Wednesday, January 14 2008
January 10, 2009
Class Agenda for January 14 2008
1) Introduction to the Course/1,245
2) Our fantastic Hub-Blog
3) Our Policy and Procedure Sheet
4) Our Syllabus
5) An Introduction to Blogging and Eh 124
6) Who are you?
7) Who am I?
8) What is this course about?
9) What is an argument? What is argumentation?
10) Everything’s an Argument/ with Readings 4th edition
In-class work:
Take out a piece of paper and something to write with.
This course is constructed to build off of Eh 123, Rhetoric and Composition I. In that course, you spent a great deal of time investigating your own culture and thinking about what it means to be a member of the student community at Husson University.
As I have already said, this class focuses closely on argumentation, and in your reading for next time you are going to be learning a lot about the different kinds of arguments that you encounter in a given day.
Let’s begin our work together by writing a response to the following prompt:
When you think of the word “argument,” what comes to mind? What are some different kinds of arguments that people can have? Describe in detail an argument you have had with someone over the course of the last semester. What was the reason for the argument? How did you state your case? How was the argument resolved? You are to write TWO FULL pages on this topic.
Discussion of Writing Assignment
[...] Wednesday, January 14 [...]
Amanda P.
January 15, 2009
Homework Assign. 1
After reading, “Everything’s an Argument”. I have come to the conclusion that when you really think about it you can turn anything around and make it an argument. So therefore, everything is an argument. You might have an argument between you and someone else or you might have an argument with a bunch of people on a specific thing that you really believe or it might just be within yourself. Arguments to make decisions are an argument basically with you. Closely thinking about what you want and what you need in life. You set out for making your life better and your decision has to better yourself in the end. You might find yourself contemplating whether or not to buy something. Is that object right for you? Do you really need it? Is it worth your money? These are all questions you have to think about when making a decision and when making a decision arguing comes to mind.
One of the big arguments that I have encountered a lot over the last year is what college I am going to go to. What am I going to do with my life? What major do I want to pursue, what is best for me? What will I succeed at? This was an argument that I have had with myself in my head plenty of times. I go over the pros and cons of everything and think of every possible thing that I could think of. I also talk to my parents a lot about college, money, and what I should do. This argument started when I was a junior in high school and it is still going on to this day. I applied to many different colleges and got waitlisted to the one that I really wanted to go to which was about 50,000 dollars. After that happened I thought my life was over and that no other school would be right for me but I thought about it again and if I would of got into Champlain would I even go because of the tuition? There are so many things that go into the process of going to college. I had to then pick the next best for me; thinking about where I wanted to be, how many kids are in the school, what majors do they offer, do they offer a masters degree or doctoral, do they have what I want in a college, what are they known for. I changed my mind a lot and this college process was a long one for me. Through many back and forth’s in my mind about where to go and what to do and through the arguments that me and my parents had at the dinner table I came to a conclusion and picked Husson University. I have rethought a lot about my decision once I got here and after the first semester had been over and I am still asking myself if this is the right place for me and if I made a good sound decision.
Arguments to Make Decisions
After reviewing each of the argumentative categories, I have come to notice that each section involved arguments that occur daily, whether it is found in a newspaper headline or an array of stained glass images. As a college student, the area that I find I battle with most often is Arguments to Make Decisions. The biggest attribute to this category is the weighing of the pros and cons. Also, in the process of making a decision, there is no opponent except you.
Being a freshman at Husson University, I am forced to overcome situations that require making decisions when I am completely torn as to which side to choose on a day to day basis. Although it doesn’t seem possible now, the toughest situations came before I even arrived here. Choosing which college to attend was one of the most stressful decisions I’ve ever had to make simply because of the importance of my choice. I had to weigh out the pros and cons of each school I had been accepted too including major things such as financial aid, location, and dorm life as well as the more luxury things such as local restaurants and freshman parking.
The biggest college decision I have been faced with is one that I still have not been able to conquer: choosing my major. This obstacle has brought many others along with it including the most recent one, working out a schedule for this semester. I was required to fill my schedule with subjects that interest me, in order to help get me on the right path to a four year degree. I’ve been throwing back ideas from the medical and education field, which leaves a very demanding schedule. This decision has also lead me to considering and researching other degree programs outside of Husson. Right now, it seems like a never-ending system because this brings me back to where I started from, looking for the right college.
