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Topic Of Choice: Clemens On ‘Roids
This past Tuesday in congress, there were two completely different testimonies under oath. However, as I sit around and think about the entire saga between Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee and the involvement of Congress, I think that the panel of Senators has no choice but to go after Roger and charge him with perjury. For two reasons, the first is that by charging Roger with perjury they will certainly make their argument that they needed to get involved with this, because public perception is that they are wasting their time if something doesn’t come out of this. The second reason is because of Barry Bonds and how he’s in a battle currently being charged with perjury. The Bonds supporters will scream from the rooftops about how this would be a double standard, and they may have a pretty good case. If you remember the last few years it’s taken Roger Clemens months to decide to return to play. Most believe that’s because Roger was still unsure whether he wanted to play again. But what if he took so long to come back because he was trying to get the performance enhancing drugs out of his system that he took during the off-season before any drug testing? It’s certainly not that far fetched when you think about it. Maybe Congress can make something out of this and keep future players from making the same mistakes by risking their playing status from performance enhancing drugs. Maybe they can have a new post career awards hall called the ‘hall of shame’, it would take fewer skills on the baseball diamond to get in.
Current Event: Mitt Romney Backs Out Of Presidential Campaign
This past Thursday in front of an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mitt Romney announced that he would no longer be campaigning for president. Romney made the audience listen as he pounded in their minds that he is a rock-hard conservative when it comes to social issues, economic issues, and national security issues. Romney knew that in a few hours John McCain would appear before the same audience and try to appease those conservative. Though Romney was departing the race, he seized the moment to present himself as the real thing and was attempting to position himself as the true leader of the movement. Which caused me to wonder: maybe Romney doesn’t want McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, to win in November. Whether or not McCain loses in November, Romney will remain the heartthrob of many conservative activists. But should McCain fail, Romney could potentially be chosen to be McCain’s running mate. And Romney would be able to use those millions of dollars he didn’t spend on this campaign and be well positioned for the next presidential campaign. Republican losers often come back and succeed. Not only did Reagan do it, but so did the first George Bush (who lost to Reagan in the 1980 Republican race) and Richard Nixon. So, Romney may not have to wait so long to have another shot. In 2012, he’ll be 65 years old. Reagan was 69 when he reached the White House.
Topic Of Choice: Writers Strike May Be Coming To A Close
One of my very first blog posts for this class was about the ongoing writers strike plaguing our television industry. However, this strike may be coming to an end sooner than later. Members of the Writers Guild of America are scheduled to meet Saturday in New York and Los Angeles, where union leaders will brief them on proposals that could end a strike that has crippled the production of television shows and stalled many Hollywood movie scripts. Guild leaders will try to sell a new contract to the striking members, who walked out over payment for their work in new media, primarily streaming or downloads of movies and television shows over the Internet. If writers agree to the contract terms, they could go back to work as early as Monday. However, it is still unclear what process they will follow for approving any deal, and if there is agreement, it could take longer to return. If the writers choose to return, they would resume working on top television shows. Many of the writers are lacking any sense of a script and would take six to eight weeks to come back. Studios have just recently offered writers a small flat fee for Internet use of their material, and a lengthy “promotional” window in which they wouldn’t be required to pay. In a compromise, however, they’ve agreed to shorten that window and, in the third year of this agreement they would convert the flat fee to a fixed percentage. Whatever the outcome of this meeting may be, I just want new episodes of my favorite television shows to air as soon as possible.
Class Discussion: The Homeless
In the class discussion about whether or not to give a dollar to a homeless person, made me think about whether or not these “homeless” are actually really without a home. I mean have you ever wondered about the so-called homeless person (without a shopping cart with his/her personal belongings in it) holding a sign for money, called panhandling? Look, the problem here is not the homeless, but US! I continually see drivers giving money to these people out of guilt or being a “good human being”. If they weren’t able to collect money, they wouldn’t stand there. I repeatedly will not give money to those on the street, but I will give money to the organizations that actually provide a service for the homeless. Believe it or not many the homeless are NOT actually homeless. A shocking fact, I know. The cops will tell these homeless to cease illegally panhandling as it is against the law to do so. But, these “fake” homeless don’t care to obey a lawful order, being if they did obey the law, they won’t be able to buy their heroin. So, the next time you see a “fake” homeless person begging for money for his/her drug habit, instead of giving them money, give them heroin instead. (sarcasm) Because people in cars always give them money which enable them to do drugs anyways. Or stop giving them money for drugs is the best answer. I don’t mean this to be overly cold-hearted, but I work hard for my money, and they could do the same if they actually tried to get a job.
