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Project 3 Draft: Terrorism

Page history last edited by Ahmed Alshaibani 12 years, 4 months ago

            Terrorism. What does one think once they hear that word? Due to the media and other sources we are lead to believe that it is foreigners, more focused on Muslims, that try to terrorize America but if you know the true definition of it then one might reconsider what it is believed to be and re-think what terrorism really is. A less narrow definition of the word was common around 10 years ago but now it should be expanded and viewed in a different perspective. The wrong perspective of the word can be affecting the society in a negative way. The audience I would like to target this to will mostly be Americans and those who believe in the narrow definition of terrorism to be just an act of foreigners trying to terrorize America. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines terrorism as "the unlawful use or threat of violence esp. against the state or the public as a politically motivated means of attack or coercion." In my opinion this definition is very narrow and is wrong. Terrorism is any deliberate act of creating fear. My purpose in writing this is to present a new perspective on terrorism and to prove one contemporary one is wrong. I will be focusing on fear as a key to terrorism today.

 

            The definition I believe to be more standard is "the systematic use of terror" from Wikipedia. Many would argue that there are more definitions to terrorism then just the systematic use of terror. Dictionary.com defines terrorism as the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. This definition creates a really bigoted and narrow-minded use of the term. It focuses mainly on the 9/11 attacks that lead people to believe in a wrong perspective of the word. Terrorism is any deliberate act of creating fear. I want to emphasize again that my definition hones in on the deliberate spread of fear. What people (mostly Americans) don’t realize is that terrorism isn’t just foreigners attacking America, but also whenever fear is deliberately created by an act. Americans don’t view other Americans as terrorists even though they purposely cause fear. Fear mongering are acts of terrorism and it definitely does occur in the United States.

 

            Wikipedia defines fear mongering as “the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end. The feared object or subject is sometimes exaggerated, and the pattern of fear mongering is usually one of repetition, in order to continuously reinforce the intended effects of this tactic, sometimes in the form of a vicious circle.”  Scare tactics is also another word for fear mongering. It is based upon creating fear to influence others towards a specific end so it technically counts as an act of terrorism also. There are many examples of fear mongering that many would overlook or wouldn’t realize that even though it occurs today.

 

          One of the biggest examples of fear mongering is the media. The media spreads fear into everyone watching to be afraid of terrorists and to believe that Muslims are terrorists. All you see in the media these days about terrorism is only when it has to be connected to Al-qaeda or Muslims. This generates a fear/hate of Muslims and gives a bad image to them in society. The media leads you to believe that only Muslims are terrorists. Also, the media creates fear mongering by influencing people to be scared of those who cover their face or wear the same clothes that the Muslim terrorists portrayed on television. The media influences people to imagine that those people who wear the same clothes might be terrorists. Basically, the media creates fear by giving you an image of what terrorism is and how a terrorist looks like. If the media deliberately creates fear wouldn’t that be considered an act of terrorism? Other entities or groups spreading fear can also more appropriately be called terrorists.


1. Is the project clearly based on a definition? I.e., is it clear that the fundamental objective of the paper is based around a definition or series of definitions?

The paper does seem to be clearly based around the definition of the word terrorism

2. How strong are the criteria that the writer is using to compose their definition? Can you think of any items that also match the criteria used that the writer (as far as you can tell) would likely not want to be included the category being defined?

The author is somewhat strong about using criteria to compose their definition.

3. What is the strongest counterargument you can think of to refute the argument of this paper? E.g., what would you point out/argue for to suggest that the author has their definition wrong, has neglected to consider a certain issue, or has presumed too much in their definition argument?

The strongest counter argument is relating with current events. This makes it more interesting to the reader.

 

4. What do you take to be the strongest element of this project?

            The redefinition of terrorism

 

5. What do you find to be the weakest part (most in need of improvement) of the project?

            Lack of examples of fear mongering

 

6. On the sentence-level, did you find the paper to be well written? Does it contain poor grammmar or sentence-fragments? Does it include "run-on" sentences? Is it unnecessarily wordy at times?

On a sentence level, the paper is fairly well written. The rearranging of words and restructuring of sentence would really help.

7. Does the author provide clear exigence for the project? I.e., do they make it clear why they think this is an important term/concept to be defined in the present moment? Do you get a sense of why this project would be interesting today rather than, for instance, 50 years ago?

The author did give clear exigencies because this is a real time problem. He makes his reasoning clear for redefining his selected word. This project deals with a new common day issue, making it interesting.

 

8. What grade would you assign this project if this were the final draft?

            C due o the lack of evidence

 

 

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