Although I have overcome many of the decisions I have been faced with, I am still currently in the process of making up my mind about my major. During my next four years of college, I think I will go through many related arguments as well as even more difficult ones. I have confidence that my future decisions will lead me to the place that I am supposed to be, just like my past decisions have brought me here.
Arguments to make decisions like it says in the book college students choosing a major is just one example of arguments to make a decisions. The people you can argue with are your friends, family even your colleagues. If you argue about this with these different people you will come up with the best decision where to go to school and even what to study when you are there.
I have some personal experience in these type of argument at the begging of last semester the first semester of my college career. I was arguing with my mom and my dad about weather I should go to school for sports management or for criminal justices and weather I want to go to Plymouth state or to Husson college. We argued what would be better for me and what I would like to do for the rest of my life. I made the argument that even though criminal justice doesn’t make as much money at first but it has potential to make good money in the long run and it is what I want to do for the rest of my life. This argument is the reason why I am here studding criminal justice.
Other arguments that make decisions like this are to choose the next president or the best course to take in college and what will be best for a town in a local election. These are some of the different ways to have arguments to make decisions.
Kyle wedge
Arguments to Make Decisions
As we all know it is our nature as humans to make choices, or decisions. These decisions can be major or minor based on the impact it has on your life. Making these decisions seems fairly straight forward, but broken down processing what we are doing in our minds is much more complicated. Even making the simplest decision to brush your teeth in the morning causes an argument to be approached even if you necessarily do not think about it. Throughout my life I have been faced with many moments that have caused me to make decisions by arguing them not only to myself, but with the help of others. The decision to come to college, have surgery on my knee present arguments that ultimately affected my choices of education, and being healthy.
The decision to come to college and also what major I would be was a very long and draw out process. My first thought was just to go out into the work force, but this was problematic. The alternative I was faced with was if I do end up not attending college will my income be as much as others with a college education. The other alternative was to go to college and further my education. With my second alternative in mind my family influenced me to go to college, not only for myself, but for my future family. This argument of financial stability, and someday supporting my own family made me ponder the choice of college or not college. Once I decided on attending my major was a whole other argument of what I really want to do with the rest of my life, and what is going to make me happy.
Another argument that fits within the genre of making decisions was about the surgery on my knee. I had torn my ACL last summer and was not able to play summer sports, which I enjoy. I seemed to be functioning fine, but whenever I would really doing something physical it started to act up. I had to make the decision of whether or not to get the surgery to reconstruct my ACL. My alternatives were to not and be able to function to an extent, but then not be able to do the things I really loved doing. My second alternative was to get the surgery and have the possibility of my knee being fine and eventually being able to do physical activities again. The fall back was what if the surgery did not work, and I was back where I was just a short time ago. If it did work I would be fine and go back to doing everything I used to be able to do. I argued back and forth whether I was better to get surgery or not to, but after much deliberation I got the surgery knowing full well that even if it did not work I at least tried to get better.
These two specific decisions used many arguments within them swaying the way that I thought about these momentous opportunities. The arguing that went on influenced me to choose the right decision in my mind, ultimately giving my life the boost in the right direction that it needed.
After reading about different types of arguments, I feel most comofortable saying that most of the arguments I have are to convince somebody. The reading described Arguments to Convince by saying that you are likely not trying to conquer opponents but to satisfy readers that you have a thorough examination the causes for your feelings. There have been several instances I can think of where I have used this type of strategy to express my points of thought during an argument.
The first that comes to mind is an argument that I have with my friend dealing with sports. I believe that I have a strong feeling that I have a knowledgeable mind when it comes to college football. We will argue about what team is the best, and I always stand strong on my reasons. He believes that he knows who the best team will be, and have no reason or logic to why he thinks so. I feel like I win the argument because I look at what teams have and the players they have to lead them to success. At the beginning of this season, I predicted that Florida would win the national championship because they have the best college football player on their team. Sure enough, at the end of the season, Florida won the national championship. Although I let him believe what I want, and didn’t try to conquer him, I stood strong to my feelings because I believed that I had knowledgeable information on the argument.
