While reading chapter six of the Pearson Text I learned many things about writing a classical argument that I did not previously know. One hotspot I found read "Because controversial issues involve many different points of view, not just two, reducing an issue to pro/con positions disorts the complexity of the disagreement" (Pearson 130). This stuck out to me because I have always connected controversial issues with pro/con arguments. It seems obvious to me that each controversial issue has an argument for it, but also against it, never thinking about how there could be different views that are not so clear-cut. Another hotspot I found in chapter six is "To make your arguments as persuasive as possible, apply to your evidence what rhetorician Richard Fulkerson calls the STAR criteria (Sufficiency, Typicality, Accuracy, and Relevance), as shown in the chart on this page" (Pearson 140). I found this interesting because I have never heard this acronym before when discussing writing. I think it is a good tool to use, but as the book says, it can be hard to make all arguments fulfill all four of the criteria, but it is a good goal to strive towards in our writing.
The next chapter, chapter seven, is about evaluating sources. I learned many things throughout this chapter about how to perform good research and validate the sources I choose to use. The first hotspot I found is "Summarize each source's argument and record useful information" (Pearson 181). This is about taking notes on research, to get the most out of what you are reading. I think it is a good idea because it will help you keep track of what information is in each article. As I continued reading I found a second hotspot about evaluating web sources. In Table 2 it says that there are five things to consider when evaluating the source: authority, objectivity or clear disclosure of advocacy, coverage, accuracy, and currency (Pearson 187). I never thought about how it is different with web sources rather than book sources but this has cleared up that websites are much harder to determine reliable or not because of all of the possibilities. Books are known to be truthful and informational, whereas with websites could be written by anyone so it is very important to check them out before using them as a source.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Kathryn McDermott Blog #15
For my blog essay I am choosing to write about the issues and war in Libya. This is interesting to me because two of my very close friends are middle eastern and one of them is Libyan. I am going to write about 4 blogs that I found that have to do with my topic.
The first one is Al Jazeera, which is a live blog that updates about what happens each day and time in different countries around the world, one of them being Libya. It is written by Al Jazeera staff members located in the Middle East that update the blog whenever something major happens. This blog does not use ethos or pathos because it does not include personal opinions or emotion. The blog is a constant update of information, the posts are short and to the point, including pictures, videos, statistics, and anything else that is going on. One example would be "2:00am: A group of Libyan army officers have reportedly issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to “join the people” and help remove Gaddafi from power" (http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/17/live-blog-libya). The blog is all information and therefore is all logos. This blog is different from many others because it is not just one entry or essay, it is an entire blog about Libya and it's current events.
The second blog I found is through the New York Times, it is their At War Blog, which covers stories about wars all over the world. However, you can search "tags" in their blogs to find which ones you are looking for. So the blog I will be referencing is their At War Blog for Libya. It uses ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos because it is the blog of a highly ranked news paper written by very credible reporters. It uses pathos because the writers include their opinions in their blog entry. And finally logos because it is all in regards of the war, it is not just opinions, but factual information as well, intended to inform the reader. "I personally believe that the worst impact of dictatorial regimes on their nations only begins after their removal, so I will not be surprised to hear Libyans soon praising the days of Qaddafi and his awful regime" (http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/libya/). That is just one example that includes both personal opinion and factual information. This blog is different than others because not only is it multiple entries but it is all from a news paper blog which ensures credibility and interesting information.
The third blog I found is through NPR, it's their news blog called The Two-way and this edition is written by Korva Coleman, Mark Memmott, and Eyder Peralta. It is mostly logos since it is a news report written to inform the reader. It is different than the other two that I have found so far because it is just one post, not a series of them. It is more blog-format than the other two, with comments from the readers.
