is not a filmed part, but a computer-produced page that includes the website name to some organization. The name is pretty big and stands out from the bright blue background, so we as viewers are supposed to know it’s important and worth reading/remembering. I initially thought this was a commercial for minivans or some other car brands up until the last frame. This is because above the website name there are four images of car seats with seatbelts clearly crossing over them. This might be an ad for either the car seat company itself, or just the promoting of being safe and buckling your kids in. To know exactly I would need to hear the words and music and watch it all at once, but just from viewing it this way I got a very good sense of what the video is talking about. The actors, directors, and producers did a good job of getting the message across, even without the use of exterior persuasion methods like background music.

Posted in Visual Rewrite | 1 Comment

Grammar Exercise-toastedflatbread

Posted on November 18, 2021 by toastedflatbread22

If a primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward their child it increases the risk that they’re child will grow up hostile towards others. And its not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; a large amount of children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. The reason for this negative behavior is because the children don’t learn appropriate techniques for handling lifes disappointments. If you aren’t raised with coping skills, your much to likely to act ‘inappropriately’ then if you have developed more reasonable approaches. The affect of poor parenting, as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers”, is that everyone gets the child they deserve.

REVISED: If primary caretakers have a negative attitude toward their child it increases the risk that their child will grow up hostile towards others. And it’s not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; a large number of children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. This negative behavior occurs because the children don’t learn appropriate techniques for handling life’s disappointments. If children aren’t raised with coping skills, they are much too likely to act “inappropriately“ than if they have developed more responsible approaches. The effect of poor parenting, as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers,” is that everyone gets the children they deserve.

Posted in Grammar Exercise | 1 Comment

Grammar Exercise – comatosefox

Posted on November 18, 2021 by comatosefox

If a primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward their child it increases the risk that their child will grow up hostile towards others. And it’ s not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; a large amount of children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. This negative behavior is because the children don’t learn appropriate techniques for handling life’s disappointments. If children aren’t raised with coping skills, they’re more likely to act “inappropriately” than if they had developed more reasonable approaches. The effect of poor parenting, as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers,” is that everyone gets the child they deserve.

Posted in Grammar Exercise | 1 Comment

Grammar Exercise – SpookyGhost

Posted on November 18, 2021 by imaspookyghost

If a primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward their child it increases the risk that they’re child will grow up hostile towards others. And its not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; a large amount of children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. The reason for this negative behavior is because the children don’t learn appropriate techniques for handling lifes disappointments. If you aren’t raised with coping skills, your much to likely to act ‘inappropriately’ then if you have developed more reasonable approaches. The affect of poor parenting, as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers”, is that everyone gets the child they deserve.

If a primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward their child it increases the risk the child will grow up hostile towards others. It’s not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; a large number of children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. This negative behavior stems from not learning appropriate techniques for handling life’s disappointments. If you aren’t raised with coping skills, you’re much more likely to act “inappropriately” than if you have developed more reasonable approaches. The effect of poor parenting, as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers”, is that everyone gets the child they deserve.

Posted in Grammar Exercise | 1 Comment

Causal Rewrite-SunshineGirl

Posted on November 18, 2021 by sunshinegirl457

Prisoners are spiritual people. While they may not be peace-sign flashing, gong-ringing, John Lennon sunglass-wearing individuals, they do contain a spiritual side. Every human on this planet is spiritual, in a sense, because our energy is recycled (at least according to Albert Einstein) and we are all part of the Earth, even if some people have not discovered their connection yet. Prisoners are no exception, and with a little time and effort, they have the ability to experience peace and tranquility, regardless of their past. Over the last few decades, yoga, an ancient practice of poses, breath control, and meditation, has been implemented into many penitentiaries as a form of rehabilitation. The evidence that yoga stabilizes the inmates’ stress levels and tempers, as well as reduces the likelihood of reincarcerations, is very prominent. However, since these programs are unconventional, there is a stigma behind it, and the practice is seen as “strange” and “useless” in its context. Many institutions refuse to reap the benefits of yoga in prisons because of this, which leaves the future a mystery. Although, with more explanation and promotion of these studies, the right people will be persuaded and yoga will be used as a diversionary method in many prisons in the years to come.

