Short Writing Assignment #6

Restricting Television Viewers
In his article titled “My Plan to Save Network Television”, writer and producer Charlie Hauck claims that old people should be banned from watching certain network television shows. The author points out that even certain television shows have a target audience of young people, it may end up that the primary audience of the show is elderly people, making the producers unhappy. He gives an example of a television show that should appeal to young people, but after the first episode it is reported that the audience is mostly older people.
The author is making this claim because he is a producer, and wants to target young people. One reason producers want to target young people is because they have a more disposable income and will spend their money very freely. Older people will not. Hauck does not introduce any opposing views, much less refute them. He sticks to his side of the argument and tries to persuade the reader to come to the opinion as him.

“Realistic Idealists”
In “Realistic Idealists” by Alex Williams, the author makes the claim that today’s generation of young people are getting more involved in community service; not just for their college applications but because they want to make the world a better place. He supports this by giving examples of what groups of students have done in recent years in response to devastating events, such as the deadly hurricane season in Florida in 2004, Hurricane Katrina, and the tsunami in Asia. The author tells how right after Hurricane Katrina, students at high schools across the country jumped into action to help raise money and send relief to Louisiana and Mississippi. The author also quotes different admissions officers from colleges around the country with their opinions on why they believe students are doing more and more community service.
The author became interested in this topic because his youngest daughter, unlike his oldest, became very involved in the community even before she entered high school. This led the author to wonder why today’s teenagers are becoming involved in the community. The author does introduce some opposing views, but doesn’t refute them very much. The author does acknowledge that one reason students may be doing more community service is because it looks really good on college applications, but that it is not the only reason. I think doing community service is very rewarding and that students are doing more of it because it makes them feel good about themselves.