Argumentative Essay On Participation Therapies

Participation trophies are a widely spread topic, some people argue that children do not learn valuable life lessons by receiving participation awards. Contrarily, people argue that children need participation trophies to help fuel children’s want to do better to win “1st Prize, or 2nd Prize, etc.” Three separate articles were written by Ashley Merryman, Betty Berdan, and Parker Abate, discussing participation trophies. Merryman and Berdan debate that participation trophies are harmful to young people’s mind. Abate on the other hand argues that trophies for participation are helpful to young people’s self esteem, since young people generally have low self esteem. Merrymans article right out with the issue at hand, children receiving participation …show more content…
Berdan uses her personal experience in introducing the articles purpose. Her claim also serves as an alternative idea to the Participation Trophy issue, “ Trophies should be given out for first, second, and third; participation should be recognized, but celebrated with words and a pat on the back rather than a trophy.” Her powerful claims help to support her case. Unlike Merryman’s article,”Forget Trophies, Let Kids Know It’s O.K. to Lose” and her use of research, Berdan uses strictly her personal experience to support her …show more content…
Merryman and Berdan argued that these participation trophies were bad, and send dangerous messages. Abate on the other hand argued that participation trophies were a good fueler for kids self esteem and desire to do better. Personally I agree with Merryman and Berdan, participation trophies are awarding children for simply putting in minimal effort. Merryman argues that children need to know its O.K. to lose. Not everyone can be a winner in life. However, Abate does a tremendous job of persuasion. Abate uses personal experience, and he strikes the readers with a feeling of pity because of statements like, “Watching a peer receive a trophy and not receiving one yourself can be degrading.” Readers know the experience can be true because of either experiencing similar or watching someone else experience the degrading feeling of not winning. Though Abate’s article may be full of pathos, he doesn’t give the reader’s much logos to look at, granted he does have some personal experience but he hardly introduces any research supporting his view. Out of the three articles, Merryman has the most convincing article because of her incredible amount of research, that includes links that the reader can follow; her ethos and pathos. Berdan, like Abate, uses a personal anecdote to support her claim, however