Another argument that comes to mind is an argument I had with my roommate. He wanted to set the room up a certain way, and I ended up sleeping next to the heater. I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea because I cannot sleep if I am hot because I think it’s uncomfortable. He argued that he did not care and the room was a lot better if I sucked it up and slept there. Although I understood what he was saying and I listened to everything he had to say, I knew for a fact that I would not be able to sleep and that I would not be able to make the sacrifice. I ended up winning the battle, because he finally realized that I could not do it and he ended up sleeping next to the heater. I had facts that supported my decision, so I believe that this would fall under the category of Arguments to Convince.
After reading chapter one of the text I discovered that although I had many arguments throughout the course of my life, I never thought about, realized, or even noticed that so many different types of arguments existed. When asked to talk about and describe the arguments that I have experienced, I noticed I had barley scratched the surface. Prior to reading the text, my basic idea about arguments was they were basically two different types of arguments consisting of both verbal and physical arguments. I talked about getting into verbal confrontations with my two older brothers over things ranging from sports to school. I also alluded to how quickly arguments cease from the experiences I have been in due to either the lack of knowledge on the topic being argued on, or patience lost during the argument. After reading the text I was amazed by how little I knew on a topic that my parents would say I was an expert on. I discovered the many different types of arguments, the purposes of these arguments, and the audience involved in the argument.
One of the most important topics that I got from the reading was the argument to inform. I didn’t realize that things such as newspaper headlines, advertisements, or even road signs fell under this category. I discovered that topics like this are not so much arguments as they are proposals. When an advertisement comes on television or an add comes out in the paper, the purpose is usually to inform the public on what the product or opportunity is, and at the same time grab the interest and attention of the public. Advertisements, newspaper adds, flyers, and magazines are all types of persuasive informative arguments and serve as a crucial part of the success of today’s economy. Road sings also fall under arguments to inform and both the purpose and the audience are pretty strait forward. This type of informative argument is angled at the drivers and they are put in place in order to inform them on either their location, to warn them of driving conditions, or in the case of the text, point out hurricane shelters in Key West, Florida.
Reading the text introduced me to the different types of arguments. I never would have considered something as simple as a road sign or an advertisement to be an argument. However, after reading chapter one, I know see why everyday things such as these are considered arguments. Informative arguments serve a vital part in our society in that they provide a spark to the success of the economy, warn us of dangerous situations, and can play a necessary role in important matters such as the election of the president.
After reading “Everything’s an Argument”, I realized everything that is said really can be turned into an argument. Even pictures can be an argument, for example many political stickers and ads on television were arguments having to do with the different candidates. When I thought about it many of the arguments I had either with myself or other people mostly fit under the category of arguments to make decisions. Throughout my life I’ve been faced with many obstacles that I have had to come up with solutions for. Many of these decisions happened in my senior year, choosing a college, deciding on what to major in, and deciding whether to go away to college or stay home? I went about answering these questions in many ways. I first went to my parents and discussed it with them and with them I made a pros and cons list about each decision I had to make. First I had to decide what my major was going to be, physical therapy or physical education. I knew that I might have a difficult time trying to find a job when I got out of college and I knew that with physical therapy there was always going to be job openings and that it would be a lot easier to find and keep a job because people are always going to get hurt and need assistance. When I saw this information I knew that physical therapy was the job for me, it was a job where I could help people and that’s something I really wanted to do. The next thing I had think about was did I want to go to a college close to home or could I survive by myself and go away. This was the hardest decision I had to make and it took a lot of contemplating back and forth with me and my family. Finally I decided that I didn’t mind going away to college as long as it wasn’t really far and if I found a close college that had what I wanted then I would be happy with that too. The last thing I had to do was choose a college, Husson or Springfield. Each college had a great program for physical therapy, they had very nice campuses and at both colleges I would be able to play volleyball which was something I really wanted to do. It all came down to which college I felt fit me and did I want to go to Maine or did I want to stay close to home and go to Springfield in Massachusetts. Again this took a lot of contemplating with me and with my family. All I did was go back and forth in my head about what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to go. After all that thinking and debating where to go I finally decided Husson was the place for me. It fit me and I could see myself getting a great education there.
