Monday, January 30, 2012

Chapter 3 of Everything's an Argument

From chapter three in the very beginning was the piece about Tata Nano and his newly created vehicle the "nano". The use of ethos here is to catch the whole worlds attention and even people who are already owners of a vehicle. His new vehicle is not only $2500 but it also is a vehicle that is earth friendly. With many people in the world who are eco-friendly, a strongly worded motto of "Green Matters" and this car being so affordable that it is likely that it will attract customers. He uses ethos to create an argument about the character of his company and that he and his company will live up to, or even exceed promises. These promises of works to improve the cars performance, durability and going green qualities. By being able to make this argument, Tata Nano is appealing to many of our current concerns of how Americans need to reduce waste production and save energy if we are going to avoid damage to our planet that we cannot take back. 
It is known that audiences pay attention to ethos in an argument and to the values it represents. Usually, many of us have to respect the authority, admire the integrity and motives of others before we can accept their words and images. As in the Tata motors case, character alone may not carry an argument. The really low price may work against them due to buyers looking for social status rather than being a person who drives a fuel efficient vehicle.
This leads us to how arguments based on character work. When we need to answer serious questions we don't usually answer them ourselves, we go to see a professional for wise and well informed advice. When it comes down to less important matters we people tend to let equally knowledgeable people guide us.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Chapter 14 of Everything's an Argument

After reading chapter fourteen of "Everything's An Argument" it was clear that it's all about the manipulation of the audience and push of visual arguments in society for decades. Advertisements used to distinguish arguments are able to convince or sway an audience to believe a certain view or views. They do this by using the three major requirements of logos, pathos and ethos. Many factors can affect the advertisement such as color, words, position of objects or images in the background, foreground,etc.  Though most advertisements usually present their arguments to a specific audience and not the whole world that might also see the advertisement. 

What really caught my attention in Chapter 14 was the "Shaping the Message" section. This section discusses the fact that images create arguments of their own. For example a photograph isn't an honest representation of reality but a reality that is shaped by the photographers point of view and how he wants his subjects to be viewed. On the following page we get an example of this. It's an image of "Leonardo 'Medicine Man' Crowdog" used to celebrate him as a Native American political activist. As told in the book it shows its audience a strong sense of solidarity among  Native American  and to make notice of Crowdog's call for renewal of Native American traditions. 
My example of this would be this poster of a father who is laying down the law with his children. By the use of making the father figure in the image bigger than the kids is to show that the father is the boss and in the upper left hand corner send a clear message to what this poster stands for. 
Parents Empowered: Your Influence Is Bigger Than You Think, The Night Dad Lost His Head

I will probably be doing something with ASPCA ads. I'm pretty big on animals and don't like the circumstances that some go through in the world when they don't deserve. I'll be pushing for the argument of stopping animal cruelty and abandonment or something closely related to that in a sense.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Me

Hey my name is James. I am an out of state student from Orange County, California attending Arizona State to pursue an Engineering degree. I am 18 years old and belong to a family of four. I have a liking for Aztec art and have a few tattoos of Aztec related art and life on my arm. I am a big fan of oldies and old school rap music but since I've been here at ASU I've come around to liking house, dubstep and reggae music. I'm actually really big on the group "Rebelution" who fall under the reggae genre and most of the time you can catch me walking around listening to them.
Besides going to school, I played highschool sports till now, which I just continue to be healthy and weightlift. If you are ever looking to start getting back into the working out world and want to work out with someone just let me know! Always down to have a new workout partner.
I'm pretty much down for anything and like to do a lot of different things and always up for trying new things. So far my experience here at ASU has been pretty fun. Met a lot of different and interesting people and already have made some really good friends. Definitely a challenge having to take many courses related to engineering and all the math and physics you have to finish but in the end it will be nice making that nice salary and doing something I will enjoy for years to come.