Rebutting this comment, I, the interrogator, came back with the statement that it is obvious that this contestant is battling stage fright. It happens to a lot of people. I do not think that this contestant was trying to be cute at all. Instead, I believe that she was just stunned, and sometimes, that is just what happens.
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Sean OZone is comparing to what he knows about pageants and on stage questions to what he is seeing in the video. Even if she was stunned, she had to have thought of something better than that. While she does sound quite ridiculous, stage fright, or speaking in public, happens to be the biggest fear to America's adults, even over death.
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I begin to casually argue that this poor contestant is probably battling one of the worst cases of a 'brain fart' that I have ever seen. She tries so hard to answer her question. She even tries tying in technology to take the question in a different direction. I propose that if she was not so stunned in the moment, the technological point of view was a great way to answer this question.
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Proposing the argument, what would you do if you were her? How would you fix this? Putting yourself in people's shoes is definitely one way to get a feel of what is happening to this person. Just thinking about it, my stomach starts to turn and I also start to feel embarrassed. I could not imagine how this contestant feels in the moment that this is actually happening.
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Preparing yourself is obviously the best way to fix this problem. There are many instances when people practice public speaking. For example, multiple people put on mock interviews. This is just for the interviewee to get a feel for what it is like to be drilled with questions. They do say that practice makes perfect!
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Cause and Effect is a prime example in this contestant's situation. As embarrassing as this is, if you turn the situation around, she became a celebrity for a day for answering this question. No one knew who she was before her on-stage disaster. She had follow up interviews with many news stations. So, maybe, she did not embarrass South Carolina. She brought attention to herself, maybe not the attention she wanted, but nevertheless, people knew who she was. People were hearing about her.
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Rebutting Sean Ozone, I state that contestants have no idea what question they will be receiving up on stage to answer for the judges. This portion of the contest wants to see how the contestant can be on her own two feet. Not only does she have to be quick and ready to answer, she also has to sound educated. While Miss Teen South Carolina may have not sounded too educated, you can tell by where she was trying to direct her question that she did have an idea of what to say.
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Knowing that having an interview with the judges is much less stressful than being up on stage answering questions in front of an audience, this form of argument is casual. The judges liked her enough to bring her to the top five so clearly she is doing something right. Taking a step back, and realizing what is happening will allow more people to sympathize with her.
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Sean OZone has a great point. She has made it this far. Why did this happen now? South Carolina sent her to the Miss Teen USA pageant with intentions of her winning-- every state does that. I am sure she was coached all year for this moment, and she completely failed. She had to win other pageants in order to get where she is today, so what happened? This definition argument brings other perspectives into play.
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Miss Teen USA is the highest title that this contestant could win. This is why I think she gets the stage fright. Her nerves are so high that she honestly just can't think. Being that on-stage question is the last portion of the pageant probably makes this contestant even more nervous. She has so many things going through her mind that she cannot think straight. The cause of her stage fright is that she is making is this far in a pageant.
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Stereotypes are the worst. They either make people live up to be something that they are not, or completely degrade them. SeanOZone tries to define this contestant as a 'dumb blonde'.Even though this contestant does sound like a 'dumb blonde', she is definitely not doing it for attention and trying to be 'cute'. If it were that way, she would be smiling with a ditzy look on her face. Instead, she has a petrified look on and is extremely spaced out.
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Being a 'dumb blonde' is not an excuse for her mistake. She does not need an excuse for what happens. Everyone messes up at some point in his or her life. That is how we learn. Miss Teen South Carolina received third runner up in this pageant. Believe it or not, someone placed lower than her. This proves that even though she did make a mistake, the judges still had faith in her.
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