There are arguments being made all around us. Advertisements make them. So do friends and family members, bumper stickers, TV shows, commercials and billboards. And, of course, we make our own arguments to convince other people of something we believe. Write about an argument you see, hear or are a part of over the weekend. Identify the argument's topic, claim, reasons and evidence. Was the argument successful? If it was someone else's argument, were you convinced? If it was your own argument, were others convinced?
Your reading assignment over the weekend is pp 5-16 in the textbook. If you can plug in terms from this reading, all the better.
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I was in a restaurant with a friend over the weekend. We were listening in on a conversation between a husband and his wife. They were discussing whether or not to get their daughter a cell phone. The husband did not want to get their daughter a cell phone because he said she was too young. He claimed that she would be on it too much and said that she would go over her minutes and text her friends over her limit. He also claimed that their daughter was already on the house phone every night for a long period of time. She is much like her older sister who is irresponsible with her phone. The mans wife then told her husband that they should get their daughter a cell phone simply because she gets good grades in school so she deserves one. Eventually, the man convinced his wife not to get their daughter a phone. His reasons and evidence of their daughter constantly on the phone convinced his wife that their young daughter is not quite old and mature enough to have a cell phone of her own.
Over the weekend I witnessed an argument between two of my close friends. They were heatedly debating who was a better presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. One of my friends argued that Clinton was receiving far too much help from Bill Clinton and he was in many ways overshadowing her during the campaigning. He questioned whether she was really capable of leading a society if she was being overshadowed during a campaign. Although his argument had a claim and some minor reasoning it lacked evidence and his logos was not well maintained; he lacked “because clauses” that were based off more than his personal opinion. My other friend argued that Obama had gained much of his support from his celebrity endorsements. She claimed that he was using this celebrity status to gain popularity. She cited Oprah as a large factor in his victories during the primary season. I was more inclined to listen to my friend arguing Obama’s faults during the campaign because she used more evidence and was able to create ethos for herself. She seemed credible in her claims and produced more than personal opinion during the argument.
I had a discussion with my mom about birth control being taught in high school. Her claim was high school kids aren't mature enough to handle all the responsibilities that come with having sex at a young age and the school doesn't teach them about the consequences of having sex at a young age. Her reason was people in general are having more and more problems at younger ages. She gave the example of some family friends that had a very large extended family because almost everyone was married and divorced at least once. She also pointed out that many people's problems come from not having a stable home life. (which sometimes is a result of teenage pregnancy) Overall her argument wasn't very convincing. She had good points but she needed to make the points connect better.
On Saturday I was was attending a friend's recital. Before it began though, I observed an argument between two helpers about the setup of the camera on stage. This sounds quite simple, but in all actuality still had the qualities of a solid argument. The first man, Patrick, argued that the camera should be placed over the drum, and the second man, Roy thought it should be placed in front of the drum. This was clearly an example of a "position argument," (no pun intended) because the issue was defined and each person took a side. Patrick gained credibility by stating personal first-hand experience with the situation because he had just had a recital himself. He said that the camera should be overhead "because" the audience is able to see the actual drumming while straight on it is only a closer view of what they are already seeing, and it would also be blocking their view. Roy saw that Patrick clearly had a point, backed up by evidence, and agreed to place the camera overhead, thus the argument was successful. This goes to show that even in small-scale arguments credibility and evidence are important!
Over this weekend, my friends and I were discussing about one of our friends' problem. The topic of our conversation was marriage for residency. Our (main) friend claimed she loves her boyfriend, but she isn't sure if she should tell him to marry her. The reason is because she is an international student, and the tuition for international students (out-of-state tuition) is really expensive. Therefore, she may not be able to stay here until the end of the semester because she doesn't have sufficient financial support. But if he (U.S. citizen) marries her, she will be able to stay here and become a resident eligible to pay in-state tuition. Eventually, our friend told her boyfriend about her financial problems, and he accepted to marry her. Moreover, the reason or evidence that convinced our friend to ask her boyfriend was because she talked to an (international) adviser about her financial problem, and the adviser told her that the best solution was to get married because that's what she (the adviser) did in order to stay here.
