Exercise 5.6

It's time for another dialogue with Dave.

DAVE                                                                             YOU

1. "Hey you, I think you can't really                           Dave, I actually do not agree with you.  I do

say that one opinion is better than                             not think that one opinion is better than

another one.  Don't you agree?"                                  another.  Everyone is entitled to their own              

                                                                                         opinion.  No one is to say whether their

                                                                                         opinion is better than another.  Their answer

                                                                                         will be bias.  You can have an opinion for

                                                                                         what time of food you like, but someone else

                                                                                         could have a totally different opinion.  This

                                                                                         subject does not really affect anything or

                                                                                         anyone, but there are subjects where people

                                                                                         disagree that are much more serious.  For

                                                                                         example, I think that sex trafficking is

                                                                                         wrong and that people should set up and help,

                                                                                         but there are people in the world that think that

                                                                                        sex trafficking is alright.  In this example, the 

                                                                                         person who thinks sex trafficking is acceptable

                                                                                         caused a huge problem in the world today.  I 

                                                                                         believe that your opinion was worse than mine.  

                                                                                         I think that the culture we live in today

                                                                                         is confused about what opinion really is.

2. "There's all this stuff in the book about                Well, I discovered a variety of things.  First

research as a process of discovery. What                   off, I learned that human sex trafficking is

did you discover?"                                                         happening right in Lancaster county.  I was

                                                                                          shocked but this fact.  Sex trafficking is the

                                                                                          modern day form of slavery.  I was amazed at

                                                                                          the number of people being trafficked into the

                                                                                          United States.  I learned that 14,500 to 17,500

                                                                                          people a year are being trafficking in the U.S.

                                                                                          alone.  I learned a lot about the emotional and

                                                                                          physical impacts that trafficking has on its

                                                                                          victims.  I learned about The North Star

                                                                                          Initiative, which is an organization right in

                                                                                          Lancaster that provides survivors with "safe

                                                                                          homes."  I learned so much through my

                                                                                          discovery process.  These just touch the

                                                                                          surface.

3. "What do you figure was the most                        The most challenging problem I had to solve

challenging problem you had to solve                     during this research project was the way I

while working on the research project?                    approached actually writing my paper.  On the

How did you solve it?"                                                previous essays I have written, I have rushed

                                                                                         rushed though them.  I never really gave them

                                                                                         too much thought.  The book The Curious 

                                                                                         Researcher has really helped me look at

                                                                                         writing papers a whole new way.  I solved

                                                                                         the problem by doing the exercises we had to

                                                                                         do from the book very carefully.  I actually

                                                                                         put a lot of thought into this essay.

4. "After all this work, what do you                          I took away a lot from this experience.  I have

take away from this experience?                               learned how to write a paper properly.  I

What have you learned that you can                        learned that I need to break the time I write

use?"                                                                               into small chucks; doing this will help keep

                                                                                         me from being overwhelmed or stressed and

                                                                                         just throwing information down on the paper.

                                                                                         I learned that I can use many different

                                                                                         methods to help me along the whole process.

                                                                                         One method that I will definitely use again is

                                                                                         the double-journal entry.  I thought this was

                                                                                         very useful for actually writing my paper.

                                                                                         I know that all of the exercises we had to do I

                                                                                        would definitely use again.

Exercise 5.3

I am still reading through The Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger for my English Composition class.  Ballenger puts exercises in his book to help with the writing process.  The exercise my teacher assigned to us today was very different from anything I have ever done.  We all brought scissors and a copy of our rough draft to class.  We cut each paragraph out of our paper and missed the paragraphs up so that they were in a different order.  We looked at each paragraph and had to decide if it was on-topic with our thesis.  If a paragraph was not, we stuck it in the "reject" pile.  We had a good and bad pile at the end of this step.  Then, we took another step and had to identify if the paragraph was giving evidence, if it was explaining something, if it was illustrating something, if it was of importance, or if it was a question.  For homework tonight our teacher had us take each piece of paper with a paragraph on it and experiment with the order and structure of the paragraphs in the essay.  The first time I rearranged the paragraphs it ended up looking a lot like my the order of my original rough draft.  To me, it looked good, but there was gaps.  I cut out some transition sentences during class, so when I went to put it back together my paper sounded a little choppy.  I had my introduction first, and then I went right into stating facts.  I learned from the first time that I need to tell a story in my introduction to draw my reader in.  I had a lot of facts that were related to my thesis, but I need to go back and tie a story throughout my paper to make it more interesting.  The second time I went back and restructured my essay it looked a lot different.  I still had my introduction first, but I presented my issue a little more before I started to jump into facts and statistics.  I thought that this structure looked a little better.  I think it is important to introduce and draw your reader in before you start throwing facts out.  I learned from this second time around that I need to be more clear and separate my own voice more.  I need to put my facts and statistics in throughout my voice instead of separating them.  Overall, I thought this process helped to re-see my essay in a whole new way.  I felt like I was in the shoes of my readers.  I really critiqued my paper.  I saw what I need to change and why I need to change it.  I was very happy with the results that I received by doing this exercise.  I am going to change a lot of things in my paper now.