To properly advocate for the discredited practice one must first overcome the stigma surrounding it. In her article “Beyond Narcissism: Towards an Analysis of the Public, Political and Collective Forms of Contemporary Spirituality”, author Anna Clot-Garrell describes how the “stereotypical portraits of holistic spirituality have usually depicted its followers as narcissistic individuals” (Clot-Garrel, 2019). To combat this stereotype, she, with the help of others, put together an experiment consisting of yoga classes at three different Catalan prison locations from 2013 to 2015. Different methods of data collection were used including peer observation, surveys, and in-depth interviews to understand the inmates’ true judgements of yoga before and after the programs (Clott-Garrel, 2019).

The idea was to minimize the scrutiny by bringing yoga off it’s pedestal of narcissism, and create a public, communal environment of bettering oneself. These researchers determined that when brought out of the private sphere yoga is encased in, the participants’ opinions changed drastically and the classes were collectively sought after by the population of the experiment. Clot-Garrel concluded that “nowadays” (many years after the experiment), “almost all penitentiary institutions in Catalonia offer yoga classes for inmates, in addition to other spiritual practices such as meditation or reiki. This provision is not exclusive to Catalan prisons but represents a general trend identifiable in several countries ranging from Switzerland, to the United States, Mexico and India” (Clot-Garrel). This demonstrates how, if given a chance, yoga can be an effective medium to diminish the stigmatization of spirituality, and create a desire for self-improvement and tranquility, even for prison inmates.

While these findings are a significant milestone for the yoga in prisons movement, it’s difficult to foresee the future on a national scale. The problems of practicality like cost and time restraints are still hindering the spread of this rehabilitation device. In order to promote yoga in prisons and spark change in the legal system, word must get out about how simple and cost-effective it is to establish these programs in penitentiaries. There are several nonprofit organizations helping to advertise these practices such as PrisonYogaProject, YogaBehindBars, PrisonYogaAndMeditation, and WorldPrem. PrisonYogaProject alone has provided over 75 different prison locations across the United States with yoga courses, and has sent over 33,000 complimentary copies of their book “Yoga: a Path for Healing and Recovery” to incarcerated persons (PrisonYogaProject). This organization is an example of the potential popularity of the yoga in prisons initiative.

Furthermore, inmate M.V. of the RJ Donovan State Prison in San Diego, CA, can attest to the healing and transcendental properties of yoga. He/she is an active participant in yoga classes and told PrisonYogaProject officials that “being a lifer at times becomes a bit rough… yoga gives me a mirror that I can see my reflection in all day, every day, to feel and live. I cleanse myself, I heal myself. I put myself together to become whole. It’s different from the ego…The renewal is exactly what yoga seeks, evolution, knowing that change is possible in a way that is organic” (PrisonYogaProject). While M.V. is a ’lifer’ and therefore cannot be included as an example of reduction of recidivism, he/she demonstrates how these programs can have an everlasting effect on an inmate of any sentence or situation, no matter how useless it may seem at first glance. More so, these nonprofits show how yoga programs do not need to take an economical toll on the legal system, and these concerns are obsolete.

Another feared complication of functionality for yoga in prisons is the time requirement. Most prisons around the world are already dead set on a strict schedule of roll-call, meal time, telephone calls, and retiring/sleeping time, which may convey the impression that yoga simply won’t fit into the lives of the inmates. A document outlining the standard recreational time policies prisons are to adhere to, “Correctional Recreation: An Overview” by author Michael Ryan Alexander, refutes this idea. Alexander emphasizes the importance of recreational time for prisoners, and states that the rulings of the U.S. legal system have “resulted in a general standard that inmates are entitled to five hours of recreation per week” (Alexander, 2017). This is required in every prison in the United States. It may not seem like a big time frame, but if the stigma around yoga vanishes altogether, most prisoners would opt to spend their time relaxing and healing instead of lollygagging around the prison doing their usual activities.

