A Response to Comments

Yes, I totally agree that my criteria are really based off of my essay, because I must be honest, I hurriedly typed them out when I got to class and I could not think of any of the criteria that my group and I had talked about last week. And we had a good list of criteria, too. I basically used my essay as the model, but yes, I do agree that there are good essays with citations, books, and structure, that can also lack interviews. I'll go back and reevaluate my criteria. Concerning my tone, maybe I'll just change my audience to college kids. Or maybe I'll have to take all the sarcasm out and keep my audience. I guess I wasn't worried because I know that parents are not actually going to read this. But, I should act like they are, so maybe I'll make it more serious. I guess I was thinking along the lines that Catholic kids, when they go to college, generally stop going to Mass, and they lose their faith, all because they aren't home, and so they don't feel it is important to them, and they want to "rebel." I know my mom worries about my brother (a junior in college) not going to Mass. I would let her read this (actually, I might send the essay to her and see what she thinks), and I almost know it wouldn't reassure her at all, because she knows her own son better than an essay based on a few kids from Newman at Virginia Tech. I make the point that parents only know what their kids are up to based on the story that their child is telling them. I think that many college kids tell their parents what they want to hear, and they don't necessarily tell them everything. My essay hopefully would assure some parents who wonder if their children are going to Mass, based on the information and personal accounts. I wondered if I was being rude towards my audience in the "humor" [sarcasm]; yes, this is not a good thing, so I guess I must change the tone and not make the parents seem too overbearing and such.