Thursday, September 4, 2008

Would You Rather...





Read the questions below and take an argumentative stand. Be sure to defend your response as thoroughly and persuasive as you can, bringing in examples when possible.




Would you rather...




Work your tail off for every single thing you have,




OR


Have everything handed over to you without ever having to lift a finger?

42 comments:

vick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vick said...

I would rather have everything handed to me because if you have that oppertunity to that privlege i think that is very lucky and not to be wasted. Pluse working for EVERYTHING you own would be wayy hard, and probely stressful. Although it would be a good life lesson; and teach you not to take things for granted. But still i will keep my first answer

jamieG said...

I would rather have everything handed to me. Not in a selfish way, but when you actually have to work for the things you want you start to realize how HARD it really is. I don’t think we should have to work to die. Things should be given to those who deserve them, If they take advantage of that privilege and for instance break the law, I think they should have to work for what they want. Our world has made money such an issue lately that it’s getting to expensive to even support a family.

Jake H said...

I would rather have to work hard for everything. I know that sounds totally wack but i think that if you have everything handed to you, you wont learn anything so when the time comes and you need to work for what you want you be able to succeed. I would how ever have to agree with everything Jamie, if we work to hard we can become stressed and loose control.

JasonV said...

I would much rather work my tail off for every thing I owned because the sense of accomplishment you get from earning what you own is far greater than having all of your possessions given to you by someone else. I have a lawn mowing business that my brother and I run and although it is hard work I have a considerable amount of money saved in the bank, and if that money had just been given to me it wouldn't have the same meaning to me. I am not saying I am totally against having, say, one million dollars given to me by my grandfather, but I like the feeling of satisfaction that I get after I buy something with money that I earned. I do agree with Vicky about work being stressful and hard, but if everything in your life is easy, when something hard presents itself you might not have the tools or work ethic to complete it. Take Paris Hilton for example. All of her money was given to her and from what I have seen on tv she is a rich dimwit that hasn't put in a full days work in her entire life. And I don't mean to put down rich people, but she was the person pictured in the example and I just thought about some of the things I have seen her do and heard her say before. I don't like Donald Trump that much either, but I know that some people do and I respect him because he earned his money the old fashioned way. I would also like to add that people who come into money when they are born or inherit millions of dollars aren't always snobby and can have great work ethics; how you end up as an adult is mostly because of how you were raised.

KaleighD said...

I agree with Jake and Jason, I would rather work for everything and be successful rather than having it just handed over to me. Although it would be nice to just be given everything, it wouldn't mean as much to you as to say if you worked hard for it. The feeling of accomplishment would make you feel so much better rather than doing nothing and just recieving the money. Granted the money would be the same value in cost, but not as valuable to you.

AprilH said...

I agree. I would rather work my tail off for everything I've ever had because I think that it helps prepare you for the real world. When you have things handed to you, you really don't learn anything. As you can see Paris Hilton is spoiled. Her dad has worked very hard to be successful and all she has done is go out and party. I think working for money will help you become a stronger person and you won't have to rely on anyone because you know you can do it yourself. I'd rather say that I earned my money instead of saying that my parents gave me it. Also you'll learn how to manage money and spend it on the things you need.

Nicole said...

I 100% agree with Jake, Jason, Kaleigh, and April.
If you work for everything that you have those items mean so much more. You get this feeling of accomplishment that you could never achieve from having everything handed to you.
Plus, when you're that spoiled (sorry to sound harsh) you learn nothing from life and when you're in a crisis financially or otherwise you won't have any idea what to do than to run to people who almost always gives you stuff.
Yes, it's nice to get stuff from people, but when you get everything from them is absolutley ridiculous.
I also agree with Jason on the Paris Hilton thing. Not to mention most other celebrities that you see. You know the ones who have everything but when the attention is drawn away from them they go to extreme measures to get it back? Yeah, them.
Now, not all celebrities are bad. There are a good many of them who are quite humble and work very hard and actually do their jobs because they enjoy it, not because of the fame or fortune.
Besides, if you were given a TON of money, the IRS would be on you so fast with a mountain of taxes that you wouldn't even be able to spend as much as you would think.
Earn that money. Earn the stuff. It's hard and it will be stressful, that's a no-brainer, but it's the end result that's what makes it worthwhile.