Overall, the future of yoga in prisons is straightforward and the implementation of more programs is achievable. The only obstacles to overcome are the judgements of prison officials; to combat the preconceived notion that yoga is only for eccentric, bohemian people to practice in their private lives. Studies show that yoga does in fact reduce recidivism at impressive rates, it’s just a matter of wardens and officials understanding and complying with the data. It’s unrealistic to predict yoga will be used in every prison institution worldwide, but as for the United States, the facts are all laid out and it’s up to them to make the next move to better their institutions. If this is achieved, yoga will have a substantial effect on not only the prisoners themselves, but the penitentiaries in general by lowering rates of recidivism and, by correlation, helping the country stay safe.

References

Clot-Garrell, A., & Griera, M. (2019, October 16). Beyond narcissism: Towards an analysis of the public, political and collective forms of contemporary spirituality. MDPI. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/10/579. 

Prison yoga project. Prison Yoga Project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://prisonyoga.org/.

Alexander, M. R. (2017). Correctional Recreation: An Overview. DigitalCommons.MurrayState.Edu. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=bis437. 

Posted in Causal Rewrite | 1 Comment

Grammar exercise- frogs02

Posted on November 18, 2021 by frogs02

If a primary caretaker has a negative attitude toward his child, it increases the risk that his child will grow up hostile towards others. And it’s not just aggression toward others that results from child abuse; a large number of children raised by abusive parents also harm themselves. This negative behavior occurs because the children don’t learn appropriate techniques for handling life’s disappointments. If children aren’t raised with coping skills, they are much too likely to act ‘inappropriately’ than if they developed with more reasonable approaches. The effect of poor parenting, as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers”, is that everyone gets the child they deserve.

Posted in Grammar Exercise | 3 Comments

Rebuttal Argument-ziggy026

Posted on November 18, 2021 by ziggy026

It can be argued that new 21-year old’s’ are not a major cause of drunk driving fatalities, however, this argument is inherently incorrect. In some cases, some might argue that at the age of 21 young adults have the common sense to control their drinking and opt for a ride from someone else (not under the influence) in an instance in which they had too much to drink. While this argument might be valid in select circumstances, it’s very apparent that a good majority of young adults do not share the same intelligence. 

Statistics show that drunk driving fatalities in many cases are directly caused by young adults near the age of 21. This is linked to the fact that these adults do not have the experience and intelligence with alcohol that many other older adults do in fact have. Most adults over this age have experience and know how their bodies react with alcohol. In cases where people actually adhere to the rule of no alcohol before the age of 21, they don’t know how to handle themselves with it or how much is too much for them personally. This leads to them believing they are sober enough to get behind a wheel and drive themselves and their friends back home at the end of the night. This is what causes so many people annually to be killed or cause someone else to be killed in motor vehicle accidents. With this in mind, it is very easy to see that the drinking age that so many people support truly does nothing but delay the motor vehicle accidents that are bound to happen due to irresponsible drivers let out into the world for the first time with a bottle of scotch in their hand. We can ask ourselves how we avoid this, but the truth is many believe that we already have found the answer. The answer they have provided, ironically, is the root cause of this. When we look at the facts and understand that the main point portrayed to society about the minimum drinking age is that we don’t want to damage our country’s children’s young, developing brains, we forget about the fact that we are letting freshly developed brains go out and have free reign over alcohol. This does nothing to achieve the main goal that can be easily distinguished when we look beyond what is told to us. How can we possibly believe that allowing these young adults whose brains are thought to just now have a fully developed brain with absolutely no flaws in their logic whatsoever of course, are able to make their own responsible decisions that’s consequences have the ability to end their own lives or the lives of unsuspecting others. 