Arguments to make Decisions
Choosing to argue about making decisions is also paired with exploring all aspects of the subject you are arguing over to help prove you point. In life we all make many choices and decisions that can ultimately alter our perspectives and thoughts. Sometimes you have to argue with yourself, possibly other people to find which decision is going to best suite you. When you are arguing for something you strongly believe in words are a powerful influence and persuasion method even for yourself. Everything and anything can be turned into an argument if it is what you believe; so take a stand. Before I came to college there were many factors that had a significant influence in my decisions, and I found myself arguing for what I wanted. Therefore, coming early to play volleyball, leaving my family early, and my decision not to play basketball were all internal arguments I had to sort through.
When the volleyball coach from Husson University called me over the summer and expressed interest it took me by surprise. He offered me the decision to come a week early to play for his team. I felt torn between two places not only was this experience going to help me adjust to college life, I would be making new friends. In the back of my mind I didn’t think I was ready to leave my family behind that early, and another part of me was saying just do it. I argued with myself and my family and talked with the coach for a few months before I finally came to my decision. It was by far the hardest decision I had to make besides choosing my major. In the end I am glad that I made the decision to play, because now I have friends that will be there for life; an awesome experience. I made this choice to make my life easier, and what would be best for me in the end result. Not only did reading this book give me a new and greater perspective on the different types of arguments, it made me realize one of the major decisions that I had to make at the end of the first semester about my love for basketball. When I joined the Husson University basketball team I was excited because basketball has always been my niche. After a week of practices my nights with homework were progressively longer, and something had to change. I argued with myself over and over again about giving myself a break and just focusing on academics. I had finally just had enough and backed out as much as it killed me to stop playing the sport I love my life and future is way more important to me. You have to think about what is best for you and life sometimes it might not always be an easy decision like mine. So that’s why it is crucial to make sure your decision is going to benefit you, and are you going to be happy?
Sherry C
Homework assignment #1
1/15/09
After reading this chapter, I have come to look at the word “argument” in a very different light than before. Coming from a very large, very loud Italian family, arguments to me were mostly loud and angry and a norm at family get togethers. I have come to realize that arguments can also be a positive thing and a very enjoyable learning experience as long as it is kept under control. I have also learned at the simplest of things in a different manner and realizing that much of the things that we see around us is an argument or is meant to incite an argument. For instance, driving down the road and I hungry, I see a McDonald sign and the thought of a big juicy burger and deliciously salty french fries immediately pops into my head. A little bit later I see a Dunkin Donuts sign and the taste of french vanilla coffee and a breakfast sandwich makes its way into my thoughts, and the argument starts. Which one do I go to? Which one am I in the mood for? Which one can I get more for with the money that I have? And when I do manage to pick a place to go to then I have another “ argument” about which flavor or size I want. In fact, most of the arguing that we do from day to day is with ourselves.
One of the reoccurring argument forms that I have had and have seen the most examples of would probably fall into the category of arguments to inform. With the election there have been so many arguments to inform going on. Each candidate stating that he would be, and is, the right choice for presidency, each one of them bringing many more people to the stand to swear that their candidate was indeed the best choice for us to make and that it would be stupid for us to even consider anyone else for the job. Commercials also fall into this category, each one claiming to be better than the next, more safe, faster, cheaper etc… Each one seeming to good to be true, each showing attractive smiling people who bear witness to the fact that yes, this product is better than anything out there. Also I have also found myself arguing to inform, with a friend of mine, who, has recently decided to skip continuing on in her education and instead travel around and “see the world”. While to many people this would seem to be a wonderful and exciting thing, I am not convinced that this is a good idea for her to do. She swears up and down that she will go back to school eventually once she has had enough of traveling, however, knowing her as I do, I firmly believe that her going back is highly unlikely. I have used everything I can think of to persuade her to come around to my point of view, from using her past behavior to statistics of people returning to further their education, to my personal experience of how hard it really is to go back to school. However, she is still here and I have not given up.
After reading the first chapter of everything’s an argument, I decided to describe the encounters I have had with the argument style of making decisions. Everyone has had to make tough decisions in there life, that’s the name of the game. Here are some accounts of arguments I had with myself and others to make a decision.