Exercise 5.1

This past week I have been in the process of drafting my essay.  For today's class, I had to bring a rough draft of my essay.  In class we had to go through our paper and highlight every sentence that reported facts and quotes from sources that belong to someone else.  Then, we had to go through with a different color highlighter and highlight all of the our own personal ideas, interpretation, claims, analysis, commentary, definition, or synthesis.  So, today I got to see how much of my paper was other people's ideas and how much was my own insight.
For this blog post I am going to answer some questions that I was asked about my essay.
1.  Which color dominates?
          My essay consists mostly of my own ideas.  When I go to revise my essay, I am planning on adding more of other people's ideas.
2.  Are you turning over too much of the text to your sources?
          No, as I answered in the previous question I do not have too much of other people's ideas in my paper.  I need to go through and make my paper seem more like a conversion with me responding to the other's claims.
3.  Are you ignoring them and rattling on too much about what you think?
          Yes, I do think I have too much of my own ideas running through my paper.  I need to go through and only put in the most important things so it does not seem like I am rabbling on and on.
4.  Or does your source use seem appropriate to support you purpose?
          As I have already stated, I need to incorporate more of other's claims into my paper.  The sources I do have in my paper, however, are appropriate.
5.  What do you notice about the color pattern?
          There are places in my paper where there are large chunks of my own ideas.  I need to find a way to put in some sources in those paragraphs to break up what I think.  I need to show what other people claim and argue, too.
6.  Are you taking turns paragraph by paragraph with your sources, or is your own analysis and commentary nicely blended within paragraphs, so that the information is always anchored to your own thoughts?
          Neither of these circumstances happen all throughout my paper.  There are some paragraphs that incorporate both my ideas and one of my sources, but it definitely does not happen consistently throughout my paper. So, I have to fix this problem when I go back through to do my revisions.
7.  Do you surround quoted passages with your own voice and analysis?
          Yes, I do surround the quotes I used in my essay with my own voice or analysis.  I introduce the quote, put in the quote, and then break it down and explain it.
8.  Who wins the wrestling match?
          I won throughout my rough draft, but I think I need to incorporate more of my sources into my paper.

Exercise 4.3

This week I started to actually write my paper.  I started by writing three different introductions.  The purpose of this was to get a variety of options, and to pick the strongest to use in my essay.  Here are my three different introductions:

1.  Angela hasn’t said a word, she is just crying.  The tears are running down her face and she wipes them away with her hair.  She has been given food and water, but she has hardly touched it.  Angela is a victim of sex trafficking.  Even though she has escaped and made it to a shelter that can help her, she is having difficulty transitioning.  Sex trafficking victims are not only physically damaged, but also emotionally scarred.  Without proper treatment, it is very difficult for victims to assimilate back into society.  It is important that there be enough help for victims of sex trafficking. 

2.  Every thirty seconds a person is being trafficked.  Human sex trafficking is a serious problem that is happening all over the United States, probably even in your hometown.  Personally, I had never really thought about sex trafficking until I saw the movies Taken and Les Misérables.  These movies left a graphic image in my mind of human exploitation.  I was disgusted with the men involved in this industry.  I kept thinking to myself, how could a person be so cruel to another?  After all of my research on this topic, I am still unsure of the answer.  The women that survive sex trafficking have emotional and physical damage.  No one can take away the hurt that these woman and children have gone through, but many can help the survivors face life and move on.  In the debate over human exploitation, I’m persuaded that the most important thing to do is tend to the emotional impact of sex trafficking on the victims.  

      

3.  Sex trafficking is a problem that most people don't realize happens in our country.  Slavery was banished awhile ago and people think it has gone away, but it has just gone unnoticed.  What also goes unnoticed is victims of these crimes.  victims of slavery and sex trafficking  often go unnoticed while they struggle with emotional and physical damage.  Without the proper care, victims often turn to self abuse or suicide because they cannot deal with the pain.  These victims need to be helped emotionally so that they can deal with their traumatic circumstances.