After we learn the facts and true numbers about drunk driving fatalities it’s downright irresponsible to say that nothing more needs to be done to ensure that we aren’t having irresponsible adolescents a free ride to their own funeral. A minimum age to purchase alcohol isn’t the same thing as a minimum age to drink alcohol. The minimum drinking age simply means teenagers cannot legally purchase alcohol, they will still find a way to consume it if that’s what they desire which is a clear message that more needs to be done to prohibit drinking and driving. If more of the facts were exposed to the public and they were aware of how unsuccessful this law is at keeping people safe and cutting down on the number of drunk drivers let loose on the road there would without a doubt be more of a push to do more to educate the public or perhaps even raise the drinking age. Would raising the drinking age do anything to our benefit though? People have been arguing for decades that the drinking age should be raised, no matter what it is at the time, but what good can it do? If we are constantly raising the age, we are decreasing the amount of experience people have and simply prolonging the inevitable. If this age is constantly being pushed back all it does is push back the time in which they are more likely to find themselves in the situation the restriction is meant to avoid. What isn’t seen, unfortunately, is that education on this subject and different restrictions and laws being put into place would do more to benefit the country and its citizens wellbeing than what is in place. 

There aren’t many things we can do about this sad truth. Every decision made in today’s social climate is politically charged, monetarily motivated, or backed by greed. Unless there was going to be an outcome to those high up in the government that would financially benefit them, raise their status, or get them an extra vote, it will not be done which is a sad but true fact. The laws and restrictions that are currently put into place are done so with a specific motive and benefit the ones that made it directly. This is made even more clear when we truly think about the situation and realize that so much more can be done about this, but it will come at a cost. What is put in place now has no negative monetary consequence which makes it easy and convenient. 

In conclusion, the system is completely demolished. We don’t have a handle on anything when it comes to drunk driving restrictions no matter what anyone argues. Saying that when we let these young adults out onto the road at the age of 21 it’s good for them and they will definitely stay safe is a slap in the face to anyone with a working brain. When we really think about what we’re doing we see just how stupid it is. More needs to be done to protect American people from ruining their lives because more hasn’t been done to educate them about how they need to handle themselves on the road when they’re able.

Posted in Rebuttal Argument | 2 Comments

Rebuttal Rewrite – LunaDuna

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Lunaduna

There Can Always Be Benefits

(Work In Progress. Having Trouble generating ideas)

Animal experimentation will continue to be a constant debate in the world. There will always be two sides, one for and one against. Health professionals believe that animal experimentation can help save the lives of many people, but the cost is the animal’s life. As of today, animal experimentation is legal, whether people believe that it is good or bad. More than 26 million animals “participate” in experiments, that save the lives of humans.

Animal rights are held too high in regard. People who scream that animal testing is wrong, do not understand the numerous benefits that come from experimentation. The entire truth is that the world has advanced in the past decades due to experimentation on animals. In day-to-day life objects all around us have been influenced in some way by animals. A countless number of things we take for granted every day would not exist if scientists did not experiment on animals. People should look at animals not as defenseless creatures, but as a development for the good of society.

Past many decades, animal testing has improved the practice of medicine, such as expanding the known knowledge of diseases and even creating cures. Major vaccines like polio, hepatitis B and C were developed and passed through animal testing. According to the Biomedical Research Association in California, most medical breakthroughs that have occurred in the last hundred years occurred from animal experimentation. Insulin was discovered from treatment in a dog’s pancreas. Two German researchers, Oskar Minkowski and Joseph von Mering found that when the pancreas was removed from dogs, the animals began to develop symptoms of diabetes, which most of the dogs dies soon after. The researchers newly understood where the site of “pancreas substances,” insulin was produced in the body.

Vaccines. A device that can lower the chances of contracting certain diseases. Vaccines have not always been there, and if there were not, a lot of people would die. To develop a vaccine, it takes extensive research to be done until the final product is ready. Immunizations against diphtheria, mumps, rubella, hepatitis, and polio have saved countless lives and the survival rates for these major diseases has hit an all-time high.

The benefits from animal experimentation will continue. Blood transfusions, antibiotics, organ transplants, joint replacement, chemotherapy, and dialysis have all been fabricated from animal experimentation.

References

Cornett, E. M., Jones, M. R., & Kaye, A. D. (2019, May 11). Ethics of animal experimentation – springer. Ethics of Animal Experimentation. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-99124-5_25.

Foundation for Biomedical Research. (2020, May 27). Medical advances. Animal Testing and Research. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://fbresearch.org/medical-advances/.