Topic of Choice: Brewery Sued Over Healthy Beer
As the Super Bowl approaches this coming Sunday, many funny and unique commercials will be shown to a national audience. Beer, and alcoholic beverage companies will sponsor the majority of the commercials on Super Bowl Sunday. It is hard to believe that with a growing trend of obesity in the United States, and beer being loaded with calories, this is what our nation will be focused on. The latest news comes from an Ohio brewery that is suing a former employee, claiming he stole their formula for making healthy beer! Brewmandu Brewery alleges that Brian Lottig stole the idea of selling a beer that’s good for you, and took it to establish his own “The Lion Brewery.” According to documents, the brewery spent 10 years in research and development on a beer that has “vitamins and nutrients to protect the liver and offer increased nutritional content to combat the negative effects of alcohol consumption.” Selling a beer that’s good for you? A beer that has vitamins and nutrients to protect the liver and offer increased nutritional content to combat the negative effects of alcohol consumption? That’s a great idea! Why don’t they also add some other products in the beer that keeps someone from driving a car, while intoxicated, and crashing into another car and killing the driver and passengers of that car? Give me a break. Looks like we’ll have to wait for this wonderful product until the next Super Bowl.
Analysis of Presidential Campaign Commercial
I chose a Fred Thompson advertisement that I stumbled over while browsing on YouTube. This sixty-second spot, citing his “100 percent pro-life voting record” and “common sense conservative principles,” the Thompson for President campaign was unveiled on Thursday evening across nearly every major broadcast channel and market in South Carolina. The commercial, titled “Consistent Conservative,” highlights the Senator’s consistent conservative values. This was the fourth advertisement that the Thompson campaign has aired in South Carolina. The commercial begins by saying that Fred Thompson has been a conservative all of his life, that he started the first Young Republican Club in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, and that he is proud to have a 100 percent pro-life voting record. These statements act as an establishment of authority, which appeals to the element of ethos. He establishes emotion by stating that “we must remember that our basic rights come from God and not from government.” He appeals to the element of logos by also stating, “if we stick to our basic conservative principles, we will win next November and the United States of America will be better for it.” Fred Thompson establishes a common ground from the beginning telling how he grew up in a little hometown much like Lawrenceburg. The commercial ends with an announcer saying, “Strength, Conviction, Honesty. Fred Thompson, President.” By stating all of these qualities of Thompson, the commercial may have gained a brand new crowd. The commercial did a great job at appealing to ethos, pathos, and logos, and was a strong advertisement for Thompson.
Topic of Choice: Striking In Network Television
The Oscar nominations are out and the awards ceremony is just weeks away. The big question is whether or not the writer’s strike will be settled by then and, if not, will the strike transform the show into a glorified press conference. If you didn’t already know, many major television networks are on strike with the writers of some of your favorite shows. This is only the beginning though, with Hollywood movie strikes just around the corner. In fact by the year 2010, your big box office hits may no longer exist. This is the perfect time for one of the candidates in the presidential race to get involved in the strike. You can talk all you want about war and peace, the economy, our foreign policy, taxes, and illegal immigration, but if you really want to hit Americans with something they can feel in their gut, give them back new episodes of CSI and Hannah Montana. Television is the one of the most unifying forces in American lives. Rudy, forget Florida, think Family Guy. Edwards, the two Americas you need to be thinking about are the one that watches an insane amount of TV and the one that watches an unthinkable amount of TV. McCain, don’t tell me you don’t watch Prison Break. Hillary, want the tears to have an impact? Save them for a fresh episode of Grays Anatomy. If the strike is settled under the watch of one of the candidates, it is a guaranteed win in November.
Part One: Reading and Response:
1) Ethos is how much information you know, and making a connection with readers to form trust and support the writer’s thoughts.
