Chapter 16

Chapter 16 of Everything's an Argument was about the various types of evidence you could use when making an argument. It discusses that the kind of evidence that is most effective is dependent on what subject your paper is about. For example, in a scientific field, the most effective kind of evidence would be one that is quantitative, whereas in another kind of field, it would be not as effective or even impossible to find. It goes on and talks about specific types of evidence and when they could be used.

The type of evidence that caught my attention the most was personal evidence. It could be really powerful evidence, but the book says that it should be used when there is other evidence to back up your claim since if there was only personal experience in an argument, it usually will not hold much ground. However, it can be really interesting, so it could likely be used to draw in an audience.

The reason I found this interesting is because in my cultural anthropology classes, most of the required reading are books about field work. They usually take place in a different country and just talk about what sort of cultural aspects they see over a span of a year or two. Personal experience is the basically the only type of evidence given, yet, from my experience of the few books I have read, their claims are really compelling. I suppose it really depends on the anthropologist's ethos on whether it is effective or not though since for their evidence to have any weight whatsoever, you must really trust the author. It also depends on how he conducts research as well. If he just looks at the people from a distance, it would not be as effective as one that actually takes part in the culture's festivities. So, I guess the effectiveness of your evidence is really dependent on what you are talking about.

Chapter 13: Style in Arguments

In this chapter, how style is applied in arguments and suggestions on how to improve your style in an argument is discussed. First, to understand how to improve your style, you must have a general understanding of the style you are going to use in your argument. The three basic styles of communication are high, very formal language such as what is used when developing a bill or talking about an issue to the government; middle, common language used around people such as coworkers or people you don't know very well; and low, which is used among friends or on sites like Facebook. Once you know your basic style, you could apply the appropriate word choice, sentence structure, and punctuation.

Everyday we make these sort of judgements and determine what sort of speech (high, middle, or low) is appropriate in a given situation. Granted, sometimes we make a wrong decision, like how when I was in junior high, I used to curse around my parents, and I would be punished for doing so. That sort of language was not appropriate around my parents, and should have been used only around my friends if I chose to use it at all, but once you know your basic style of communication, you can find better ways to get your point across. Such as in a middle style, which is what I should have used around my parents, you could use euphemisms to express your anger with a situation. 

The part that takes the most amount of time in this chapter is how different types of figurative language could help you make your message clear, such as using inverted word order (where the parts of a sentence are not in the usual subject-verb-object order) to make your arguments more memorable. It goes on about other uses  for different figurative language as well, such as metaphors and similes, analogies, hyperboles, irony, et cetera. I found this to be the most important part of the reading since it is easier to improve on things such as your sentence structure and punctuation the more you write, but figurative language can be hard to really difficult to effectively use for anyone. In other words, even if they are good at developing analogies between things, some comparisons are just too hard to understand. For example, I could go on and on about how my life is like a 5 foot frog dancing next to a tow truck in the rain, but that might just confuse you more than actually giving you a clearer understanding of my life. 

Arguments of Definition (Chapter 9)

This chapter dealt with the definition of terms that could be construed differently in an argument. An example where a definition would be needed is the definition of a "small car" in a parking space labeled for "small cars only" in order to avoid a misunderstanding with owners of automobiles such as compact luxury vehicles, light trucks, and motorcycles. This chapter provides three different types of definitions used in arguments: formal definitions, operational definitions and definitions by example. Formal definitions are definitions you could find in a dictionary. Operational definitions are created by the conditions that surround the term or by what it does. Definitions by example use individual members that fall under the term to define the term (like defining smart phones by listing the major examples).

The part of this chapter that I chose to discuss more thoroughly is the section about operational definitions. I chose it since it was the one that had the most variance, and could thus, be the hardest one to understand or identify. Basically, the argument arises when people disagree on the conditions that are included in the term or if the conditions have been filled. The example given in the book is where an offensive sexual manner towards another may not qualify as harassment unless if the action is unwanted, unsolicited, and repeated technically. These conditions may be argued, however, if the offender thought that the sexual interest was mutual or wanted by the offended.

By reading about operational definitions, I thought about how many of these kind of arguments are surrounded in my life. For example, my roommate was studying last weekend, and I was listening to music. I thought that I was not disturbing her, but after a while she told me that I was being loud. I thought at first that she was being sarcastic, since my music was fairly quiet in my opinion, but after I realized that she was irritated, I politely grabbed some headphones and listened to my music that way instead. We had different conditions on the term "quiet", and in her argument, being able to hear music, even at a low volume, was prohibited.

Another example of an operational definition is how when I was younger, my parents told me to get ready for school. My definition of "ready" was simply to be bathed, clothed, have brushed teeth and hair, and to be waiting to get in the car. Theirs was to be bathed, in nice looking clothes, wearing shoes, with brushed teeth and hair, dried hair, have all of the items I wanted to take to school at hand, a full stomach, and waiting in the car for them. Since the conditions of the term "ready" were different for both of us, the definition is an operational one.