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Rewrite Rebuttal Argument – comatosefox

Posted on November 18, 2021 by comatosefox

Men vs Women: An Uphill Lacrosse Game

Women have come a long way from the nineteenth century standards, women worked hard in order to allow the women today to be able to participate in every aspect of life that men can. However, like any idea or law put into practice, nothing starts out perfect and there are still kinks to work out. For instance, women have been able to get more involved in sports as the years changed, but are still not at the same level as men. Due to this unequal treatment of women, sports organizations and media have been under justified fire about the unfair treatment of genders and lack of female representation in televised sports. Women in sports have constantly fought to be represented and respected by not only their male counterparts but the world as a whole.

Men on the other hand have plenty of representation and screen time. They have more viewers when their games are on TV, and they are given more opportunities to compete. In general, lacrosse has grown in popularity in recent years for both genders, and the women’s college NCAA championship has even drawn more viewers. In 2017 Matt Hamilton reported in Lacrosse Has Untapped Potential as TV Sport, ESPN Producer Says, that in “the [2017 NCAA] women’s lacrosse championship game between Maryland and Boston College drew 88,000 viewers on TV and streaming… the men’s lacrosse semifinals and final had an average (260,000).” Men have a high rating when it comes to televised games as well as in person audiences. If this is the case, men’s lacrosse is clearly the prefered version to watch. Their games are evidently more entertaining to the general public since they involve more physical contact and have more flow to them. 

Striking a player, also known as body checking, is frequently used during games as well as crosse checking also known as stick checking. Of course, like any game there is a limit of how much contact is allowed: “Body checking of an opponent in possession of the ball or within 5 yards of a loose ball, from the front or side above the waist and below the neck, is legal… A player may check his opponent’s crosse with his own crosse when that opponent has possession of the ball, when the opponent is within 5 yards of a loose ball or when the ball in flight is within 5 yards of the player,” found in the 2019 and 2020 NCAA MEN’S LACROSSE RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS (A. Supergan, Ed.). NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION by the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee. Men’s crosse checking is very lenient when it comes to contact between crosses, which is defined as a player may “check his opponent’s crosse with his own crosse when that opponent has possession of the ball, when the opponent is within 5 yards of a loose ball or when the ball in flight is within 5 yards of the player,” (NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee). The game starts with players going head to head, literally, the game begins with a face off which also allows physical contact between the opposing players shoulders and helmets while they try to retrieve the ball, as seen in Lacrosse All Star’s 2015 NCAA Faceoff Video – Notre Dame vs. Team USA – Lacrosse Best Moments video. 

Physical contact could be considered something you need some level of skill to successfully pull off, whether it is tackling someone or checking them with a stick. In a game you have to be precise, or else you risk getting penalized for your actions. Women’s lacrosse has the same restrictions but they are harsher than the men’s, they have to find ways around in order to retrieve the ball and defend their goal. Not only is there a rule against a player’s body having contact with their opponents, but there are guidelines on crosse checking. Crosse Checking as defined in the 2020–2022 WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL PLAYING RULES by World Lacrosse is defined as “an extension of body checking whereby the defender attempts to dislodge the ball from an opponent’s Crosse by using controlled Crosse-to-Crosse contact.” The rules go over the “do’s and don’ts” of checking, whether it involves stick positioning or the position of your body when attempting to check. 

Compared to men, women have to develop patience and timing on top of finding ways to decrease the possibility of getting penalized. Physical contact is a way to retrieve the ball without needing much skill, however body checking is a short cut for players who do not have the proper stick skill to acquire the ball. Women need to develop these stick skills to recover the ball more creatively, while their male counterparts are allowed to slowly injure their opponents as the game progresses. They need to come up with plays to move the ball around the field while confusing the defense in order to score on the opposition’s goal. 

