Apparitions Are A Product Of The Imagination By Joe Nickell

In today’s media, a multitude of issues and topics are debated by journalists, organizations, and ordinary citizens every day. These subjects range from the morality of abortions, the effects of immigration, and even the credibility of stories regarding paranormal activity. While both sides to every debate are valid, the process for creating a sound and credible argument is crucial in building a trustworthy reputation. Also, an audience is more likely to listen if the argument has a fair and logical foundation. This process leads readers to question: Did the author establish a legitimate argument? In the article titled “Apparitions are a Product of the Imagination” by author Joe Nickell, the hot debate regarding paranormal activity surfaces.

When we were first taught to do this, I dreaded it. Now, I am dependant on this process because it allows me to keep track of different ideas and determine what the author is trying to say. This has been an important development in my writing because it helps me organize my thoughts in a much more efficient way. In this case, I was able to use the notes I wrote on the article to develop my outline. A strength in this essay would be the pieces of evidence I chose to base my analysis upon. Nickell makes several assumptions in his article, so I utilized each of these when explaining the faultiness in his argument. After I observed the author use the qualifying term “obviously” in the piece, I explained, “Qualifiers serve to limit the claim, and in this case, this tends to weaken Nickell’s argument. The author chooses to make the claim that each of these paranormal events were unequivocally the result of a waking dream or daydream. Lessening the claim hinders the ethos of the author.” I feel that my choice to highlight the author’s assumptions fuels my claim that his argument is invalid. A weakness in my paper, however, would be my use of passive voice. The Paper Rater tool helped highlight which phrases were passive and served as a guide to clean up my rough draft. First, I had a sentence that read, “Since many choose to watch or read about ghosts, there is debate over the authenticity of the stories and

Without the proper structure and guidance, diving into the writing process would not be successful. After consulting with my teacher and using the structure given in the packet, I learned that the tools given in class are the most helpful. While these are helpful strategies for writing, I know that future teachers and professors will not provide them. As I continue to write throughout my scholastic career, I hope to learn how to create my own structures for writing instead of depending on framework given in