The fourth and final blog I chose to use is a Blogger account called Libya S.O.S. and it's author is unknown besides the blog's name. It is a very informative blog dedicated to the war in Libya. It uses ethos, pathos, and logos. The ethos comes from the photos it includes, the blogger posts many pictures and videos that relate to the war. It uses pathos in a very indirect way, the writer never says "I feel..." or shares a personal story, but after looking through many blog posts it is easy to tell their point of view on the war based on the photos they choose to share versus the ones they do not. It uses logos like all of the other blogs, by informing the reader of the current events happening in Libya.
The first one is Al Jazeera, which is a live blog that updates about what happens each day and time in different countries around the world, one of them being Libya. It is written by Al Jazeera staff members located in the Middle East that update the blog whenever something major happens. This blog does not use ethos or pathos because it does not include personal opinions or emotion. The blog is a constant update of information, the posts are short and to the point, including pictures, videos, statistics, and anything else that is going on. One example would be "2:00am: A group of Libyan army officers have reportedly issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to “join the people” and help remove Gaddafi from power" (http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/17/live-blog-libya). The blog is all information and therefore is all logos. This blog is different from many others because it is not just one entry or essay, it is an entire blog about Libya and it's current events.
The second blog I found is through the New York Times, it is their At War Blog, which covers stories about wars all over the world. However, you can search "tags" in their blogs to find which ones you are looking for. So the blog I will be referencing is their At War Blog for Libya. It uses ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos because it is the blog of a highly ranked news paper written by very credible reporters. It uses pathos because the writers include their opinions in their blog entry. And finally logos because it is all in regards of the war, it is not just opinions, but factual information as well, intended to inform the reader. "I personally believe that the worst impact of dictatorial regimes on their nations only begins after their removal, so I will not be surprised to hear Libyans soon praising the days of Qaddafi and his awful regime" (http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/libya/). That is just one example that includes both personal opinion and factual information. This blog is different than others because not only is it multiple entries but it is all from a news paper blog which ensures credibility and interesting information.
The third blog I found is through NPR, it's their news blog called The Two-way and this edition is written by Korva Coleman, Mark Memmott, and Eyder Peralta. It is mostly logos since it is a news report written to inform the reader. It is different than the other two that I have found so far because it is just one post, not a series of them. It is more blog-format than the other two, with comments from the readers.
The fourth and final blog I chose to use is a Blogger account called Libya S.O.S. and it's author is unknown besides the blog's name. It is a very informative blog dedicated to the war in Libya. It uses ethos, pathos, and logos. The ethos comes from the photos it includes, the blogger posts many pictures and videos that relate to the war. It uses pathos in a very indirect way, the writer never says "I feel..." or shares a personal story, but after looking through many blog posts it is easy to tell their point of view on the war based on the photos they choose to share versus the ones they do not. It uses logos like all of the other blogs, by informing the reader of the current events happening in Libya.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Kathryn McDermott Blog #14
While reading I found my first hotspot in the Our Commonality section. "They can be characterized by their conversational tone and unlike a more formal essay or speech, a blog post is often an opening to discussion, rather than a full-fledged argument already arrived at" (Melzer 295). Blogs can majorly vary in content, from writing a controversial statement to writing about activities or emotions. They are usually open-ended and leave room for people to give opinion or share thoughts. That is why there is the comment ability on blogs, so that people can converse over the topic of the blog post. It makes more sense now as to why our homework requires us to comment on each others blogs, to see everyones thoughts and share our opinions.
A second hotspot I found has to do with the timestamp of the blog and its importance. "Moments of shared experience can be powerful connectors. They happen in the offline world when two strangers on the subway chuckle at the same funny billboard, and make eye contact as they do so" (Melzer 297). I thought this was a good comparison. The autor goes on to talk about how it is the same online when a person is thinking about buying a certain book and then gets online to find out that you bought the same one. I thought it was an interesting perspective to have on blogs, like you're sharing a moment with someone, but online.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Kathryn McDermott Blog #13
In chapter 5 I found two hotspots. One was "The essential move for exploratory thinking and writing is to keep a problem alive through consideration of multiple solutions or points of view" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 107). This sticks out to me because we just wrote an exploratory essay in class and so I better understand the meaning behind the quote. Another hotspot I found while reading chapter 5 was "The key to producing a good annotated bibliography is to take good research notes as you read" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 118). This stuck out to me because we have not written an annotated bibliography yet this year, nor have I written one since my junior year research paper. I know it was a pain to make, but it did help a lot with my research.
