Read this article from HuffPo here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jade-lloyd/the-lies-we-tell-our-chil_b_12812178.html
Afterwards, evaluate the argument. Do you think it’s a successful argument? How does she craft the narrative? Does she convince, or does she make claims which she fails to address/prove? How is the writing style itself? Informal, formal, academic, engaging, etc…? What would you suggest in regards for improving it?
200-300 words.
ENGL 2000-Section 62 
In her article “The Lies We Tell Our Children. Fairy Tales and Father Christmas”, Jane Lloyd explores the different lies parents tell their children and if they are really bad or not. She explains how when she was a child she looked forward to the excitement and the magic that comes with the Easter bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas. She says that as an adult she would do anything to get these magical and excited feelings back. As an adult she realizes that by telling your kids that Santa is real, you are technically lying to them. She justifies the lying by recalling a quote from Miracle on 34th Street that states, “better a lie that brings a smile, than a truth that brings a tear.” She believes that kids should have the memories of the magic of Santa and fairy tales just like she did, even if it means lying. I think Lloyd’s argument is successful and she gets her point across. Her writing is informal and feels like she is having a normal conversation with her reader. As a reader this tone made me feel more convinced and wanted to take her side on this issue. I enjoyed reading the article because it made me think about my own childhood memories. To make her article even more convincing, she could have used statistics about how many parents tell their children Santa is real compared to the number of parents who don’t. Overall I enjoyed the article and feel like Lloyd did a good job of explaining her position and making her argument.
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I personally enjoyed her argument of keeping Santa as a magically experience for children. The author crafts her narrative by explaining that Santa and the Easter Bunny are not lies that your parents tell you just to be mean but it is simply to give the child the magic of imagination. Lloyd explains childhood best by saying “Childhood lasts for the briefest moment. It is an inherently magical time, an enchanted place. Colours are brighter, time slower.” Her argument is rather engaging, interesting, and surprisingly fun. I do not know if there is a way to improve an argument. Maybe, I’ll just have to use my imagination.
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In Jane Lloyd’s article, “The Lies We Tell Our Children. Fairy Tales and Father Christmas.”, she discusses the different types of lying and whether they are actually a good or bad thing to do. Throughout the article she expresses the way she feels about certain lies and how she looked forward to the Easter Bunny, Santa, and the Tooth Fairy. She talks about how her nan asks if she is going to tell her son about Santa and lie to him, she says that she had never thought about that being a lie to him. She wants her son to believe in all the fairy tales because even when she found out that they were not real, she did not loose her parental trustworthiness within her parents, and she feels the same. She believes that her children should feel the joy of magic just like she did as a child. I think that this argument is successful and very easy to understand. Her makes good points to explain to the reader why she feels the way she does. The writing is very informal but at the same time engaging because it is very easy to follow. I think that this article was very good and straight to the point giving good back up to her point.
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In Jane Lloyd’s article “The Lies We Tell Our Children. Fairy Tales and Father Christmas” she talks about how telling your children about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy is actually just telling them lies. She says that as a child she looked forward to the excitement and magic that came with Santa and the Easter Bunny and recalls that when she found out the truth, she was not mad at her parents for lying to her. She is happy that she was “lied to” because the lies created magical memories that she will always remember. She explains how she wants her kids to experience the same magic and excitement that she did. Her argument is informal and is very engaging. She gets her point across very easily and makes her reader feel like she is talking directly to them. She makes a good point in her argument by using a quote Miracle on 34th Street that says “better a lie that brings a smile, then a truth that brings a tear”. I think her argument is very successful and I enjoyed how she got her point across quickly. It was very easy to understand her side and to agree with it.
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In the article, “The Lies We Tell Our Children. Fairy Tales and Father Christmas”, Jade Lloyd exemplifies the reasoning and importance behind the certain lies that parents choose to tell their children in society today. The lies that shape their childhood and create their powerful imagination. In my opinion, Lloyd’s argument in relation to the morality of telling the truth about certain aspects of a child’s life is quite valid. I think she does a great job of explaining her viewpoint on the topic at hand and gives reasonable information that shows just how important it is to give these children of our generation the childhood they deserve. Lloyd starts her argument off with an immediate rhetorical question that leads the readers to begin pondering about what she as a mother is beginning to talk about. Lloyd then goes on to talk about her personal childhood- laying in bed on Christmas Eve, painting eggs for the Easter bunny, and putting a white tooth under her pillow. In her explanation of all these childhood memories, she argues whether it is morally incompetent to lie about fairytales or not, as she believes that childhood is such a magical and enchanted time of your life, lasting for the briefest moment. To me, her views are very relatable and engaging as it seems absurd to think of not believing such magical thoughts like the tooth fairy or Santa Clause. As far as improving her article, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to include more of a counterargument and mention the thoughts of those who don’t believe in telling their children lies. Overall, Jade Lloyd definitely provides her readers with a valid argument, and I assume that most of those in our generation would agree with what she has to say as well.
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In “The Lies We Tell Our Children. Fairy Tales and Father Christmas,” written by Jade Lloyd, she argues whether or not it is okay to lie to our children about santa claus, hogwarts, and why the sky is blue. Lloyd makes a very good point because this is something I have actually never thought about. She brings up the fact that we tell children not to lie and that lying is bad, but is it hypocritical to tell our children that these fairy tale and mythical creatures are actually real? Lloyd did a well job at convincing me and supports her argument with valid points. She believes that parents should let their children experience these things such as the easter bunny, the tooth fairy and santa claus. She believes that children these days are growing up too fast and need to slow down and that these are what make children, children. I agree with Lloyd and looking back those are some of the things that made my childhood special. So, I believe it is okay to “lie” to our children because it creates imagination for them. I would not consider it as a “lie” tho, it is different then telling a lie to get yourself out of trouble, it is a lie to let your children’s imagination wonder.
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