Persuasive Essay

Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.

The love for a better place for their children to learn and grow, drove my parents to move my siblings and me from Nigeria to America. The adjustment to a new community and culture along with the: education system, government, currency, social norms, and language were difficult for my family to adjust to. In elementary school, I found it difficult to communicate with other students; I tried speaking to them the way the people on old tv shows spoke, but they did not “catch my drift”. As I got more acquainted with the language I began joining clubs and playing sports. I was not placed in an ESL, English as a Second Language, program because I knew just enough English to barely pass tests. I was unable to keep up with the language and vocabulary

There is enough discrimination against us, and feeling alienated leads to recidivism. I served my sentence. I paid my debt to society. Why am I still doing time?" - Perry Hopkins, convicted felon and current community organizer for Communities United, talking about voting rights in Maryland.

It was a big step to come to the United States because it is not easy to be far away from friends and family. Moving was the most radical change happened to me because I moved from an Arabic-speaking country to an English-speaking country. When I came to the U.S, it was so difficult for me to understand others, and if someone talked to me, I won’t understand what he/she are talking about. One day I was walking around and a woman came to me, she was asking me something, but I could not understand her because I did not know English so I could not communicate with her. By then, I realized how important to know the language so you could talk and communicate with others. Especially when I am in a country that they only speak English and there are little people who know my language. When I was enrolled in school, I was put in a special program for the non-speaking English called ESL. ESL was a program that helps the students their English is the second language how to read and write English. Mrs. Senick, my ESL teacher helped me so much to learn the language. She was an amazing teacher because she loves her job and she was willing to help me and the other students who are in the same situation as mine. In the beginning, it was difficult because I do not know any English, but after a while,

Arriving in a new country was exciting and discomforting. America is a wonderful place to live, which is full of adventure and challenges. I was attracted by the Western culture. Meanwhile, different languages also troubled me. Although I began to learn English in elementary school from ABC, my listening and oral abilities tend not to be adequate. I have to study hard to improve my English, so that I can understand what the people said.

When i arrived here I had a feeling that can’t be explained. I had feeling like how I can see my future. Then I spent one day for ask my parent already and I told my parent that I am going to staying in United State and to continue what I have to do in my class like to improve skills. But I stay remember when I was new in United State I feel fear because no english but now I can try speak English I would like to say that My life going like how I need is very easy to

First of all, at the beginning I concentration all my thinking in how to get a job in this big country. It was very difficult for me because of the language barrier I did not speak English well, did not know the laws, and did not know anybody. I faced some difficulties at my first job interview, I could not understand what the interviewers were saying to me. So, I failed to

The last time I saw Charlie outside prison walls we were on the run. Charlie was on the run, not I, I just went along for the ride because he was my husband. Charlie was on parole, but he loved to drink his booze. In our state it's a violation to drink while on parole.

When I first came to the US, I couldn’t speak a word of English. At the beginning, a huge depression invaded me; after school, I locked in my bathroom and cried for hours. After a month, I remembered that I had come to this country to pursue a better education, thus a better future. Therefore, I decided that something else had to be done because weeping wasn’t solving anything. That day, I developed a schedule, where I would spend half of the day studying vocabulary and reviewing conversations until I learned the language, which I did a year later.

Why spend money that is really needed for other things? Why live uncomfortably? Why be trapped in this hole called a home that belongs to another person? Why not live free and peacefully? When a person rents he or she usually throws away money that could be used to purchase something that belongs to them. Money is not easy to come by so why pay out hundreds toward something that is not benefit to the person paying it out. There is no good explanation for making a decision like this. The best option in a situation like this is to buy a house. Buying a house is a better option than renting an apartment.

“Tuong, I just came to the US, I won’t be able to understand the US school’s teaching quickly,” I told Tuong. I believed that I will be in a lot of disadvantage situations as my life kept going.

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

Before I met my teacher in America, it all started when I was an elementary student in South Korea apparently learning English for the first time. In the beginning, I was convinced from many adults’ who advises me that to be successful in my future career, English must be mastered, for it is a global, valuable and useful language. However, with dear honesty, English for me was a foreign

It was with ecstatic delight and tears of joy that I realized I was finally getting the chance to move to the United States. I had secretly admired and hoped to live in America. Residing in the United States was pinned on my mind as the best life that one can have in the world. But my main idea behind the admiration of living in the United States was motivated by my desire to achieve academic excellence. My goal was set, and my mind was fixed with sheer enthusiasm to attain the target. Since birth, the Arabic language was my primary and only language. Considering that I had only two weeks before coming to the United States, communication was bound to be problematic. I knew nothing about talking English. It was a mountain of thorns I was

When I first came to America, my weakness was to communicate with others. It made me feel lost and alone. It was also hard for me to talk to others because I didn’t know how to use English to express myself. I was enrolled in ESL class for one year, I was the only student in my ESL class who only spoke Karenni and Karen so I became very lonely. I can easily remember the moments of sadness that caused me to not want to go to school and cry myself to sleep in pain not knowing anything in English. However, I continued to work hard and remain focused on getting the academic success that I longed for. I understood that learning English was important, and I needed to become an expert in the language in order to reach the success I knew I was