Chapter 16

In Everything's An Argument, Chapter 16 told us about the many different types of evidences we could use when creating an argument. To make it short, the chapter goes on to discuss that, the most effective type of evidence is the evidence that relates most to what your paper is about. Since I am an engineering student and I wanted to write about something in my field, one of the better types of evidence would most likely be experimental evidence. Besides there being experimental evidence there is, personal experience, observations, interviews and many more types of evidence that Chapter 16 goes on to discuss. In this chapter, I found it interesting to know that under the "using evidence effectively" section, you may have the most evidence from interviews, observations and so on, but if you haven't woven it into your argument it just remains as a big pile of data laying around. 

I found this chapter interesting because of the fact that personal experiences are a form of evidence. Most of the time personal experiences are irrelevant due to the fact that they are sometimes bias and can work against you and your argument if your experiences seem that way. Though the book does mention that if you are going to use a personal experience then you must have evidence to back up that claim. The only downside to using a personal experience is that will not stand as stall as other types of evidence in an argument because there isn't much backing it up if say we were to use an experiment. On the other hand, personal experiences can gather an audience if it is definitely interesting enough and can hold the attention of the readers.

Chapter 13: Everything's an Argument

When styling an argument, most can be broken down into three different categories which are:

High: Formal or ornate (formal, high minded,serious)
Middle: Understated and very clear (most ordinary arguments)
Low: Everyday or humorous (informal and colloquial)
Then each of these three categories can be broken down even further into four sub-categories:

Style and word choice
Sentence Structure and Argument
Punctuation and argument
Special Effects

In this chapter, the most recognizable part for me was two of the sub-categories which were "Sentence Structure and Argument" and "Style and Word Choice". I chose these two because, I think they are the most important out of the four. When someone is reading your argument and you have incomplete sentences and are using slang in place of educated words, you can most likely expect a consumer to put down your argument. When developing your argument you want to make sure you are perceived as being confident in your work, not using slang or uneducated words that make you look lazy and uneducated. Just as the book says, you need sentence variety to keep the audience enticed in your argument. For example if you started every sentence of your argument with the subject first, you omit the use of all transitional phrases which can be used to catch the readers attention. Now going back to word choice, like I said before, no one wants to read an argument where the author has written it in terms that are uneducated. Don't get me wrong slang can sometimes be effective but most of the time it bewilders the readers which usually confuses and irritates them. There is nothing that will keep them entertained so that's why we use persuasive and enticing words to keep them interested. It usually represents your style of writing more than anything so you want your words to match the tone you are using in your argument as well as the subject of your argument. Usually for most academic arguments, the type of language used is a formal style.

Chapter 7: Structuring Arguments

In chapter 7, the the author discusses how to structure arguments just as the chapter is titled. As we read we are introduced to two different types of reasoning both inductive and deductive but are the main types and usually work well together. As we reach "The Classical Oration" section, we find out that elements of the classical oration still influence our attitudes toward persuasion because the oration taught speakers and writers to think of arguments as debates that have winners and losers.

The Six parts of The Oration:
Exordium: The speaker tries to win the attention and goodwill of an audience while introducing a subject or problem.
Narratio: The speaker presents the facts of the case, explaining what happened when, who is involved and so on.
Partitio: The speaker divides up the subject explaining what the claim is, what the key issues are and in what order the subject will be treated.
Confirmatio: The speaker offers detailed support for the claim using both logical reasoning and factual evidence.
Refutatio: The speaker acknowledges and then refutes opposing claims or evidence
Peroratio: The speaker summarizes the case and moves the audience to action.

Inductive Reasoning: the process of generalization on the basis of a number of specific examples.

Deductive Reasoning: Reaching a conclusion by assuming a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case.

In this chapter something that caught my attention was the two types of reasoning. After reading their definitions I was definitely able to relate to both types of reasoning and no wonder why the book says they work hand in hand. First we have to inductively assume a general idea in order to deductively use it in other situations just as the book example shows us. After reading the examples, it only makes sense that we will generalize based on a number of examples and then apply that to a case to which it applies to because we have learned from before and if that generalization applies then we will of course use it. 

Example (Inductive)

"I get hives after eating crawdads

My mouth swells up when I eat clams.

Shrimp triggers my asthma" 

So in general we can say that shellfish makes me ill. 

Example (Deductive)

"Shellfish makes me ill.

Lobster is a type of shellfish."

Therefore I will be ill if I eat lobster.

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.

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. 

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.

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.