A group of my friends that are seniors in high school decided to throw their own Winter Ball rather than attend the one put on by the cheerleaders. Although the administration has no authority over what students do off campus, they threatened to not let the students walk on graduation. The administration claimed that the students were being anti-school spirit, and therefore should not be allowed to participate in an important school event. The reason for not allowing students to graduate was not a strong argument because it is the student's decision to attend a school function.
My mom and I went to the mall this weekend to look for some clothes. I needed a new pair of jeans because a pair of mine ripped. I looked everywhere and finally found the perfect pair. I showed my mom and she said i could not get them. I argued that I should get them because they fit me perfectly and I never can find a decent pair of jeans that fit. I also argued that they were worth the price because they actually fit me. My mom argued that it was unnecessary to buy these jeans because they were too expensive and eventually I would find another pair that fit as good but cost less.
Today I went out to lunch with my somewhat conservative mother. While eating and chatting, I mentioned to her that I want to get my one tattoo touched up and maybe have Scott, the artist who did my tattoo, add on to it. My mom flipped out saying to add on to my tatto, which she already disapproved of, was irresponsible. I asked her what she meant and this sparked our lil debate. My mom argued that getting a tattoo was irresponsible for my age (19) because I was so young that I couldn't possibly know if I would want this on my body forever. She also argued that it was inappropriate for work, and that to her tattoos are tacky. In my defense, I said her claim was based on her own personal disliking of tattoos and that she was not considering that we are two different people with different styles who grew up in different times. As for tattoos being inappropriate in certain career fields, I said that tattoos are already so common and intergrated in many careers. Also, I reassured my mother that my tattoo, which is on the back of my neck and is somewhat small, can easily be covered with wearing my hair down~ there an easy disguise. In the end, we agreed to just disagree.
My friend and I were discussing a trip we are planning for the summer in which we wanted to go to one of two possible music festivals. He wanted to go to one on the west coast and i wanted to go to another one on the east coast. My claim was that the music festival on the east coast would be more practical considering our final location would be in montreal. i used logos as rhetoric to explain that the west coast would be too far to drive just for one show. i also stated that most of the events we are attending are on or near the east coast. My argument and use of logos was successful. i convinced him that the show on the east coast would be a smarter choice. i also used logos in the sense that many of his favorite bands would play at the east coast show. It was a successful argument that resulted on the decision for the east coast show.
Today, my mother and I were running errands. We had to stop at Target to buy a gift for my nephew's birthday. When I went to put some bags in the trunk she noticed that there was a somewhat expensive gift that I had bought earlier in the day for some very close friends of mine. She very quickly became very upset with me. She claimed that I, "obviously", do not know the value of a dollar because I "aimlessly" spend money and it is my immaturity that causes me to disregard money as a simple piece of paper. I had to counter my mother's claims by pointing out that I do know the value of the dollar, having worked two part time jobs in one year along with attending school. Because my mom had so hastily started the argument I was unable to inform her that the gift would be doubling as a Christmas gift and an engagement present (because i did not want to be spending too much money). In the end, my mom had convinced me that the gift may have been a bit too lavish, however, she failed to convince me that I am unable to manage my own money and that my spending habits are in anyway immature or irresponsible. My mom's argument failed due to her lack of strong supporting evidence.
On Saturday night I was chilling with a friend of mine and we brought up the current teams in the super bowl (Patriots and Giants). Now even though we neither are fans of the patriots or giants we had opposing views of how the game would play out. I said New England is going to dominate the Giants because they are far more experienced in these type of games. He argued that it's destiny for the giants since they beat both the Cowboys and Packers, plus its the time for the Mannings. I still went on with the experience that Tom Brady has over that of Eli Manning, plus the Patriots are stacked on offense and have the key players to win on defense, and some of the Giant's key players are injured making them logically the under dog. In short he agreed with my evidence, or more so my reasoning, but just out of hate of the Patriots feels they're going to lose. The reason his opposing views failed to change my mind was because his reasoning by luck rather than statistics.
