Discussion questions for academic study

¶ … guns don't kill; people kill." Is this true? Argue both sides from a cause and effect perspective.

If guns where not produced and made available to the public they could not be used as weapons. Therefore, in gun production was outlawed guns would not cause human deaths. On the other hand, a gun can't be used as a weapon unless it has a user. The user is responsible for the safe and careful use, but the use is intended to kill. Even guns that only used for hunting or home safety are intended to kill animals or people when used by the owner. When owners behave irresponsibly and do not care properly for guns accidents may happen, supporting the concept that "people kill people" either with direct intention or by accident.

When writing an essay, how personal is too personal? Do you ever read an essay and think, "hey, that is really more personal information than I wanted to know." Why do you think that happens?

The content in an essay depends entirely on the prompt posed to the writer. In some cases, writing projects require a writer to discuss and disclose personal information, and some writers share very private information. For some, this may be a cathartic process in which they are able to release some of the problems or experiences they have struggled with, and in other cases, a great deal of personal information may come out if a writer is not well-trained to stay on topic and edit unnecessary information. Some essays, however call for detailed personal information and many creative writers have a style that is much more open and personal, while others have a clinical, distant voice. The response to pieces is also highly influenced by the reader's personality. As a reader I may feel that information in an essay is appropriate and revealing, while another reader may feel it crosses the line to be "too much information.

Why? Why do people get so cheesed off in an argument? These days it may be about politics, but it can also be about religion, sports, work, etc. Why do people get so angry when making an argument, but not, say, when telling a story?

When people are telling a story they are offering their account of an event or an experience. A story offers other people the facts and the storyteller in directly talking and sharing the facts and details. Storytelling is mainly a one-way process, and the speaker expresses himself, while the audience, even if it is just one person, listens and receives the information.