At the beginning of my senior year I was down with my guidance counselor. The meeting was to help me decided what university I wanted to attend and the major I wanted to enroll in. At the time I had no idea where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to study. My counselor told me he couldn’t make the choice for me, and that I needed to know at least where I wanted to go to school. So I did some research on colleges and found a few in the state that I wanted to attended. I chose Thomas College, University of Maine Orono, and Husson University. Having at least narrowed it down to the three schools I applied to all of them and waited to see where I was accepted to. I was accepted to all the school and I still had no idea here I wanted to go or my major. I visited all the schools explored the campuses and the surrounding area a little bit. When I got home from visiting the last school, Thomas College I had a choice to make. I went throw my options carefully and slowly. If I were to attend Thomas I would be just far enough away not to be able to travel home when I need to, taking away my long time job as a pizza delivery boy. Where I am working to put myself through college it didn’t seem like a good idea to quit my job. Then I thought about going to the University of Maine, I could travel to school and still live at home, keep my job and better my self for the future. I had a lot of friends that were going there and it seem like a interesting enough place to be when I went to see the campus. Last alternative I had was Husson. The campus was even closer to home and reminded me of home as well. I could keep my job, save on gas money and still have contact with my friends that were only ten minutes up the interstate. By this time it was late December and I had decided to go into a business program to better my chances of someday owning my own business. That helped with my decision on where to go to school tremendously. I knew UMO had a Business program, but Husson’s Business program had the reputation as one of the best business Universities on the east coast. Husson University seemed to be the right choice for me, small town atmosphere with the great education to match, It was a no brainah.
Another argument I had with my mother and myself was a lot harder to make a decision on. One Friday night in October, I had just gotten home from a heart breaking two point loss to the Orono Red Riots when my mom and step-father had something they wanted to tell me. I really wasn’t interested in what ever I thought was going to come out of their mouths. The game was all I could think about, how could we let the game slip from our hands to lose by two messily points. Mom told me that she and Kris (my step-father) were going to be getting a divorce. No big deal, when I was younger I had dealt with the stain of a divorce from my mom and dads’. There was a bigger problem I had to deal with my mom was moving from Bucksport to Bangor. Mom wanted me to go with her; she made that very clear, so I had some thinking to do. On the one had I could stay with my step-dad who was very willing to let me stay with him. All my friends were in Bucksport and none of them wanted to see me leave, and I really didn’t want to leave them. With my senior year underway it would have been a major pain to move to a new school and try to make some friends before I graduated. I knew that my time with my mom was coming to an end in the sense that I would be going to college and living on my own. It just killed me that she would be living by herself and only seeing me once or twice a week. Her Request for me to move to Bangor with her just wasn’t win/win situation. It seemed no matter what choice I made it wasn’t the best for everyone. After a few weeks of uncertainty of my future in Bucksport I made the choice to stay with my step-father and finish my high school career in the town I started it in. This turned out to be one of the greatest choices I have ever made. I got to know Kris outside the parent environment and he is one of the most interesting persons I have had the pleasure of knowing.
Julie S.
Rhetoric and Composition II
Mr. Crowley
January 15, 2009
Arguments
After reading “Everything’s An Argument” I have learned that there are specific types of arguments. There all are kinds of categories arranging from arguments to inform or explore to arguments to make decisions. An argument to make decisions allows you to argue about making the best decision or arguing for a specific decision. An example of this would be what would be the right career to choose or the best house to buy. Having arguments to make decisions allows you to look at the pros and cons of something specific that helps you to make a good choice.
One example of an argument to make a decision that I have encountered in my life would be choosing the best college to attend. When I was applying for colleges there were a few that I was interested in. I looked over these few colleges to see what each had to offer for me and why that college would be the one to choose. I had to do a lot of research and visiting to colleges to get the feel whether it was the right one for me. There were questions that I needed to help me narrow my choices and make it easier for me to decide. While looking at colleges I had to look at the pros and cons of each. I had to look and see if they had the major I wanted, an affordable price and what else that college had to bring to the table. During this process of looking and choosing a college my mother was there to help me. Sometimes we disagreed on things like the location and what the college had to offer, but in the end I was able to narrow down the pros and cons and choose the college that I thought would be the best for me.
Another argument that I had to consider was what major I wanted to pursue a career in. There are so many different careers to choose from in the world today that you need to narrow it down to a few careers that would best suit you. At first when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I wasn’t too sure yet. Then as the years went by what I wanted to be kept changing first I wanted to be a teacher then a doctor. Since there are so many careers to choose from its hard to figure out which want would be the best. When you are a little kid you are always changing your mind about what you want to be. You have to make a decision on what kind of things you are interested in and whether it would be something that you would like to pursue a career in.
