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Caitlyn Cook Dr. Cheryl Duffus English 101 October 18, 2013 Crave Competition Do you think competition is important? Can it affect you in later years if you are not being competitive now? Joseph D Sena is passionate about winning and measures success solely by the number of wins. He grew up in Queens and is an ex-Wall Streeter who is now an endurance racer and CEO of the Reebok Spartan Race. His life is the picture of determination. His philosophy is that in order to get to the top, you have to take the place of someone else by competing with them. In Crave Competition, its Good for You: Column Joseph tells how competition is a marvelous thing and states that everyone should want to win. He believes that everything in life is a competition and that if we dont teach our kids true competition, they wont be spurred on to determination and achievement. His argument states that when everyone wins, it gives children unrealistic ideas about life. This will leave our nation with people that are underachievers, that dont push themselves in anything they do. He declares No wonder the United States ranks 25th and 17th out of 34 countries in math and science. (Sena)

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The Death Race is a race that you actually sign a waiver saying that you may die, was founded by appealing to peoples innate desire to win. The desire to win is also the basic premise as to why the Reebok Spartan Race has such wide appeal. People come by the thousands to compete against each other and even against their prior scores. As a father, he feels that by instilling the desire for discipline in his children, he is preparing them for life and will satisfy their innate need for competition. Kids need to fight to win and learn to fail in order to be prepared for life. It is logical to state that if you are not competitive, you will have no drive to win. And with no desire to win, you will not be as successful in life. His logos give many logical examples of how competitiveness is beneficial and will help you all through life. One of these examples is Life is competitive at every turn and many times the rules of engagement are not fair. (Sena) Pathos is summed up by saying: Losers dont get the corner office or the beach house. (Sena) By this he means that if you do not strive to win, you will not get the best out of life. This is a strong appeal to be competitive. Because who doesnt want to succeed in life? On the other hand, the article does not take into account those personalities that are not as driven, that dont want to be at the top, and will not be motivated by mere competition. Some individuals feel that if there is no chance of success, then they will not even try. So, having some opportunities where everyone gets some form of success may be motivating to that type of personality. The opposition view is not treated unfairly but it is not really developed. And by not developing it, it gives a reader an open field to pick apart the highly focused view of the writer. There are many circumstances where competition is appropriate, but there are times when compassion should overrule it.

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I think that overall it was extremely convincing, but he could have done a little more to convince someone that is of a more empathetic nature. This argument could be improved by sharing the other side. Sharing how he became a runner and how he became so competitive would also be a good way to put his real life example into perspective.

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Work Cited Sena, Joseph De. Crave competition, its good for you: Column USA Today. 12 Oct. 2013 Web. 13 Oct. 2013