Drinking: 18 or 21?

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Drinking:!18!or!21?!! !
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Elyse Fonseca
Professor Meredith
ENGL 1302: Sec. 2230

10 May 2016

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Table of Contents
Writing Project 3 Topic ...................................................................................................... 1
Original Image .................................................................................................................... 2
Annotated Bibliography...................................................................................................... 3
Visual Argument................................................................................................................. 5
Drinking: 18 or 21?............................................................................................................. 6
Works Cited ...................................................................................................................... 10

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Writing Project 3 Topic
Moving the drinking age to 18. I am arguing against moving the drinking age to 18, and
keeping it at 21.

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Original Image

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Annotated Bibliography
Dos Equis. Advertisement. Fast Company. Fast Company, n.d. Web. 1 May 2016.
This picture is of Dos Equis’ “The Most Interesting Man in the World”. The image is
used to argue that we should not lower the drinking age. The image is of this man that we
have all seen on commercials and in advertisements. His face is widely known and seen
on billboards. He is relevant because he is a walking advertisement for Dos Equis. They
want you to believe that when you drink this beer, you become amazing and unique. I’m
arguing against lowering the drinking age by using this very popular guy. He will help
me make the case on why this will still be an issue 10 years from now.
Wemple, Erik. "MADD Raps Fox News’s Shepard Smith over Comments on
Drunken Driving." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2016. Web.
01 May 2016.
In this article, it describes why people are against lowering the drinking age to 18. I
could use this in my paper for the side that goes against lowering the age. It talks about
how drinking under the age of 21 is dangerous to all people. It endangers more people
and gives a higher chance to more people driving drunk. While making drinking at 18
legal, the crime for driving drunk would go up too. It would be relevant in ten years from
now because it was relevant when my parents were 18. It has always been an issue
argued upon and it will continue to be. It will still be a part of our cultural literacy
because Mother Against Drunk Driving will always be around to support their cause, and
drinking at any age will still be debated against.
Susan, Kinzie, and Hohmann James. "Lower Drinking Age Is Criticized."
Washington Post. The Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2008. Web. 01 May 2016.

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In this article, they are arguing that the drinking age should be lowered. They believe that
because college students go away to college and binge drink, they can help students
become aware. Some colleges believe that if you lower the drinking age, that it will
promote moderation. It will still be apart of our cultural literacy because alcohol and age
will never go away, and the argument to raise or lower the drinking age will always be
relevant. People will always fight for their opinions on this issue. It should still be
relevant 10 years from now because in those 10 years, people will have either decided to
change or keep the drinking age.

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Visual Argument

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Drinking: 18 or 21?
Throughout America, there are images of alcohol everywhere. We look at them
and think about the paradise or the false world that advertisers are trying to create. The
endless commercials, billboards, and magazine advertisements seem so common. We
pass by them or flip past them all the time, and we do not even realize what we are
passing up. We are passing up an arguable question: at what age are we allowed to
consume alcohol? This paper will explain the reasoning behind why the drinking age will
always be apart of our cultural literacy and in which cases people are for or against
lowering it.

When it comes to the issue of lowering the drinking age, most seem to approve. In
Susan Kinzie’s article, she believes that if the drinking age is kept the same, college
students will start to binge drink while away from home. Her article states that instead of
college kids going off to school to binge drink, they can be guided by safer rules. She
believes that by helping students become aware and safe, they will be able to overcome
the urges to consume alcohol. Her method would help students become aware of the
repercussions of drinking. Other colleges believe that while lowering the drinking age, it
will promote moderation. This issue has been debated since before 1984. It is 2016, and
people are still debating whether the age should be lowered or not. I know for a fact that
this issue will always be apart of our cultural literacy. There will always be different
arguments for why the age should change. Alcohol will never go away, and the argument
to lower or keep the drinking age will always be relevant. We live in a world where
drinking is a social activity. It has always and will continue to be a social activity.
Whether someone is 18 or 21, they are adults who have to make adult choices. With that,

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we can gain a better understanding on why people and colleges want to lower the age to
drink. Drinking, bars, and anything associated with alcohol, will always play a role in our
culture.

However, some may say that keeping the drinking age the same benefits everyone
in the long run. In Eric Wemple’s article, he describes why people are against lowering
the drinking age to 18. He believes that it will be harmful to others and that drunken
driving will increase. He discusses that when lowering the age to drink, the crime for
drunk driving would increase. In his article, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)
argue to keep the drinking age at 21. They fear that more kids will die in alcohol related
accidents if the law were to change. MADD has been around since 1980. The drinking
age changed to 21 in 1984, which was 4 years after MADD was founded. It is relevant to
the topic because MADD is an organization dedicated to people who have lost loved ones
due to drunk drivers. It is a sad, but very important point. Wemple makes that argument
clear when he says that MADD are advocates for people not to drink. They believe that
alcohol leads to horrible and devastating outcomes. The anti- alcohol people will always
stick up for their side. They have seen how things affect them and others. They see bad
things happen and they want to prevent it from happening to the youth. In 10 years from
now, they would like to see the drinking age stay the same. They do not want to lower the
age. They do not feel that lowering the age is appropriate.

I chose the topic of the drinking age because it is very controversial. There are
different views on it and people forget about how important it actually is. Whether it is on
the news, or in between our favorite television shows, alcohol related issues are common.

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Alcohol is everywhere! Who drinks what and when does not determine the goodness or
the badness of a person. The argument is between the time in our lives that we are able to
consume alcohol and what are the consequences or benefits of that include. The argument
of the issue is if the age is more appropriate at 18 or 21. We are legally adults at 18, and
we are legally allowed to consume alcohol at 21. Those are the nitty-gritty facts of
America. We have laws and even though they are already established, people still find
ways to argue them and to justify them. There are two sides to every argument and this is
a widely known argument. This has been discussed for years, but no one has really acted
on it since 1984. It is a topic that I have heard about in my own household. My parents
were affected by the changing of the age in the 1980s. They were barely 18 when the act
became a law. They saw what it did firsthand, and they could not do anything about it. It
was a law that they had to follow in order to be law- abiding adult citizens. The law was
placed and was strictly enforced. All of the states in America suffered the consequence if
they did not enforce the new law. Their funding for federal highway funds would
decrease and they did not want to lose out on that. I chose this to depict why it is relevant
and how it is. I know that this will be a cultural canon 10 years from now because it has
been relevant for more than 10 years till this day.

In conclusion, the drinking age is relevant to my life as much as it is to other
college students’ lives. We may have not experienced this in our own time, but we know
people who have. Our own parents or sibling may have gone witnessed this. They may
have seen life in a different way and in a different time. They have seen the effects of this
law and the benefits and the losses. They would be able to determine whether this was a
positive or negative change. They saw America before the age to drink was changed. It is

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important to stay knowledgeable about the most recent issues. The drinking age may not
be about what is going on in the war or about the next presidential election, but it is apart
of our country’s history. Although, people have different views on this issue, it is still a
part of our societal activities. In 10 years from now it will matter. This issue has always
mattered. I know that when the time comes, that generation will make a choice. I also
know that we need to be educated on this issue, because in 10 years, we may be forced to
vote on this issue. It will then be up to us to determine whether or not we are for or
against this issue.

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Works Cited
Dos Equis. Advertisement. Fast Company. Fast Company, n.d. Web. 1 May 2016.
Susan, Kinzie, and Hohmann James. "Lower Drinking Age Is Criticized." Washington

Post. The Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2008. Web. 01 May 2016.
Wemple, Erik. "MADD Raps Fox News’s Shepard Smith over Comments on Drunken

Driving." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 May
2016.

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