After reading the first chapter of “everything is an argument” I was able to read facts that concluded things I felt I already knew. It’s known there is way too much arguing that takes place in the world around us. What is mis-understood or not acknowledged at all is that everything around us is arguing. There are many different types of arguing that are used for all kinds of different scenarios. Invitational arguing can be used simply to help someone gain a better understanding of a certain situation. Arguments to inform, arguments to explore, and arguments to make decisions are all methods of arguing that we all use everyday of our lives.
After reading about the different types of argument categories I couldn’t come to identify strictly one category I could throw myself into. My whole life has been a large argument, trying to decide which parents to live with, what ethics I should choose to use as a guideline of my life, and what I should do when I graduate high school. When I was in second grade I was living with my mom and step dad. There were issues within the household that made me want to live with my dad. I eventually made the decision to live with my dad, without really getting into arguments quite yet because I was just too young at the time. When I was about in the sixth grade attending McIntosh Middle School in Sarasota, Florida I started to not use proper argument skills. My mom started yelling at me because my dad had finally got the child support to go through. She used argument skills to convince me how my dad wasn’t doing the right thing for me. She convinced me that it would be better if I lived with her and I would have all the best things and she won. She argued with me to inform me of what should be. This was my job to then go on and weigh out the pros and cons of this decision. I didn’t know what to do and I ended up moving and making a big mistake. That doesn’t seem like an argument situation in it self at that point.
It was about six months left of my senior year in high school I decided to move out of my house with my mother and stepdad. This turned into an on going argument till the day before I graduated high school. After holding a lot of hatred towards me for “bailing” on my family, and for not fighting through the hard times she could finally let it go. Me and my mom would argue everyday on who was right, what we should have done different, and what will come out of it. This was more of a win/lose argument that would never reach a positive. When two stubborn people try to reach and agreement in an argument that contains to much emotional luggage there will never be an end result until the argument can turn into a win/win. The day before I graduated we looked at each other and realized that from now on out we wouldn’t be able to have a relation ship if we count respect each other and start over and that was really the end of the argument.
College in itself is an argument to explore and make decisions. When I was a senior I was thinking about entering the army instead of college I felt that would help me get to the next level. All corporate big wigs have military experience its part of the leadership roles needed to hold that position. When I sat down and talked to people we argued what it would offer me, what college would offer me and what is the best way to get to the next step. After arguing for quite some time it was clear that college was the more appropriate way to go. Everyday in college is an argument to explore everything that comes out of your teacher’s mouth that you don’t agree with or understand you argue and receive a better understanding of the situation.
The first chapter from “Everything’s an Argument” discusses different types of arguments; Arguments to inform, explore, convince, meditate/pray, and to make decisions. Before reading the chapter I never considered praying, or advertisements as arguments. However, I am very familiar with arguments to convince or make decisions. Since reading about them all I realize that I encounter every type everyday. Arguments to make decisions at first seemed to be the most common, mostly because they are easiest to recognize, as a choice will result from them. I realize now that all of them are almost equally as common. One obvious argument that leads to a decision for me happens every morning when my alarm clock goes off, I have to decide if I’m going to get out of bed and get ready for class, or if it is worth it to stay in bed, and go late in my pajamas. The type of argument that interests me most is informative. I thought about what could be considered an informative argument in my life. I decided that the grocery list in the kitchen could be a fair informative argument. As most grocery lists work, when something is gone, or needed it is written on the list. For example when the milk is gone, I write milk down on the list. In a way, this list is arguing, “We need to get this,” I mean after all, I could survive without drinking milk, and it’s not necessarily a necessity. Some common informative arguments that I can think of, are ones in magazines, or political campaign signs. It is very common to see Obama stickers in the window, or bumpers of cars. During the election these were arguments to inform people of who was running for office, and to possibly make them aware of the support he was getting. In magazines advertisements are practically every page. I found that after looking at the advertisements I had to be careful as some advertisements are persuasive. I found an advertisement, for a handbag. The Ad displays a bag, and simply says BODHI at the bottom, as well as an email address. This advertisement is not persuasive; it is informative, as there is nothing but the brand name and email address. Another type of an informative argument that I experience in my life is post it notes. I write myself messages on post it notes and stick them to my computer screen, cell phone, alarm clock, or anything that I will look at. I mostly write things that will remind me to do something. For example, I wrote on a post it note, “EH homework!!!” and stuck it to my computer screen, so every time I sat at my computer I would be reminded, or informed that I should be doing my homework. Sometimes I will write on a post it note “call Alison!!” or “call the bank” so when I look at my phone I know I need to make a call to someone. These types of arguments I create are to inform me of something I need to do. They are arguments I create for myself to have in the future when I view the note.
