" Should The U.S & Canada Merge?"-- Non-Fiction Critical Analysis

In " Should The U.S & Canada Merge?" by Diane Francis, the author want to convince readers Canada should combine with America to become one massive country because of the cultural, economic and political benefits each country can bring to each other. One thing the author does is cite examples of the similarities Americans share with Canadians; for example, the two countries share the longest unprotected border which is about 5,525 miles long, the amount of tourists flowing over the border to visit, and favorite celebrities shared. She also includes the political advantages America can provide Canada. Because of the large amount of undeveloped resources and large amount of landmass Canada holds, China has targeted Canada for a long time. However, Canada's inability in protecting its huge landmass, America's 1.4 million people in the military can benefit Canada well. She also provides examples of how the two countries can benefit each other economically. She says, "In 2012, almost 74 percent of Canada's exports went to the U.S., and 19 percent of U.S. exports were sold to Canadians." This shows America is Canada's biggest customers and would benefit them the best. Lastly, the author shows the enormous amount of undeveloped resources in Canada can solve the dilemma of more than 9 million jobless Americans. By using these details, the author can persuade readers Canada and America match well together economically, politically and culturally.

Diane Francis hopes to persuade readers Canada and America should merge together to become the strongest and the most powerful nation on Earth. One way she achieves her goal is by intentionally including a list of Canadian celebrities that had appeared in popular American TV shows or movies. By doing it, she is constantly reminding readers that Canadians are among Americans and they are similar.  Another way the author achieves her goal is by bringing sympathy on Canada and making it sound helpless against China. "However, it is becoming more accurate to regard Canada as another province of China." This shows how Canada counts as one of China's property and China almost has full control over Canada. However, the author later brings in how the U.S can help "save" Canada. By doing this, the author makes the article more persuasive and convincing to readers.

After reading this article, I feel Canada and the U.S. shouldn't merge because it would bring a disadvantage to other nations. If the two nations combine, then it would become the biggest and the largest nation on Earth. The large amount of resources in Canada provides supplies to America's military and can make America stronger. What if one day the two nations started an attack on other nations, then no nation can survive.

The Child Called It

              The Child Called It is an astonishing and shocking memoir written by Dave Pelzer. Dave Pelzer wrote in gruesome details of the physical and emotional abuse his mother gave him throughout his childhood. Even though some question the authority of the book, it still brought attention to child abuse and the severe consequences of it. Throughout the book, child abuse is an ongoing issue and the cruelty is shown through Dave Pelzer’s perspective.

 In the book, Dave Pelzer reflects on his childhood and the abuse he received from his mentallyill mother. The ongoing abuse not only affects Dave physically, but also destroying his image of a mother. His father sense what was going on, but he decide to not acknowledge the issue and left Dave on his own. Dave lost the only help he can look forward to, but he never lose the hope that one day his mother would become well again and treat him like her son. The complex thing in the book is that even though Dave’s mother treated him like a “thing” instead of a human, Dave never lost the faith that one day his mother would heal and be nice to him. However, it is clear that his mother would never treat him well again in the book. His mother gave him rotten scraps that even dogs refuse to eat for meals, burned him on a gas stove, made him eat his own vomit and stabbed him so badly, Dave almost die. In conclusion, even though Dave never actually explain what cause his mother to do such actions, he never gave up despite the cruel treatments he received.

 Throughout the whole book, the story was told from Dave’s perspective. It make sense because it is his story to tell, but he also made what sounds gruesome and inhuman more a temporary issue his mother had. Despite how his mother treat him like a dog, Dave still treated her like his mother. Dave recall everything his mother had ever done to him in exact details, but at the end he always made up an excuse for her to convince himself to forgive him. In addition, the perspective the story is being told makes Dave sound helpless and also brave at the same time. 

In conclusion, Dave went through extreme conditions from his mother and continue to believe in his dreams. Child abuse in any form is cruel and damaging to children. Some may not be able to survive and continue their lives like Dave, so therefore child abuse is an issue that needs to be stopped. Victims should be relived from these nightmares and deserve what is best for them.