1- Argument: Fighting to prove a point is a waste of your time because it is better to resolve differences without violence.
2- Audience: Young men with hot tempers who seek to prove themselves through fighting.
3- Goal: To convince the audience to find some way (such as dancing) to live peacefully with people they don't agree with.
4- How the argument was made:
*Ethos: Michael Jackson establishes that he has authority on the subject by showing that he is aware of the issue and able to deal with it by setting a good example. Mostly, though, he already has authority just because he is Michael Jackson. The audience for this music video already admires/respects him.
*Pathos: The over-the-top nature of the gang fight (almost) shown serves to make the audience feel that it really was quite pointless. The feeling that the fight could so easily be avoided is the main method of persuasion used.
*Typical: The resolution of this intended gang fight is not typical. Usually, a caring peacemaker with sweet dance moves does not come to show people a better way to get over differences.
5- Effectiveness: This seems moderately effective as an argument. The overly dramatic scenes shown make a point that a fight can be avoided.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Paper A: Does a rat make a good pet?
1- Argument: Choosing a pet rat will increase your fun because rats are intelligent, friendly, playful pets.
2- Audience: Middle school children (ages 10-12) who like animals, and have permission to get a pet rodent. They have probably never thought of a rat as a possible pet. Instead, they are familiar with rats only as diseased pests.
3- Goal: My goal was to persuade my audience to select a rat as a pet.
4- How the argument was made:
*Ethos: I try to establish my authority on the subject by letting my audience know that I have experience with different types of rodent pets, including rats.
*Logos: My argument rests mainly on logic. I present various facts about rats to make them appear attractive. I talk about how smart they are, how playful and brave, and how affectionate they are.
*Relevancy: Everything contained in the paper is relevant to the topic (rats). Not everything is relevant to the argument. In an effort to show that rats are more fun than other rodents, I occasionally mentioned some way in which this was true. This might be relevant to a slightly different argument, but it is extraneous for this one. I believe the whole paper is relevant to the audience, as well--I think everything I mentioned is something middle schoolers would care about and understand.
5- Effectiveness: I believe this paper is very effective at proving that rats make good pets. That, in fact is a pretty big flaw. The paper has become more informative than persuasive.
2- Audience: Middle school children (ages 10-12) who like animals, and have permission to get a pet rodent. They have probably never thought of a rat as a possible pet. Instead, they are familiar with rats only as diseased pests.
3- Goal: My goal was to persuade my audience to select a rat as a pet.
4- How the argument was made:
*Ethos: I try to establish my authority on the subject by letting my audience know that I have experience with different types of rodent pets, including rats.
*Logos: My argument rests mainly on logic. I present various facts about rats to make them appear attractive. I talk about how smart they are, how playful and brave, and how affectionate they are.
*Relevancy: Everything contained in the paper is relevant to the topic (rats). Not everything is relevant to the argument. In an effort to show that rats are more fun than other rodents, I occasionally mentioned some way in which this was true. This might be relevant to a slightly different argument, but it is extraneous for this one. I believe the whole paper is relevant to the audience, as well--I think everything I mentioned is something middle schoolers would care about and understand.
5- Effectiveness: I believe this paper is very effective at proving that rats make good pets. That, in fact is a pretty big flaw. The paper has become more informative than persuasive.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Source for Paper B: Making the switch from full-time worker to at-home mom
1- Argument: Having the mom in the family stay home has a positive effect on the whole family because there is better cooperation in tasks and less stress.
2- Audience: Black parents (the article appeared in Ebony) who both work, and feel that their lives are very busy, and may have doubts about the quality of daycare.
3- Goal: To persuade the audience that having the mother stay home with her children may solve a lot of problems.
4- How the argument was made:
*Ethos: The entire article is about a family that has tried both having mom work outside the home and having her stay home with her children. This lends authority to the article, because it can be assumed that these people in the story understand the challenges of both arrangements.
*Pathos: The wording of the introduction really causes the reader to feel a sense of how hectic this lifestyle is. The story given causes optimism about the chance for success at having mom stay home.