When I first thought about the purpose of an argument I automatically saw it as a way for someone to get their point across. Where there are two or more opinions on a subject. That by arguing they get a chance to state their opinion to persuade or respond with facts to prove there point. For instance when two people begin to argue it is usually because they have two different opinions about the subject. They then want the other person to agree with what they believe to be correct so they start to argue. Now that they have begun to argue, they could either end up stating valid points to support their view on the matter and convincing the other by what they have shown them or they may still disagree but have expressed why it is that they feel the way they do about the subject.
Arguing can take many forms and can be a productive way of stating your case or can be used in an everyday situation as a stress reliever, where many people take out there anger on people around them and end up expressing how they feel about something the wrong way. This is why when I hear the word argue I automatically see two people debating on a subject. When the fact is that if we feel a certain way about something there are many other ways to “argue” our side to get our point across to those that may disagree with us. We can even argue our point to reinforce our side to those that agree with us and in some cases we may even argue with ourselves.
After starting to read “Everything’s an Argument”, I began to realize what the word “argue” really means. It basically says it all right in the title. There are MANY different ways to express what we believe, stand behind or are trying to enforce. When an argument is present it doesn’t always mean that there are two sides where one is right and one is wrong. Of course you can have two sides that have equal beliefs of opinion as well as you can create two sides to any story as we begin to challenge situations. Another form of argument may be just to inform. Every day we encounter someone with an argument. Just like we are here taking this class, because you as the teacher are arguing your opinion that by taking this writing class we will better understand how to take our knowledge and critical thinking skills and use it to become better writers as well as be well educated and informed individuals so that we will have the communication skills needed in life, which will in turn help prepare us for our future work environment.
After reading “Everything’s an argument”, I see we don’t have to look far at all to find an argument. As I read the first chapter I caught myself questioning the book. How is it possible that preying or stained glass is an argument? I questioned just how deep the author was digging into the matter. When I had finished the chapter I realized maybe that was one of the things the author was trying to do, create an argument within their piece of writing.
Arguments to make decisions, Last year I was not sure what I wanted to do when I graduated from high school. I knew I did not want to stay at home and work a minimum wage job, but that’s all I knew for sure. For me to decide what I wanted to do I argued my way through all my options eliminating the weak ones. I had come to the conclusion that it made the most sense to go to college, although I had no idea what I would go for.
I argued with myself, my parents, and my teachers. Doing this showed me both the pros and cons of each decision. I had to decide how important the cost of college was to me. The best people to help me make a decision about how important cost was, was the people that went to college. Did it matter how prestigious the school was? Was it worth it to come graduate college with a $160,000 in debt did it make a difference in jobs you get? Or was it better to come out with only $80,000 in debt? There is no way I could make conclusions like this without others opinions. When they gave me their opinion I asked them if they wished they had done something differently and why or why not. By asking them questions like this it helped me decide which colleges would be good for me.
After I decided that it did not really matter which school I went to, just as long as I went. I had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, would I be ok financially? Is it going to be too academically challenging for me? Will I wake up every morning happy to go to work? Those where just some of the thoughts going through my head. I felt the one wrong decision would change what I did for the rest of my life. So I did what came natural to me I “argued” my way though these tough decisions. I kept my mind open to all ideas and argued with an open mind at all times.
Looking back I think this worked well for me and I don’t regret anything. It doesn’t matter how prestigious a school is. You get where you are in life based on how much you put forward, or how much effort you put into something. If you go to a really well know school you might expect that you are going to have a successful career, just because you graduated from a well know school. Whereas the person that graduated from a less known school will feel the need to prove themselves to the world. This was how I chose where to go to college I argued my way through I played out each situation in my head, and that is why I am here at Husson University.
