Trigger Warnings

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Do you support mentally ill students? Erika Price, a professional academic, argues that people who don’t support trigger warnings are the ones who don’t support disabled and mentally ill students. While the University of Chicago has officially released letters to their incoming freshman declaring that they are against the use of trigger warnings, Price pointed out the importance of trigger warnings in her article, “Hey, University of Chicago: I am an academic. I am a survivor. I use trigger warnings in my classes. Here’s why.” According to Price, Trigger warnings are small advisories placed before the presentation of material that people may find acutely upsetting. In this essay, I will explore how Price builds up a strong argument throughout …show more content…
She states that “Trigger warnings are small advisories placed before the presentation of material that people may find acutely upsetting. Sometimes they are placed in course syllabi, prior to weeks where distressing content is discussed, or on lecture slides, before the presentation of graphic or unpleasant or otherwise triggering material.” It is a definition argument because it attempts to give a specific meaning to a certain word. This argument allows her to get her audience to think of trigger warnings the way she wants them to. Everyone has their own definition of certain words, so it’s important to have everyone on the same pace. She also uses a causal argument to prove a point for those who thinks trigger warnings negatively affect students. She argues, “Trigger warnings help me to emotionally prepare for discussions of rape, stalking, and assault, and allow me to filter out or avoid disturbing content when I’m having a particularly rough day and am not up for it.” Causal arguments take place when there is a cause-and-effect situation. In this case, trigger warning is the cause, for which she can prepare herself for the trigger content. With this argument, she doesn’t only strengthen her overall argument, but also clears out that trigger warning doesn’t put any limitation on studying materials, rather better enables the way of

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