While skimming chapter 8 I found another two hotspots. "How you incorporate a research source into your own paper - whether, for example, you summarize it fully or simply draw a few pieces of factual information from it - depends on your own purpose" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 199). This chapter is about how to incorporate sources into your paper and I think that this sentences sums up an interesting way to do that. Another hotspot is "As a research writer, you need to incorporate sources gracefully into your own prose so that you stay focused on your own argument" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 202). This is a good quote because it is talking about when to quote, when to summarize, and when to paraphrase, which is very important to writing an effective paper.
In chapter 9 I found another hotspot "An in-text citation and its corresponding Works Cited entry are linked in a chicken-and-egg system: You can't cite a source in the text without first knowing how the source's entry will be alphabetized in the Works Cited list" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 222). This stuck out to me originally because it was comical, but as I reread it I realized it really was true to writing and how to make the Works Cited page.
While skimming chapter 8 I found another two hotspots. "How you incorporate a research source into your own paper - whether, for example, you summarize it fully or simply draw a few pieces of factual information from it - depends on your own purpose" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 199). This chapter is about how to incorporate sources into your paper and I think that this sentences sums up an interesting way to do that. Another hotspot is "As a research writer, you need to incorporate sources gracefully into your own prose so that you stay focused on your own argument" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 202). This is a good quote because it is talking about when to quote, when to summarize, and when to paraphrase, which is very important to writing an effective paper.
In chapter 9 I found another hotspot "An in-text citation and its corresponding Works Cited entry are linked in a chicken-and-egg system: You can't cite a source in the text without first knowing how the source's entry will be alphabetized in the Works Cited list" (Rammage, Bean, Johnson 222). This stuck out to me originally because it was comical, but as I reread it I realized it really was true to writing and how to make the Works Cited page.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Kathryn #11
The place that I find rhetoric most interesting is in advertisements.
These two ads use different types of rhetoric to make their product look the best.
- The first one with carrots uses exaggeration to show that their knife is sharper than the rest
- The second is a metaphor to say that Heinz ketchup is healthy and is just tomatoes in a jar
Advertisements are important to the general public because they portray the products that we buy and use on a regular basis.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Kathryn Double-Entry
My question for my exploratory essay is : Should same-sex couples be allowed to adopt children? I will be looking at why some states are banning same-sex adoption and why some are supporting it.
ARTICLE ONE
David L. Olguin, et al. "Gay-Male Couples Who Adopt: Challenging Historical and Contemporary Social Trends Toward Becoming a Family." Perspectives in Psychiatric Care42.3 (2006): 184-195. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.
Starts off by explaining why it can be stressful for same-sex couples to adopt.
-good background knowledge to incorporate
The next page and a half talks about "the Healthy People 2010 paradigm for Determinants of Health, designed by scientists, clinicians, public health providers, mental health providers, substance abuse clinicians, national health, and state health organizations, seeks to achieve two overarching goals for the United States" (Lobaugh 185).
-not extremely relevant to my topic, but still has useful information
The next two and a half pages talk about historical implications of homophobia, heterosexism, and sexual prejudice. Including statistics and a chart that lists what states allow it, haven't decided, or have laws against it.
-very helpful to my paper, especially information on the states
The next section discusses contemporary issues on why people do not think gay-male couples should be allowed to adopt.
-this is when I started to look clearly at both sides of the argument
Nature versus nurture, if gays adopt children will they end up gay because of socialization effects, or will they not because of their biological genes.
-very important points, most likely will incorporate them
Quotes about suicide rates in same-sex couples versus heterosexual couples
-good statistics to include
Quote "At present, there are no valid arguments to prevent gay-male couples from adopting and raising children" (Lobaugh 191).