An argument is typically defined as a disagreement in which different views are expressed. Arguments range from someone trying to convince others of a specific point or topic, such as during a debate, to a physical fight. However, after reading “Everything an Argument,” I have come to the realization that there are additional types of arguments that most people would not realize. For example, everyday things such as choosing what to wear or even deciding to go to class can express different points of view. In order to determine a point of view, one would need to weigh the pros and cons of the situation and the outcomes in order to create a decent argument. I think the category Arguments to Make Decisions is probably the most recognized because everyone makes decisions every day, sometimes without even realizing it. According to the book, the best way to make a decision is to argue through several alternatives and determine the pros and cons of each.
Just like any other college student, I had to make the decision of which college I wanted to attend and what major I was interested in, however, my situation with this argument is a little different than most. During my senior of high school I had several options for colleges. Having applied to four different colleges and getting into all of them, it was hard for me to reach a decision. Each college was in a different state, which created many diverse pros and cons. I had to decide not only what college to go to, but also how far from home I wanted to live. In order to reach a decision, I had to speak with my teachers about which school they thought was best suited for my education and also my parents to figure out how much out of state tuition they were willing to pay. After assessing my situation for months, I finally chose the school I thought was best for my education and my parents financially. Everything was set for me to attend the University of Georgia in the fall when I received news from my parents two months before I graduated that we had to move to Maine. After all of the time I went through to reach such a hard decision, it turned out to be useless and a waste of time. My parents made the decision for me to move to Maine and which college I would attend based on their opinions. I was devastated.
After reading about all of the different types of arguments and remembering the decision processes I have been through in order to get to college, I have come to understand that there is argument in everyday life. Whether it is an argument with yourself in order to make a decision or an argument with someone else to prove a point, the same methods are involved in any type of argumentative or persuasive situation.
CBW
Types of Arguments
There are three types of arguments that interconnect to each other and affect decision making as of what to decide in response to another thing. They are past, future and present arguments. They are all very original types of arguments that are very commonly used in daily life.
An argument about the past is used for the little arguments we with our friends when we say things like “you promised this yesterday” or “you lied about that.” We use them in everyday life in government, business, and in school. These are called forensic arguments.
Arguments about the past are very commonly used in the courtroom. The prosecutor asks the defendants questions about the past, and argues with the judge in response to the answers given if the defendant seems faulty and is lying.
Forensic arguments are also based on actions and decisions made that affect the present time.
If you take the war in Iraq that we went through under President Bush, and consider what horrible decisions he made to deal with that chaos over in the middle-east, President Obama will act accordingly upon what decisions Bush made to make the right choices.
One more argument which involves the past is about personality or character of a past person or figure.
If you’re talking about a known person from the past like President Bush, people might look upon him as a bust. You might think that he made a fool of himself in his press conferences and speeches. Another person might think more of him as a great speaker, although that would be highly unlikely. It’s a matter of opinion.
Another type of argument is about future. One common thing they are used is in congress about making policies and laws for the future, whether it involves immigration policies, foreign policy, same sex marriage, or so on. They base these decisions to be made on past experiences too, which is one way past and future arguments are interrelated.
These types of argument are based in courtroom punishments and sentences. If the judge found this guy guilty for murder, and he now has a lifetime sentence in prison with no bail.
The last type of argument that is related to the other two is arguments are about the present. These types of debates are used mostly for occasions such as graduation speeches, presidential addresses, and other public remarks. Arguments about the present are mostly about assumptions and values which we remark on about the present society.
Examples would include speeches and remarks about our political standpoints, like how far in debt our country is with its government spending which we are utilizing. It might also be the presidential election we are having and the status of that which the candidates address on.
One more type of argument I’ll include is arguments about making decisions. We have to make decisions every day. They can range from having to choose what you’ll eat for breakfast, to which president you want to vote for. We argue too to make the right decisions which suit someone’s situation or viewpoint, and often they are argued over especially when the decision making involves more than a few people. You examine good and bad variables to make good decisions or choices. We even argue with ourselves though when it comes to these small and big decisions to make in your day, whether it is at work, concerning family, which clothes to wear, and so forth.