Despite the fact that the game times are exactly the same length with one hour game time and a fifteen minute half time, women’s games seem to go on forever. The players will then become angry at not only the referees, but at the rules themselves due to the overprotected nature of the sport. This, in turn, causes both the players and the audience to become frustrated throughout the game, and all of them become uninterested in the current play. Also, It is true that the game can easily come to a halt due to a minor call causing the players to freeze. Due to these frequent and inconvenient calls, the players must quickly adapt to make up for the game’s lost time. Of course this can occur in both mens and womens lacrosse, but female players once again have to come up with more inventive plays and creative strategies in order to make up for this lost time. So, not only does this cause the women players to develop quicker thinking skills, but it in turn will increase each player’s agility. Throughout the history of women’s lacrosse players and fans have tolerated these game stopping rules for far too long. Regardless of the lack of reform due to the conflicting ideas between players and committee members, women have continued to make this game their own.

In spite of all the hate surrounding women’s lacrosse, not only from the spectators but the players as well, there has been no drastic change in rules for years. Mainly due to the players themselves not accepting the proposed changes, such as headgear upgrades, which the players look at as downgrades. Two women’s club lacrosse players have their own opinions for the proposed headgear; midfielder Kayleen McGill says ”I have had multiple concussions and I hate having to put this thing on, but it’s the only way I’m allowed to play lacrosse,” while goalie Meredith Case is impartial, “I’m a goalie so I’m used to wearing more gear than the others, I wouldn’t mind using a helmet in the field, even if they do make you look kind funny.” From Boston College, former Attack Mid Kate Taylor has expressed that she would never want to wear a helmet, and that she would rather get more physical without it. Regardless, the changes that could be made with the possible requirement of helmets is still nowhere near the level of men’s. Female lacrosse players would still have to come up with new and improved plays to win the game. Women have worked hard to achieve the skill level required to play women’s lacrosse, surpassing the men in stick skill, patience and cleverness in order to maneuver around the field to victory.

References

Hamilton, M. (2017, August 28). Lacrosse Has Untapped Potential as TV Sport, ESPN Producer Says. USA Lacrosse Magazine. https://tinyurl.com/2ppjy46k 

Sanches, M. (2017, April 12). Women’s and Men’s Lacrosse: Same Name, Different Sports [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39zllGnJkI 

NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee, & Scroggs, W. (2019). 2019 and 2020 NCAA MEN’S LACROSSE RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS (A. Supergan, Ed.). NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION. https://tinyurl.com/3njy5att

Lacrosse All Stars. (2014, October 24). 2015 NCAA Faceoff Video – Notre Dame vs. Team USA – Lacrosse Best Moments [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL1z6a96Y1w 

World Lacrosse. (2019, August 12). 2020–2022 WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL PLAYING RULES [Memo]. https://d13mgad1aost97.cloudfront.net/2020/06/2019-2021-Womens-Official-Rules_final.pdf 

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Rebuttal Argument – comatosefox

Posted on November 18, 2021 by comatosefox

Men vs Women: An Uphill Lacrosse Game

Women have to work harder in every aspect of life. Thankfully in today’s world, the fight for gender equality has progressed greatly. Despite this progression, there are still some kinks to work out, even in something that unites the world like sports. Throughout the years sports organizations and media have been under fire about the unfair treatment of genders and lack of female representation in televised sports. Women in sports have constantly fought to be represented and respected by not only their male counterparts but the world as a whole. 

Men on the other hand have plenty of representation and screen time. They have more viewers when their games are on TV, and they are given more opportunities to compete. In general, lacrosse has grown in popularity in recent years for both genders, and the women’s college NCAA championship has even drawn more viewers. In 2017 Matt Hamilton reported in Lacrosse Has Untapped Potential as TV Sport, ESPN Producer Says, that in “the [2017 NCAA] women’s lacrosse championship game between Maryland and Boston College drew 88,000 viewers on TV and streaming… the men’s lacrosse semifinals and final had an average (260,000).” Men have a high rating when it comes to televised games as well as in person audiences. If this is the case, men’s lacrosse is clearly the prefered version to watch. Their games are evidently more entertaining to the general public since they involve more physical contact and have more flow to them. 