Arguments Based on Facts and Reason: Logos (ch. 4)

This chapter is about logos, arguments that appeal to our logic, and how people respect arguments that are based on facts. Although we still fight these claims if they are against our views or if the person making the argument is not credible, it is often hard to argue against "hard evidence" or "common sense". It is also harder to counter back when there are many facts, statistics or witnesses to back up their claim.

Something in this chapter that I found interesting was how some logical claims are based on cultural assumptions and values. An example of this can be found in the advertisement against animal cruelty located below.

(Edit: I have tried to use several different animal abuse ads, and they all won't post. The one I talk about below looks like a typical magazine advertisement for mascara, but the woman has a black eye that's bleeding. Then it has a statistic that states that 300,000 animals suffer each year.)

This advertisement is reliant on the belief that all life should be treated equally. This advertisement would be very effective to those that could relate animal life to human life, since it combines both pathos (emotional persuasion) and logos. The makers of this advertisement even further the logical argument by including a statistic that each year 300,000 animals suffer due to the use products tested on animals, giving the audience a scope of how big the problem is, convincing those that value animal life to research which products are tested on animals and to stop using them.

However, there are many cultures that believe that comparing a human to an animal is as logical as comparing a sock to a tangelo. Therefore, they would not find this advertisement very compelling since it would make no sense to them.

Another example, albeit a poor one, is this this Wingstop advertisement that I have included purely because I found it to be humorous.

The text at the bottom reads: "It is times like these when we all need to come together to celebrate not only the things we have in common, but the things that make us unique. What better way to gather than around a delicious plate of wings. We have nine mouth-watering flavors to satisfy a variety of tastes, and many side dishes. So come to Wingstop today and join the revolution!"

The argument relies on the following needs: a revolution-oriented mindset to be common, a society that celebrates similarities and differences (Though, I do not know why they mentioned that in their ad.), an acceptance of eating meat, and that eating wings would help with a revolution.

Since I cannot think of a culture that meets all of the needs I have listed, I do not find the advertisement logical at all. However, the ad still has its humor-value, which may get some people to try their food at least once or at least keep them in mind.

Also, on an unrelated note, I changed my mind about my writing project. I will probably use an anti-smoking advertisement instead.

Chapter 14 Reflection

Chapter 14, "Visual Arguments", in Everything's An Argument by Lunsform and Ruszkiewicz is essentially about advertisements and other visuals and how they have shaped our decisions. A good portion of this reading deals with the emotional side of advertisements. It even discusses about how even the font or the positioning of words could change the feeling of the advertisement, such as how a presidential seal shows credibility and authority.

This made me think about how something so little can say so much. For example, with the picture to the right, if they had used a full billboard, their message wouldn't come across nearly as much as it did without it.

This also made me think of how you feel emotionally when you come across an advertisement that is creative. You get a chuckle or perhaps a question of "Now, how did they do that?" Also, cleverness actually comes across as actually trying to grab your attention instead of just naming off your brand with some model holding the product. For example, I could not help but get a smile to my face when I saw the Bic ad to the right.

Horror Film Festival Ad

Judging solely on advertisements, I would think more highly of Bic's razor than of Venus' since the only advertisement that comes to mind is the one with a whole bunch of girls showing the product while the song "Venus" by Shocking Blue plays in the background, and I merely remember the commercial due to the sole fact that it played all the time. Therefore, I believe things that are clever stick to our mind, making us more prone to actually buying the product.

Edit: I forgot that we were supposed to discuss the ideas we had for our writing project. I have only a broad idea of what I'm going to do so far. I'm probably going to an advertisement that contains mostly kairos and how it appeals to us, such as the Horror Film Festival ad that makes a reference to Facebook.

An Introduction

Hello! My name is Rebecca Fiala, but I am also known by Becky or Becca. I am a freshman majoring in Anthropology at Arizona State, but I plan to double major in Biochemistry as well. Prior to ASU, I lived in what was considered Mesa, but I lived near the border between Mesa and Gilbert so I went to Highland High School, which is located in Gilbert. I currently dorm in San Pablo though.

On a more personal level, I quite enjoy Facebook, and I am on it all the time. I also love to play Hanging with Friends. (Feel free to request a game with me; my username is omgfruits.) However, I just like games in general whether it is board games, card games or video games. My favorite video games are the Ace Attorney series and the Professor Layton series. Puzzle games are my favorite type of video games, but I am basically up to anything.

Other than video games, in my free time I tend to watch television or LiveLavaLive videos on YouTube, and I like reading as well. My favorite shows are New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, That 70's show and Big Bang Theory. My favorite actor is Neil Patrick Harris, and my favorite actress is Zooey Deschanel. As for reading, I don't really have a favorite book or author, but I enjoy reading books with an element of mystery or magic in them.

Personality-wise, I am really quiet around a lot of people or people I don't know very well. When I'm comfortable with the people I'm with, however, I can be quite talkative and dorky. I have a quirky sense of humor and don't enjoy being too serious for too long.

TL;DR- Hi, hello, I'm Becky, and I'm probably in your English class. I hope we have a great semester together.