This was an argument that happened awhile ago because i couldn't think of one that happened this weekend, but anyways my mom and i keep going back and forth about me getting a tattoo. Her argument is that she wants me to go to a person that she has looked up or else knows a person that has gone and gotten a tattoo from a certain artist, she also does not want it to hold me back from getting a certain job when i am older. So one day when she was seeing a patient she said she saw the most beautiful tattoo she has ever seen in her life, she got the name of the artist from the patient and called me that night to tell me i could get one from this artist, so i planned on going home and getting it done this christmas. Once i get home and call the artist she said she has a five month waiting list, so i said screw it i will just go to the local tattoo parlor because i did not want to wait that long. As soon as i said that my mom came and told me she wanted me to wait a year before getting a tattoo so i went along with it and ended up leaving home with out a tattoo. When i got back to school I was talking to my older sister about the tattoo situation because last christmas she came home with a small tattoo on her ankle and didn't even tell my mom she ever wanted one. So when she came home with the tattoo my mom didn't really care she was just surprised, so this weekend when i was talking to my sister about everything and how my mom reacted to hers i decided to go out and get a small one myself and now we will just have to wait and see what my mom has to say about mine.
This argument began while my roommates and I were watching a re-run of "The Colbert Report". The guest for that episode was an author who had written a book about the internet and how it is a plague upon modern society. My roommate, Will (a computer programmer), was vehemently against this claim. He felt that the author's stance on internet self-publication being destructive was bogus. Will's main argument was that the internet facilitates people being "self-made successes". He then posed the hypothetical situation of a band that, prior to internet self-promotion, would not have been able to get their music heard. Then he appealed to me as a fan of film, saying that many independent filmmakers are given a place to showcase their work (such as youtube).
I do agree with Will that, in general, the internet allows people to be seen and heard. However, unlike Will, I do not think that this is a good statement in defense of the internet. Generally these people weren't seen or heard (prior to the internet) for a good reason: they are not talented! Will's argument was weak in several ways. In trying to create credible ethos he failed. Stating that he is a computer programmer does not make him an authority on the benefits of the internet. If anything, it makes him less credible because he is, in effect, stating, "I have a biased opinion." His appeal to pathos was also weak. Yes, I am a fan of film and like to see more than just big-budget blockbusters, but not once in all the time that youtube has been around have I seen something that made me think, "Wow, youtube really is an ASSET to the film community". In general I feel that most of the videos on youtube are a waste of time, and I regret ever watching them. Finally, he did not offer good "logos" or reasons. He had no solid evidence of the benefits of the internet, especially in regards to self-promotion. If he had been able to site a situation in which a successful band was found via their myspace page, I would have been more inclined to agree with his argument. Instead he offered only personal opinion and possible situations.
Over the weekend I had an argument with an associates at the UNM bookstore about my Spanish book. My claim was that I should be reimbursed for my time and expenses. My evidence was the simple fact that during the first semester I was enrolled in Spanish 101 and bought a brand new book. At the end of the semester I returned my book during the buy back days. Come to find out this semester for Spanish 102 we are using the same book. I bought a used book and thought I was done. When I tried to log on to the website for my homework, I was unable to access it because I bought a used book rather then a new one. When I went to the bookstore to settle this issue I was told I would have to buy a new code separately which was another $50. Their claim was that they are not aware of what book the teacher will use until the end of the previous semester. This did not make sense to me because the least they could have done was make note to the students that if they buy a used book they would have to buy a new code separately. I was unsuccessful in my argument and was not reimbursed.
Over the weekend i was having a discussion with my parents, that soon became an argument like it always does. The topic of the discussion was whether or not i was going to move out this summer into my own house. My dad seems to thinks that I am not ready to move out on my own yet, and since my schedule with softball is really busy, I will be unable to work. I am disagreeing with him completly, I think that I am ready to move out and be on my own. I plan on getting a good paying job this summmer to help pay for some of it. But the main reason I want to move out is because of how far away I live. My drive from my house to campus everyday is about thirty minutes, if I were to live closer to campus it would cut down on gas and time. I agree with him on some of his points and he agrees with some of mine, but neither one of us has convinced the other yet.
On Saturday night I was with three other friends and we were discussing the upcoming dodgeball season. We needed one more player because we lost a player from our last year squad. Garrett and I wanted Charlie because he has a decent arm and is just a really cool guy. The other two wanted Andy because he has a great arm and will help us win another dodgeball championship. The topic or the argument was which player would fit better on our dodgeball team. My claim was that Charlie would be a better match for our team. My reason was because he is liked more then Andy and we could win the dodgeball championship with him as well. Once i said that we could win the championship with Charlie as well. It was decided that Charlie would be on our team.
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