Striking a player, also known as body checking, is frequently used during games as well as crosse checking also known as stick checking. Of course, like any game there is a limit of how much contact is allowed: “Body checking of an opponent in possession of the ball or within 5 yards of a loose ball, from the front or side above the waist and below the neck, is legal… A player may check his opponent’s crosse with his own crosse when that opponent has possession of the ball, when the opponent is within 5 yards of a loose ball or when the ball in flight is within 5 yards of the player,” found in the 2019 and 2020 NCAA MEN’S LACROSSE RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS (A. Supergan, Ed.). NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION by the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee. Men’s crosse checking is very lenient when it comes to contact between crosses, which is defined as a player may “check his opponent’s crosse with his own crosse when that opponent has possession of the ball, when the opponent is within 5 yards of a loose ball or when the ball in flight is within 5 yards of the player,” (NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee). The game starts with players going head to head, literally, the game begins with a face off which also allows physical contact between the opposing players shoulders and helmets while they try to retrieve the ball, as seen in Lacrosse All Star’s 2015 NCAA Faceoff Video – Notre Dame vs. Team USA – Lacrosse Best Moments video. 

Physical contact could be considered something you need some level of skill to successfully pull off, whether it is tackling someone or checking them with a stick. In a game you have to be precise, or else you risk getting penalized for your actions. Women’s lacrosse has the same restrictions but they are harsher than the men’s, they have to find ways around in order to retrieve the ball and defend their goal. Not only is there a rule against a player’s body having contact with their opponents, but there are guidelines on crosse checking. Crosse Checking as defined in the 2020–2022 WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL PLAYING RULES by World Lacrosse is defined as “an extension of body checking whereby the defender attempts to dislodge the ball from an opponent’s Crosse by using controlled Crosse-to-Crosse contact.” The rules go over the “do’s and don’ts” of checking, whether it involves stick positioning or the position of your body when attempting to check. 

Compared to men, women have to develop patience and timing on top of finding ways to decrease the possibility of getting penalized. Physical contact is a way to retrieve the ball without needing much skill, however body checking is a short cut for players who do not have the proper stick skill to acquire the ball. Women need to develop these stick skills to recover the ball more creatively, while their male counterparts are allowed to slowly injure their opponents as the game progresses. They need to come up with plays to move the ball around the field while confusing the defense in order to score on the opposition’s goal. 

Despite the fact that the game times are exactly the same length with one hour game time and a fifteen minute half time, women’s games seem to go on forever. The players will then become angry at not only the referees, but at the rules themselves due to the overprotected nature of the sport. Which in turn causes both the players and the audience to become frustrated and uninterested in the current play. Also, It is true that the game can easily come to a halt due to a minor call causing the players to freeze. Due to these frequent and inconvenient calls, the players must quickly adapt to make up for the lost time. Of course this can occur in both mens and womens lacrosse, but the women once again have to come up with more inventive plays and strategies in order to make up for lost time. Not only does this cause the players to develop quicker thinking skills, but it in turn will increase each player’s agility. Throughout the history of women’s lacrosse players and fans have tolerated these game stopping rules for far too long. Regardless of the lack of reform due to the conflicting ideas between players and committee members, women have continued to make this game their own.

References

Hamilton, M. (2017, August 28). Lacrosse Has Untapped Potential as TV Sport, ESPN Producer Says. USA Lacrosse Magazine. https://tinyurl.com/2ppjy46k 

Sanches, M. (2017, April 12). Women’s and Men’s Lacrosse: Same Name, Different Sports [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39zllGnJkI 

NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee, & Scroggs, W. (2019). 2019 and 2020 NCAA MEN’S LACROSSE RULES AND INTERPRETATIONS (A. Supergan, Ed.). NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION. https://tinyurl.com/3njy5att

Lacrosse All Stars. (2014, October 24). 2015 NCAA Faceoff Video – Notre Dame vs. Team USA – Lacrosse Best Moments [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL1z6a96Y1w 

World Lacrosse. (2019, August 12). 2020–2022 WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL OFFICIAL PLAYING RULES [Memo]. https://d13mgad1aost97.cloudfront.net/2020/06/2019-2021-Womens-Official-Rules_final.pdf 

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