Aaron H. said...

I agree with Nicole, Jake, Jason… that when you have to work hard for everything it means that much more to you. Like Jason said when you work for something you get a sense of accomplishment and it becomes something you can own. If everything is handed to you it becomes boring faster and life can then become boring. But when you work for it won’t get boring and life is not boring. You can have something to look forward to. And like Nicole said if you’re spoiled you don’t learn those life lessons. When everything is handed to you people won’t respect you that much because you didn’t do anything, but when you work hard and earn things then there is a great level of respect. An example is Pairs Hilton I don’t respect her because she has not done anything to earn my respect. When you work for something then you deserve it more than if you just ask for it. Plus it is much more fun when you work for it because you can say (at the end) you did it on your own power. So in conclusion working for everything gives you a sense of accomplishment and you become respected.

BrianW said...

I would rather work my tail off than have everything handed to me because more people would respect you. It shows you can accomplish things and it gives yourself respect. If you just had everything handed to you in live you could become spoiled and if it was all handed to you and you had kids if would be hard to raise your children so they aren’t spoiled.

Emma said...

I would rather work really hard for everything I have because if I had every thing handed to me I would never know how to earn money the hard way. Plus if I had everything handed to me I would get used to getting everything I wanted and never learn how to succeed. I agree with Jason, when getting everything handed to you, you don’t get the sense of accomplishment that you would get working for your money. If you got everything you wanted you would never know the feeling of earning something. I do agree with Vick though because working hard can cause a lot of stress, and it would be nice to be able to get what you want sometimes and not have to worry about much. But I still think that I would rather know how to succeed in life and work hard rather than to have everything handed to me and not know the feeling of accomplishment.

RachelK said...

I would rather work my tail off for everything. I have to agree with Jake on if you have everything handed to you without doing any work, the time will come when you're going to have to work to get what you want. I would much rather work for things than get smacked in the face later by having to go way out of my comfort zone to get what I want. Sure, it might be stressful sometimes, but I wouldn't want to be called spoiled or something like that if I didn't have to work for anything.

alenav said...

I would rather work to get everything. Having everything handed to you is only going to be satisfying for so long. I would feel to guilty if i didn't have to work for what i wanted. Working for what you want and succeeding is a much better feeling then just getting what you want whenever you snap your fingers. If everything was given to me then I would never know what the real world was like. Working hard goes so much further, and teaches so many life lessons

Conor R said...

I have to say i could not do either. Having everything handed to you would obviously be easy and make life very simple, however if everything was just handed to you you would not know what it feels like to actually work hard for something you want. Then again working your tail off for every single thing would not be fun and would be very time consuming. I am going neutral on this one because i dont mind working for things and love the feeling you receive after accomplishing a hard task. And i know how fun and easy it would be to get everything handed to you so i cant completely say no to that one either.

meghank said...

I agree, I would rather work for everything because then you learn to cherish what you have. When things are just handed to you by someone else you usually don't take as good care of it then if you bought it yourself. For example; if you were given an iPod for no reason and you knew that if you broke it someone would buy you a new one there would be no reason to take care of it. If you worked for the money to buy your own and you would be the one to buy a new one if it broke, you would take better care of it. Although I do agree that work is stressful you cherish the things you work for because it was hard, and if someone is always rewarding you for nothing you come to expect it and become spoiled.

JeniC said...

