Reflection Paper

For our reflection paper assignment, I am having trouble coming up with a point to argue or question to answer through my own personal experiences. I can think of a lot of points in general that may bother me but not necessarily stories that correspond that I can reflect on. On the other hand I also have a lot of topics and stories that correspond with my ten years of sleep away camp experience, but no specific points or questions that I can think of.

I think I am an expert on my camp. I have been going there every summer since I was seven and have gone through every age group from the youngest to the oldest and on to the staff side of things. I think that I would be able to answer any question about my specific sleep away camp and the general experience of attending camp. I know all the inner working details of how my camp is run and could probably run it myself at this point. My dream job is to run a camp just like the one I grew up at. I believe growing up at this great get-away location has shaped me into the person I am today, and the family I belong to considering we all have had great experiences there.

I have infinite stories about my experiences as a camper and my days as a counselor dealing with my campers. I was also picked to lead one of the two teams during color war, and I won! With all of this experience I must have some point or question to argue but I cannot think of what it is. If any of my readers have questions about my camp experience or camp experiences in general, do not hesitate to ask!

Fallacies

A fallacy is "an argument that involves faulty reasoning," according to The Norton Field Guide to Writing. Obviously this is something one would want to avoid when attempting to argument a specific point. Fallacies decrease the amount of authority you portray to your readers. There are many different types of fallacies, including bandwagon appeals, false analogies, and faulty causality.
An example of a common type of bandwagon appeal, that does not necessarily have success although we have all done it: "Mom and Dad, I need an iPhone because Lauren, Casey, and Jamie all have iPhones."
An example of a slippery slope fallacy would be an argument that tries to say that if children watch too much TV, the future generations will become illiterate.

An example in my research had to do with the article I found that opposed my thesis. The article says Facebook boosts users' self-esteems. They back up this argument by saying Facebook users have the ability to edit and alter any detail on their profiles and by doing this, they can make it look the way they want and that will make them feel good about themselves. The problem with this hasty generalization is that everyone alters their Facebook appearance and then feels good. No matter how much you alter your information, you will still compare yourself to others.