Course Reflection

The readings, writings, and research that I conducted this semester raised my awareness of animal ethics in many ways. I had always known that animals were abused on farms and that they were not always killed in a human way, but I never knew how bad it really was. Earthlings really opened my eyes because I was actually able to see the abuse on film instead of just reading about it. While reading Jonathan Safran Foer's book "Eating Animals", I read about the abuse that animals take in order for us to eat. Even though many of the passages are extremely graphic, "A steel bolt shoots into the cow's skull and then retracts back into the gun, usually rendering the animal unconscious or causing death. Sometimes the bolt only dazes the animal which either remains conscious or later wakes up as it is being "processed"". Reading that I understand how awful it is but actually being able to see the process on Earthlings really made it real for me. One article that I read and absolutely despised was Tom Regans's "The Case for Animal Rights". I understood the points that he was trying to make but he came off as a very cocky person throughout his essay and he used words that made it hard to read. "This latter principle entails that all moral agents and patients are directly owed the prima facie duty not to be harmed and that all those who are owed this duty have an equal valid claim...". It seemed that he was just talking in circles his entire essay. I feel that I have acquired many writing skills this semester. I feel like I am a much better reviser of papers this semester. I always used to be very tentative in editing peoples papers in fear of hurting their feelings. Now I really do not care and offer my feedback the way that I always should have. I also feel that I have gotten a lot better at writing about my own opinion and views on things. The zoo essay was very difficult for me to write because it was less text based then all my previous college essays. The last essay was very easy for me to write and will hopefully result in a good grade.