  

Exercise 4.2

To keep myself on tract in my drafting process, I was given the task to write out a tentative thesis.  This thesis serves to pinpoint what I want to discuss in my upcoming essay.  I am not obligated to use it in my paper, because I can change it as I go.  But this will give me a good place to start.  In The Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger he asks you to "sharpen your point."  For this exercise in the book, I wrote a tentative thesis for my paper.  Here is my tentative thesis:
          In the debate over human exploitation, I'm persuaded that the most important thing to do it tend to the emotional impact of sex trafficking on the victim.

Exercise 4.1

It has come to my attention that many people have lots of questions about human sex trafficking.  In this blog post I hope I can answer some questions everyone may have about human exploitation.  I am still reading The Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger and to open up the fourth week he asked his readers to make a dialogue with Dave.  Dave is supposed to be the reader we imagine in our heads.  He is about to read your essay, but he has questions.  Why should he care about what you are writing about?  Why did you choose to write on this topic?  Who does this topic affect?  And so on.  This exercise we were to create a conversation of questions with Dave.  So, here it is.

Dave:  Why should I care about human sex trafficking?

Me:  Everyone should care about human sex trafficking because it is coming such a problem all over the world, especially in the United States.  It could even be happening in your own hometown. 

Dave:  Where is this happening the most? And who does it affect?

Me:  I am still researching where it is happening the most, but I have found several cases of human sex trafficking all over the United States.  The two big places where it happens are California (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego) and Texas (the Dallas-Fort Worth Area).  It has to potential to affect anyone.  

Dave:  When did human sex trafficking start becoming a problem in the United States?

Me:  Sex trafficking has been around for ages.  It is nothing new.  It has been around since the beginning of America. 

Dave:  If this has always been a problem, how many people are trafficked into the United States each year?

Me:  Between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year.

Dave:  Are you kidding?  I didn’t know that.  What else did you find out?

Me: Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking).  It reportedly generates a profit of $32 billion every year. And the average cost of a slave is only $90!

Dave:  Did that surprise you?

Me:  Yes, it did.  I spend $90 on a pair of shoes or a handbag.  I could not even imagine buying a person for $90.  That absolutely shocks me!  

Dave:  What should we do about this?

Me:  I think it is very important that we get involved with some organization that is dedicated to help stop human sex trafficking.  The only way that a survivor can get the appropriate help is through these organizations.

Dave:  I agree.  I think that is a great idea.  Where is a local place for you to get involved?

Me:  Well, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, there are two great organizations to get involved with.  These two organizations are: Love 146 and The North Star Initiative.  I have been looking into both organizations, and they both look like they have made such a huge impact in the world.  

Dave:  Okay, this is all very interesting.  But based on everything you’ve learned so far, what’s your point?

Me:  My point is that human sex trafficking victims need to be heard.  People need to take the step to help free these innocent people.  No one deserves to be treated like a slave or be forced to do something that they do not want to do.  How would you feel if your body was being taken advantage of for sex and abuse?  It is not a pleasant thought.  God has really laid this issue on my heart, and I think that it is very important to do everything possible to put an end to human sex trafficking. 

Annotated Bibliography

Throughout this week I have been collecting sources for my paper.  I have spent a lot of hours reading through numerous journal articles.  I have found a few good articles that I am planning on incorporating into my paper on human sex trafficking.  For this blog post I was assigned to do five annotated bibliographies.  An annotated bibliography is a bibliography that gives a summary for each entry on the works cited page.  Below are five of my sources with an annotated bibliography.

Johnson, Andrea L. "A Perfect Storm: The U.S. Antitrafficking Regime's Failure To Stop The Sex Trafficking Of American Indian Women And Girls." Columbia Human Rights Law Review 43.2 (2012): 617-710. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it is written by an expert author and published in a credible journal.  The author’s credentials include being a professor of law and attending Harvard University.  The article was published in the Colombia Human Rights Law Review.  The author’s main goal in this article is to persuade the reader that the US antitrafficking regime is failing. The Colombia Human Rights Law Review generally targets Lawyers interested in human rights. This audience would be interested in this subject especially if they are academics themselves and may potentially disagree with this author’s perspective on the topic or if they agree and want to learn more about it. The author includes over 400 sources to back up her claims. This evidence builds credibility because there are numerous sources that all back it up. Based on my own opinion, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because human trafficking is still a huge problem and the antitrafficking regime is not doing much to help.  I think this article is important to include in my essay because it provides a lot of good statistics about trafficking as well as incorporating information about trafficking in America. 

