POST 3

One concept I really liked learning about during the semester was learning about the appeal to emotion. I wish this section was a little bit longer than a paragraph like the book has it. I think I’m really interested in this topic because I’m a psyc minor and I watch a lot of Law and Order: SVU. (Great show by the way). I think it is really amazing how you can convince people of your stance by tapping into their emotions. I think this is the main reason why people are successful life. A lot of people are rich because I think basically, they know how to manipulate people whether it be buying shares in their stocks or being one of the investors in the company. It is just really amazing how you can sway one person’s emotions by saying something that they can relate to or touches them in a certain way.

POST 2

What I’ve learned in this class over the semester is to not procrastinate. But I think that applies to all my classes. Probably my life too. (sigh). Although we were given an ample amount of time to do our posts on our blogs, I would always lost track of time because I always thought I had a lot of it. Next thing I knew, I was Friday night and I was stuck looking at the clock every minute so I could post in those 12 hour intervals. So, after this, hopefully I have learned my lesson to not procrastinate. I also learned how to work with a group better. I have always done my work on my own just because it was a lot easier because I did not have to depend on anyone else besides myself. I think working with a group taught me how to communicate better with people.

POST 1

What I liked about this class the most was that it was online and it was on my own pace. I know I had due dates in this class but I felt like it was really more relaxed than other classes and less demanding. I liked how the blogs were very vague and weren’t so specific so it was fairly easy to write about anything.

What I didn’t like about the class was the group essays. Sometimes it was really difficult to meet with my group and I’m not used to working in groups because I usually do things on my own. It gives me a sort of paranoia because I’m always worried if something goes wrong with my group mates. It’s really hard to organize myself, yet alone four other people. 

I guess this could be improved by not having group work? Other than that, I don’t really have a problem with the class. 

WEEK 12, POST 1

Reasoning by analogy is when someone compares the argument in question to a similar argument. An example of this would be, the glee club is allowed to sell candy for fundraising so the christian club should be allowed to sell candy too. 

Sign reasoning claims that two or more things are so closely related that the presence or absence of one indicates the presence or absence of the other. When there is thunder, there is lightning. Although lightning can exist without any thunder.

Casual reasoning is when one even is the cause of the even after. An example would be if you take out the pan without oven mitts, you will burn yourself. The act of you not using mitts causes your burn.

Reasoning by criteria is defining by a certain guideline, if you will, instead of just getting straight to the point. An example is, being successful and getting a good job requires you to do certain things versus saying, you need to go to school in order to be successful. 

Reasoning by example is using example in an argument. You should tint your windows, all my friends tint their windows no one can look into their car.

Inductive reasoning is making a judgement based on a previous observation but the truth of the premise does not guarantee the truth of conclusion. The paper boy delivers the paper at 5AM. He will deliver the paper at 5AM tomorrow.

Deductive reasoning is true only when the conclusion and premise is true. All electrical equipment requires electricity. My lamp is electric. My lamp requires electricity. 

WEEK 11, POST 3

Undiscussed Concept

An interesting concept I read about was appeal to pity. After reading the short description, this concept is pretty sneaky and underhanded. It puts your audience in a position where they feel awkward or bad if they do not comply or agree with the premise. The appeal to pity is also manipulative like the appeal to fear. If you let your emotions get the best of you and are very gullible, then you are the best candidate for this appeal. Appeal to pity is great to use when you know your audience can easily relate to the issue. For example, if someone was giving a speech about domestic violence to a group of women who have experienced domestic violence, then they would be easily swayed if the arguer said that everyone should know self-defense to protect themselves. Along with the speech, the arguer showed pictures of battered women with black eyes and x-rays of dislocated joints and broken body parts. These instruments aid into the appeal to pity because the women relate and feel the same exact pain they see in the pictures. Assume in a hypothetical situation, these women were defenseless and did not know how to fight. After going through their traumatizing experience, they would want to know self-defense to have a piece of mind. 

WEEK 11, POST 2

http://www.stanford.edu/class/linguist34/advertisements/fear%20ads/pages/flonase_jpg.htm

The advertisement attached is about allergy medication. At the top of the ad, there are several pictures of a woman showing various allergy symptoms. The woman looks very discomforted and the fact that the pictures are in a grayscale make it more dramatic. There are words such as “nasal congestion, itchy nose, and sneezing” to reiterate the message conveyed in the pictures. 

“When you’ve had it with multi-symptoms nasal allergies, all it takes is Flonase for multi-symptom relief” is underneath the pictures. Directly underneath is the same woman, in color, looking very happy and allergy free. The unstated argument is that if you take Flonase, you will no longer have allergies making you a happier rather than when you were having allergies. If you don’t take the medication, you will look like her at the top of the advertisement. This is a good argument that appeals to your emotions and more specifically, fear. 

WEEK 11, POST 1

In chapter 10, Too Much Emotional the idea of appeal to emotion is well, pretty self explanatory. It appeals to.. you know.. your emotions. I feel like the appeal to emotion is one of the strongest appeals you can use in an arguments. Everyone has an opinion on everything whether it is good or bad or maybe with no opinion at all. 

The appeal to fear strikes me the most. It was used a lot growing up in a strict family.
“You should finish your food before you get the slipper!” (If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m Filipino. And don’t worry, I turned out fine. haha) My dad’s argument heavily persuaded me to finish my food because if I didn’t, I would be punished. Appeal to fear isn’t really a good way to persuade your audience though. You would be able to persuade them but you don’t know what the repercussions are. Your audience might not like your or trust you anymore.