The overall controlling idea of Holmquist’s essay is how drugs, specifically the three party drugs, can seem harmless but will really affect your life. He mentions that some of his pro-drug friends swear that “these drugs are completely safe to the body and have no adverse long-term effects” (B27). Many of the people that do these things do not realize that they can harm, even kill you, until it is too late. According to Ballenger this essay would be a research paper, though not in the traditional sense. This is more of a discovery essay. It is more like a story; he talks about his own personal experiences and throws in facts throughout to back up his thesis. While he is describing each drug, he shows statistical facts about the effects (whether they are good or bad), the dosage, the availability of each substance, and just why people choose to do these “party drugs.” This has all the characteristics of a research paper; like the facts, the thesis, the credit given to the sources, and the multiple sources that are used. Where this differs from a research paper is that he adds to it; he talks about his experiences and his prior knowledge/experience and you actually live the story with him, but you come out knowing the same information you would if it was just a regular research paper.
Garrett-Brown follows the guidelines for a research paper pretty strictly. She starts her essay with a question, which is one of Ballenger’s guidelines. She wonders about something, in this case why people like being tan, and she follows it up with her experiences and research. She goes through all the different reasons that she believes could be attributed to peoples desires to look tan. Most people these days do the fake tans instead of real tans. She debates whether it is worth it or not to risk skin cancer and wrinkles and all the other side affects just to look more tan. This is a research essay because she comes up with a question and then researches it and writes down all the results she has come across. She doesn’t ever come up with a final conclusion which kind of bothers me. Holmquist on the other hand comes up with his conclusion, which completely backs up his thesis.
They both are definitely research papers by definition, but they are also very personal. It is a mix between a personal story, more so in Holmquist’s, and research. I think that this is a lot more interesting than the traditional research papers that I have had to do for school. The facts from these actually stick in my head and the stories are actually interesting; I actually enjoyed these for once.
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I agree with your opinion that Holmquist definitely showed more personal voice in his essay and that his was more interesting. I like how you analyzed the two passages but I think you could have put a little more evidence of where you found the voices to stick out in the stories of Amy and Holmquist. I also strongly agree with your opinion that it is annoying that Amy did not give an exact answer or essay to her conclusion. I usually count on a good ending to an essay not a wishy-washy one. I like how you analyzed the two stories but also said how they were different when you said that Holmquist starts off with a story and Amy starts off with a question (like the traditional guidelines from Ballenger). Good response!!
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