Primrose, Sarah. “Killing The Messenger: The Intersection Between Sex Trafficking, Planned Parenthood & The Marginalization Of Youth Victims.” University Of Florida Journal Of Law & Public Policy 22.2 (2011): 299-333. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. 

This article is a credible source for my research because it is written by an expert author and published in a credible journal.  The Authors Credentials include being an attorney and law clerk for the US courts in West Palm Beach Florida.  The article was published in The University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy.  The author’s main goal in this article is to persuade the reader that the US needs to adopt a more victim centered approach for dealing with sex trafficking victims. The University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy generally targets professionals, researchers, instructors, and students in the academic fields of law and public policy.  This audience would be interested in this subject especially if they are academics themselves and may potentially disagree with this author’s perspective on the topic or if they agree and want to learn more about it. The author includes how sex trafficking victims are treated under current law and includes the laws themselves as references.  This evidence builds credibility because the laws themselves are the best evidence of how victims are treated. Based on my own opinion, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because the victims of human trafficking are not being effectively helped.  I think this article is important to include in my essay because it provides a lot of good information about how trafficking victims should be helped and some viable solutions to our problem in America. 

Thompson, Lisa. "Exposing The Sexual Gulag: Uncovering The Harms Of Sexual Trafficking And Prostitution." NACSW Convention Proceedings (2003): 1-7. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it is written by an expert author and presented at a leading human rights convention.  The author’s credentials include being the Liaison for the Abolition of Sexual Trafficking for The Salvation Army USA National Headquarters.  The article was presented at the North American Association of Christians in Social Work (NACSW) convention in Louisville Kentucky.  The author’s main goal in this article is to inform the reader about the effects of sex trafficking on the victims. There is not just physical harm, but emotional harm as well.  The North American Association of Christians in Social Work generally targets Christian social workers, and citizens who want to learn more about sex trafficking.  This audience would be interested in this subject because it is something tragic that is happening right where we live. The author includes information from doctors on the effects of sex trafficking on the victims.  This evidence builds credibility because a doctor can provide an expert diagnosis on the situation. Based on my own opinion, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because the victims of human trafficking are not being hurt just physically but also emotionally.  I think this article is important to include in my essay because it provides good information about how trafficking effects the victims.  It is also a Christian association that published it.  This gives the article more credibility. 

Johnson, Becca C. "Aftercare For Survivors Of Human Trafficking." Social Work & Christianity 39.4 (2012): 370-389. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it is written by an expert author and published in a Christian journal.  The author’s credentials include being a doctor of psychology.  The article was published in Social Work & Christianity.  The author’s main goal in this article is to inform about the necessary services for sex trafficking victims.  Social Work & Christianity generally targets social work professionals that are Christians.  This audience would be interested in this subject because it is something that relates to their profession and can help them with their job. The author includes why emotional healing is important.  Since the author is a psychologist, they are able to delve into how a person can be affected by sex trafficking.  This information is coming from a doctor and is therefore reliable. Based on my own opinion, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because the victims of human trafficking are emotionally scarred.  I think this article is important to include in my essay because it provides good information about how trafficking effects the victims emotionally.  I would like to include a lot about the emotional impact of sex trafficking on the victims. 

RIEGER, APRIL. "Missing The Mark: Why The Trafficking Victims Protection Act Fails To Protect Sex Trafficking Victims In The United States." Harvard Journal Of Law & Gender 30.(2007): 231. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it is written by an expert author who attended Cornell Law School and University of Wisconsin - Madison.  The author’s credentials include serving on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The article was published by the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender.  The author’s main goal in this article is to inform about why the trafficking victims protection act fails to protect sex trafficking victims in the United States.  Harvard Journal of Law and Gender generally targets students in a law program, as well as, law professionals.  This audience would be interested in this subject because it is something that relates to their profession and can help them with their job. The author includes why sex trafficking act is not protecting victims.  Since the author is a law professional, she is able to investigate into how the law fails to protect a victim of sex trafficking.  This information is coming from a law professional and is therefore reliable. Based on my own opinion, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because sex trafficking is happening all over the United States and we, as a country, are doing nothing to put a stop to trafficking.  I think this article is important to include in my essay because it provides good information about how trafficking is being put on the backburner in the United States and how our laws are not effective.  I would like to include a lot about why our sex trafficking laws in the U.S. are not being followed out.