I would much rather work my tail off for everything I get. Although having everything handed to you would be very nice at first, how long would it be enjoyable? I think that most people would get sick of having everything handed to them.
I don't completely agree with the people who say that working for everything would be REALLY hard. I believe that you would get used to working for everything. For example, people who have sports after school are very busy and often have to work very hard to be well at their sport and get their school work done, but they get used to it. However, it's been shown that teens that are busy like this usually get better grades then those who aren't busy after school. Working hard pays off.
Look at the celebrities that have everything handed to them. What would happen if someone stuck them in work clothes and sent them off to work one day? I guess it's just food for thought...

adamc said...

I would rather have to work for everything in my life. Because if you get everything hadded to you then you don't know how to work for anything and if you lost everything you wouldn't know what to do.

Allie~J said...

I agree with Jake and everyone else who has the same answer as her. I would want to work my butt off for all of my things insted of never having to lift a finger. I would never learn any life lessons or how to do anything the hard way. Also I would end up like Paris Hilton (her attitude) and I just could never live with that. Another reason why I would want to earn things the hard way would be that I wound never learn that there isn't always what I want out there, like if I wanted a unicorn or a dragon I prolly wouldn't know there wasn't any way possible that i could get it.

Macy D. said...

I would rather work my tail off for everything because the sense of accomplishment you get from working is a good feeling rather than when someone else does it for you. Even though working for yourself is time consuming, hard work and can be stressful, it makes you appreciate your money more. Plus when your stuck in a situation where you must fend for yourself, you will have the knowledge and skills to know what to do next.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Jason, Jake, Kaleigh, April, and everyone elso who would rather work hard for what they have. While having everything handed to you would be nice, you dont get the sence of accomplishment you get when you earn something. Also, you might not have the skills you need to have a successful future. Finally, many people would resent you and stuff since you never had to work for anything. Even if you were the nicest person, and not snobby at all, im sure that people might still think... "well easy for her, she never had to put money in the bank instead of shopping..." Or any other thing people use money for.
You can work hard, bulid a good life for yourself, and have fun along the way. People will respect you for earining your money the old fashioned way.

elizabeth k said...

To be honest having everything handed to me would be so nice. You could have anything you could ever think of, but on the other hand to have evrything handed to you would be boring and you would never be satisfied because you would always want something more and something better. And when you have to work for what you have then you have the satisfaction of doing something on your own and you know you have what you have because you worked for it.

michellev said...

I would have to say I would like the things handed to me. But only because I think by getting those things handed to me like money and such I could have new opportunities to use that money that most people don't have and not have to work, but with those things that were handed to me I would work to actually prove that I don't just take everything and not work for anything. So i just think that the things that i would get only bring me opportunities to do things that others couldn't since a lot of money could be involved, but in the end i would prove that i worked my tail off to were i am, and don't need anything to be handed over to me.

nilec said...

Although I can be a pretty lazy person, I would rather work for the things I have. I have earn money for everything I buy now and it is a good feeling to have worked for something that you wanted. And also i heard that when people win the lottery a lot of the time it it doesn't make them any happier because they don't have the feeling of accomplishment you would if you worked for the something.

CASSIE D said...

i know the "right answer" is to work for everything in life but i honestly would rather have every thing handed to me. life is already too hard. dealing with the curve balls life sends you is hard enough if the opportunity came to have everything handed to you im sure that most people would take it regardless if they say they wouldnt now.

angelicao said...

I would defintely rather have everything handed to me without doing anything to earn it like Paris Hilton. I think that everyone wants that, so the people who wrote that they wanted to work very very hard everyday to make money was lieing.

But I'm not as selfish as I sound. If I had everything handed to me without doing a single thing I would feel worthless. You see, nearly everyone in this world has to work hard in order to achieve their dreams. If I someday live a huge mansion with lots and lots of money I want to feel like its actually mine. I actually earned all this luxury. I would feel like I actually deserved it. Also if I was handed everything I would probably become a brat and full of myself like miss Paris Hilton above. I think that her life is miserable and is not as fun as it is made out to be.

Pye said...