*Typical: This article may not depict a typical outcome of having the mother stay home, rather than at work. Because the mother shown has experience in teaching, she may be more qualified than many mothers to stay home, or it may be more suitable for her.
5- Effectiveness: Because this article only depicts one family's story, it is unlikely to be highly successful. It is too easy for readers to assume that "it may have worked for them, but it won't work for us." The addition of some statistics relevant to the topic would add a lot of credibility.
2- Audience: Black parents (the article appeared in Ebony) who both work, and feel that their lives are very busy, and may have doubts about the quality of daycare.
3- Goal: To persuade the audience that having the mother stay home with her children may solve a lot of problems.
4- How the argument was made:
*Ethos: The entire article is about a family that has tried both having mom work outside the home and having her stay home with her children. This lends authority to the article, because it can be assumed that these people in the story understand the challenges of both arrangements.
*Pathos: The wording of the introduction really causes the reader to feel a sense of how hectic this lifestyle is. The story given causes optimism about the chance for success at having mom stay home.
*Typical: This article may not depict a typical outcome of having the mother stay home, rather than at work. Because the mother shown has experience in teaching, she may be more qualified than many mothers to stay home, or it may be more suitable for her.
5- Effectiveness: Because this article only depicts one family's story, it is unlikely to be highly successful. It is too easy for readers to assume that "it may have worked for them, but it won't work for us." The addition of some statistics relevant to the topic would add a lot of credibility.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Visual Art: William Turner's "Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying"
See the painting here (bigger) or here (more authoritative source).
1- Argument: The practice of importing slaves degrades humanity because it encourages people to devalue human life.
2- Audience: Americans who still believed slavery was ethical, but who had not given much thought to what happened on the trip over.
3- Goal: To convince people that the horrors involved in transporting slaves outweighed the benefits of using their labor.
4- How the argument was made:
*Pathos: There are a lot of dark colors used in this painting, which evokes a feeling of sadness. However, the slave ship itself is red, reminiscent of blood and violence. The brushstrokes are very tempestuous, which imparts a feeling of the turmoil that the slaves themselves must have been feeling. The hands and feet reaching out of the water serve as reminders that the slaves are very human, and may serve to help the viewer feel guilt. The visible shackles, and the fact that the most obvious foot appears to belong to a woman, intensify this guilt.
*Sufficient: I think that enough emotion is used to amount to a fairly complete argument.
*Typical: I believe that this is fairly typical, though I have not done enough research to verify it. Slaves that would have no market value could be thrown overboard by unscrupulous slavers in order to gather the insurance money, but it may not have been extremely common. Or it may have been, after all.
5- Effectiveness: I believe this argument is fairly successful. It imparts a feeling of horror to the practice of importing slaves which could certainly cause people to think twice about the practice of slavery.
1- Argument: The practice of importing slaves degrades humanity because it encourages people to devalue human life.
2- Audience: Americans who still believed slavery was ethical, but who had not given much thought to what happened on the trip over.
3- Goal: To convince people that the horrors involved in transporting slaves outweighed the benefits of using their labor.
4- How the argument was made:
*Pathos: There are a lot of dark colors used in this painting, which evokes a feeling of sadness. However, the slave ship itself is red, reminiscent of blood and violence. The brushstrokes are very tempestuous, which imparts a feeling of the turmoil that the slaves themselves must have been feeling. The hands and feet reaching out of the water serve as reminders that the slaves are very human, and may serve to help the viewer feel guilt. The visible shackles, and the fact that the most obvious foot appears to belong to a woman, intensify this guilt.
*Sufficient: I think that enough emotion is used to amount to a fairly complete argument.
*Typical: I believe that this is fairly typical, though I have not done enough research to verify it. Slaves that would have no market value could be thrown overboard by unscrupulous slavers in order to gather the insurance money, but it may not have been extremely common. Or it may have been, after all.
5- Effectiveness: I believe this argument is fairly successful. It imparts a feeling of horror to the practice of importing slaves which could certainly cause people to think twice about the practice of slavery.
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