Pathos is forming an emotional connection with the audience by using examples such as experiences, and feelings.
Logos is using evidence as a way of forming and reaching decisions.
2) When writing a research paper good strategies you can use for appealing to the readers trust in authority are to research your topic thoroughly. The writer gives credibility and shows knowledge of key points to an argument.
3) Some good strategies for appealing to emotion when you are formulating a reasonable argument are using images, and memories, thus catching the reader’s attention. An example would be sharing experiences with a certain topic that relates to the audience.
4) There are potential disadvantages with using a heaving appeal to emotion. Such advertisements about starving children in third world countries may be too disturbing for an audience.
5) To build a strong argument one can use logos by using intellectual content, and references. It is very important to use logos when formulating a reasonable argument because if there is no logic the reader will be uninterested.
6) Ethos, logos, and pathos are not completely separate from each other. They all need each other, and it is important to have all three appeals to make an audience appeal to one. Advertisements can show authority by having a celebrity as a spokesperson.
Part Two: Applying the Concepts
Childhood Obesity: Introducing the Fat Card, By: Janet Barnett.
This essay is about the increasing number of students who are facing obesity and how this problem is taking over the United States. Using all three appeals to writing, this essay makes a great argument. Children these days are growing up, and eating so much junk food, and watching television or play video games all day, and never getting any exercise. A shocking fact shows that students may not be able to work when they get older if we do not change our way of living immediately. The way we treat our body and take in food in the unhealthiest way will not allow us to work. Parents and guardians are the only ones to blame for this horrible act. They are the ones responsible for giving their children fattening television food choices and unlimited video game time, and not sitting them down to a healthy dinner, and maybe a little exercise. The government showed desire to change this issue with obesity and ordered schools to provide body mass index information in health report cards. Many stats and facts are shown through the logics of this essay. On average, about 60% of all people in the United States are overweight. Obesity causes heart conditions, diabetes, and hypertension and is starting in young adults. Childhood obesity has increased over the last thirty years, and nine million children are now considered obese. When you start hearing numbers as a joke, such as the dreaded “Freshman Fifteen,” it no longer becomes a joke. This is a serious problem among our nation, and something drastic needs to happen to change this unhealthy trend.
Part One: Reading and Quick Summary
A claim is an element of an argument and is frequently referred to as an excuse. Claims need reasons, or support, to back them up. Daily life is filled with claims by advertisements, and are all supported by reasons.
Support is an element of an argument that has reasons provided to convince someone to agree with your claim.
Evidence is an element of an argument that provides reason to suggest that something is valid or not. Evidence includes practically anything that backs the claim.
Explanation is an element of an argument that serves as a form of clarification for evidence. Often times, evidence is not clear and needs further explanation to be interpretated better.
Part Two: Applying the Concepts
1) My immediate response to Crichton’s article is that I agree with him in a way, but I also think his argument on environmentalism is awkward. He seems to flip flop the idea by showing that environmentalism is a religion, and then saying how it needs to be looked at in a scientific way. Crichton’s article made it clear that no two people are alike, and in our society there will always be arguments. One thing that stuck out to me was that he was pretty accurate when stating that people will stick with their religion, and not have people tell them otherwise.
2) The tone of this article is somewhat sarcastic, and negative. He feels very strongly about the topic and tries to get the readers to feel that there is no good in the world, and how he feels about enviromentalism related to religion. He is informing the reader of all the false information that they are receiving about environmentalism.
3) Crichton’s main claim in his article is that the world will never be understood completely and there is always going to be trouble in reality. He supports this claim by referring to Eden as if there never was one. And how there has always been trouble in the world.
4) Crichton supports his claim by giving us evidence of false predictions and arguments. He also asks the question of when the world was, or if it will ever be paradise. He uses evidence such as statistics of how many children die before they reach the age of five, and how many species of animals become extinct every year. This evidence helps prove Crichton’s case of how bad the world really has become.
5) Crichton does not have any citings because he could never do anything to make people counter their faith, and it would waste a lot of his time. Not citing is never a good idea because although he does tell the reader that they are from reliable sources, I think this could still hurt his argument.
6) I feel that Crichton’s argument was very well organized which made it very strong.
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