-still supporting my opinion
Summary: This article goes through multiple points as to why gay-male couples should or should not be able to adopt children. Overall, their points were valid and included both biological and sociological perspectives to support them. It mostly proves that adoption should be allowed with certain restrictions such as required interventions and therapy.
ARTICLE TWO
Farr, Rachel H., Stephen L. Forssell, and Charlotte J. Patterson. "Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents: Couple and Relationship Issues." Journal of GLBT Family Studies 6.2 (2010): 199-213. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.
Starts off by proving that same-sex and heterosexual relationships all have emotional and romantic relationships
-good information but not too useful for me
Continues with statistics and information about sexual relations between heterosexual couples vs. lesbian couples vs. gay couples.
-completely irrelevant to my paper
Then it explains the experiment and who was being kept track of, all adoptive parents, all different sexualities
-the experiment is exactly what I need
Explains the materials and the procedure
-not important to me
Listed the results and conclusion
-key information, probably will use
Summary: This article was of a longitudinal study of heterosexual couples, lesbian couples, and gay couples that have all adopted children. It measured their happiness together, their attachment to each other, and how well they worked as a family. The results turned out practically all identical between all three couple types. This supports that there should be nothing against same-sex couple adoption in the states.
ARTICLE ONE
David L. Olguin, et al. "Gay-Male Couples Who Adopt: Challenging Historical and Contemporary Social Trends Toward Becoming a Family." Perspectives in Psychiatric Care42.3 (2006): 184-195. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.
Starts off by explaining why it can be stressful for same-sex couples to adopt.
-good background knowledge to incorporate
The next page and a half talks about "the Healthy People 2010 paradigm for Determinants of Health, designed by scientists, clinicians, public health providers, mental health providers, substance abuse clinicians, national health, and state health organizations, seeks to achieve two overarching goals for the United States" (Lobaugh 185).
-not extremely relevant to my topic, but still has useful information
The next two and a half pages talk about historical implications of homophobia, heterosexism, and sexual prejudice. Including statistics and a chart that lists what states allow it, haven't decided, or have laws against it.
-very helpful to my paper, especially information on the states
The next section discusses contemporary issues on why people do not think gay-male couples should be allowed to adopt.
-this is when I started to look clearly at both sides of the argument
Nature versus nurture, if gays adopt children will they end up gay because of socialization effects, or will they not because of their biological genes.
-very important points, most likely will incorporate them
Quotes about suicide rates in same-sex couples versus heterosexual couples
-good statistics to include
Quote "At present, there are no valid arguments to prevent gay-male couples from adopting and raising children" (Lobaugh 191).
-still supporting my opinion
Summary: This article goes through multiple points as to why gay-male couples should or should not be able to adopt children. Overall, their points were valid and included both biological and sociological perspectives to support them. It mostly proves that adoption should be allowed with certain restrictions such as required interventions and therapy.
ARTICLE TWO
Farr, Rachel H., Stephen L. Forssell, and Charlotte J. Patterson. "Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents: Couple and Relationship Issues." Journal of GLBT Family Studies 6.2 (2010): 199-213. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.
Starts off by proving that same-sex and heterosexual relationships all have emotional and romantic relationships
-good information but not too useful for me
Continues with statistics and information about sexual relations between heterosexual couples vs. lesbian couples vs. gay couples.
-completely irrelevant to my paper
Then it explains the experiment and who was being kept track of, all adoptive parents, all different sexualities
-the experiment is exactly what I need
Explains the materials and the procedure
-not important to me
Listed the results and conclusion
-key information, probably will use
Summary: This article was of a longitudinal study of heterosexual couples, lesbian couples, and gay couples that have all adopted children. It measured their happiness together, their attachment to each other, and how well they worked as a family. The results turned out practically all identical between all three couple types. This supports that there should be nothing against same-sex couple adoption in the states.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Blog #9 Questions
1. Should gay marriage be legalized in all of the states?
2. Is social networking bad for society?
2. Is social networking bad for society?
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