I would rather work hard for everything I have. Yah getting everything handed to me would be nice but then you would never know the value of hard work. If you work hard throughout your life and end up poor you at least know how to work to make money. But if you get everything handed to you and leter in your life you have to work to put food on the table you will be much worse off than the person who has worked hard for all that he has.

NowlanS said...

I would rather work my tail for every thing i have then have everything handed to me because there will be some point in your life when you will have to work for something and you wont know how to do it if you have never done it before. I think also when you work for something it has more value to you and you will take better care of whatever the item is. People who work hard for there life style really appreciate and want to take good care of it. I would rather be the guy who works his tail off for the few things he has and be appreciative of them then be the guy who gets things handed to them and has no appreciation for them because he doesn't know what it takes to get them. There are many people who have worked their tales off and have been very successful. I believe most people who work for every little thing they have are also looked up to by society. Society does not like it when there is a person who does not have to work for anything the person has when they themselves have to work harder and have less.

Shay N said...

I agree with jake h,I would rather work to earn the things I have so that I have that feeling of accomplishment. And so that I know that the things I have are things that I have earned.

allison t said...

I would rather have everything handed to me. I agree with Jamie about basically everything she said, but I also agree with Jason because having the sense of accomplishment and being proud of what you did is always a good feeling. Also Jake had a good point of not learning anything if you don't work for it yourself, and i kind of agree with that too. Now I'm not so sure which one I would rather...

CASSIE D said...

cassie davis + nile carethers
the american dream= sucess, freedom, rights , a loving family , good job, nice house,sucecss from nothing.

elizabeth k said...

April and i said that the American Dream is to have a family that's happy with each other and with the way they live even if it's not the perfect life. They work hard to achieve what they want and aren't given everything.

Pye said...

We decided that the American dream was to become successful and to lead a rich and happy life with a family you love and a good paying job.

Jake H said...

Annie and I said the American Dream is how we strive to be better then everyone else, whether it is a competiton, like a race, or getting furthur then other countries. Also how everyone wants everyting to turn out the way they wanted it to.

Conor R said...

Conor R and Emma K

The american dream is represented through glamour, power, and success. All these things are earned and or given through money and status. Although the american dream is seen this way many people do not succeed and as seen today in class may end up in the streets.

Nicole said...

The American dream on the outisde can be described in three topics. Fame, fortune, and beauty.
But in reality one very small portion of Americans have the entire dream.
Most of America is middle and lower class.
We say we want to be pretty and skinny yet we rush to the fast food restaraunts in a heartbeat. Course who can blame us? Bad food is horribly addicting. And so people go to extreme lengths to "regain their beauty". So now we have anorexia and bulimia.
Surprisingly enough there are many homeless people sleeping on the streets. They're treated so terribly and have the worst time trying to even get some food.
Fame really only comes from popularity. So really fame is just a national beauty contest with an "oh yeah, what about talent?"
-Nicole and Aaron

alenav said...

The American Dream: Having the perfect life, the perfect family, money, our appearancence, an authoritive position and power, being superior to the people around us, we mostly care about all of the materialistic things in life and not so much about what is really going on the World.

allison t said...

Allison & Adam

We think that the American Dream is money, power, success, beauty, fighting for everything.

NowlanS said...

The American Dream- Being able to succeed and go as far as you want no matter where you come from or what your background is. The only factor stopping you from the American dream is yourself.
Deffinition by- Nowlan S
Jamie G

meghank said...

The American dream is that we all want to be sucessful with a loving caring family, a big house that you worked for like Donald Trump. It is the idea of a "white picket fense" that we work for and dream of in America.

RachelK said...

Mark and I said that the American Dream is to be successful, have a family, job, and money. But sometimes, not all of these things can be given to everyone, which can be kind of a downer.

michellev said...

The American dream: Is to be successful and to have a marriage and kids, to be stress free with money, and just live the good life.

JasonV said...

,mn