BLOG #5: Claim

The article titled, “BRINGING UP ADULTOLESCENTS*”, by Peg Tyre definitely got me thinking. Even though I was supposed to be more preoccupied with how I should be thinking about the Toulmin model related to this story, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was destined to be one of these post-college people crashing at my parents pad, bumming a few bucks off of them for dinner while searching for my inevitable career. However, I quickly realized that the main point to this entire article, or the claim, was that “Relying on your folks to light the shadowy path to the future has become so accepted that even the ultimate loser move- returning home to live with your parents- has lost its stigma” (Tyre, pg. 134). This very comparable situation to many of my peers does have some very frightening backing and reality to my personal reality and the reality of many college students. The fact that Tyre states how parents are becoming more and more influential in their children’s post-college lives and decision making is definitely prevalent (135). In fact, my parents prodding of my attending law-school upon my graduation and the unavoidable mountain of debt that will ensue has convinced me that it seems like a grand idea. Later, the author provides more backing to her claim by citing one particular story of how a young man has decided to take his very well-paying job and save his money for toys, trips, and leisure by moving back into his parents home; the fact that he even has a girlfriend helps to aide in the belief that living with your parents after college isn’t a “loser” thing to do anymore (135-136). Lastly, Tyre provides expert commentary from a financial planner indicating the immense amounts of funds parents are spending on these “Adultolescents” to furnish this hot new trend. Just for my personal sanity I hope my parents aren’t as “supportive”.

Blog #3: The importance of "THE WARRANT"

The warrant of an argument is one of the most critical pieces to the said argument. When someone presents an argument one of the most crucial elements is what the reader, or audience, will already believe due to their personal morals and their upbringing. The author is writing an argument with his or her own personal beliefs and ideas about the issue being presented that he or she feels and wants the readers to share. Most of these beliefs held by the author are not expressively written by the author; rather the ideas are hinted at, or implied by the claim and then the corresponding support. These ideas and opinions already formulated by the reader through previously read information and possible societal norms have the most influence on how the particular reader will interpret an argument. An example of a warrant is, when an author states that a quarterback of a football team is overrated because his team can’t win he implies that a quarterback is the main reason for a teams success. The best chance an author has of convincing their readers of their argument is if they share warrants. However, when a reader doesn’t share the same warrant as the author, the argument loses articulacy. For instance, if someone is trying to argue the idea that universal healthcare is needed in the United States to a person who already feels that the government has too much involvement in our society; their warrant that everyone deserves health care is lost. Another example is if a person is trying to argue that the war in Iraq is unjustified and a lost cause to a person who is a loyal Bushy (a person who is a fan of George W. Bush) and believes in imposing democracy on a country, this argument again would have little foundation. Therefore, the warrant is more than likely the most pivotal component to any strong and convincing argument.

Images and their meaning

A.

A picture is worth a thousand words. That line is known to many people and a single picture actually can transcend race, religion, or language. A picture can be the rallying cry of a country that financially backs a war (Marines Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, 1945 (Wood 204) ), the image that makes millions of people witness the devastation that is war (little Vietnamese girl burned by napalm running down the street), or evidence of miracles during a cold war (1980 USA hockey team celebrating their win over the USSR). Visual argument is an important and highly persuasive tool. I feel that the control a photographer has over what is in a certain visual aide is the most important tool in visual argument. By excluding, or including, certain elements to a picture, the photographer can influence their audience immensely (205). This tactic can make it so that a dangerous protester who is threatening the public safety and acting irrational, look like an innocent victim of police brutality in just one single shot. Any single picture taken at the right moment can affect an audience’s perception of the incident forever.

B.

In the McCloud reading I found myself agreeing with so many of the points made about icons. I found that the idea of how our mind can take the most simplistic of symbols and turn that into a face to be the most important feature. It demonstrates our desire to be able to relate to images and make them more familiar to us (McCloud 202-204). I find myself doing this as I write this very blog entry. Looking at an apartment complex up the hill from my back porch I can make two eyes out of windows on either side of the front door, which I have made the mouth and nose. Our conditioned perceptions of images limit our ability to place different images in different perspectives. Finally, I could really relate to how McCloud shows us that an image we see and describe as a pipe is actually not a pipe. It is simply the recreation of a sketch of a pipe; basically just ink (196).