Fight Club--> My Paper

            Fight Club has taught me a lot more about writing than I initially thought it would have.  By arguing on a regular basis, I have been able to formulate a clear and concise position on a topic from an informed perspective.  I think being forced to defend a position that I do not personally agree with has helped me become a better arguer in and of itself because I have to go out of my comfort zone and convince someone else of an idea that I am not entirely in support of myself.  As a result, I have spent more time designing and articulating my position on certain topics, a positive effect that definitely carries through to writing my paper.  Because I am more comfortable arguing against my own opinion, it has also been easy to plant clear naysayers in my paper.  I can effectively formulate an argument against the motivating goals of my paper before refuting it with harder and more developed evidence.

            I think I am still having some trouble with retaining focus in my arguments and demonstrating the significance behind every point that I make.  I need to draw it all together and make it clear to the reader that my position is backed up with thorough evidence and is important to the rest of society.  Since it is a proposal for change, I need to get the reader on my side in order to affect any difference in the modern culture.  I think verbal arguments like Fight Club are a good place to point out these weaknesses.  By preparing a short speech outlining an argument, it is easy to find out where the discussion falls short or does not have enough evidence based on how long someone is able to talk about it.  I find that when I do not meet a time requirement when speaking about a topic, it is because my position is not well-informed or I cannot explain its importance.  It is obvious when someone is floundering for words in an opening statement, and that lack of confidence is duly noted by the audience.  Without a confident backing, an argument will not succeed.  So in that sense, a verbal argument setting reveals gaping holes in an argumentative situation.  However, these holes can be filled by spending more time developing evidence to provide a more informed and well-rounded argument, something that is obviously vital in the process of writing my paper.