Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Welcome!

Dear all,

Welcome to our ENGL 102-27 blog. Since we have a computer room, we will do many short writing assignments online to save paper (we cannot print out here, anyway). Also, a blog does give us the opportunity to exchange ideas and give peer feedback.

Let's talk about ARGUMENTS again...

You’ve done a very good job defining three different web pages about “arguments to inform” (information about AIDS, about the stock market, news, etc.), “arguments to convince” (for example, to buy a certain product, to start a certain diet, to vote for a certain candidate, to join the army or a special organization), and “arguments to explore” (for example, sites with lots of links for the reader to explore the topic; sites like siuc.edu, facebook or myspace or eBay where people can “explore” or find almost anything, any course/career, or anybody).

Now, we will find out whether an argument can really be ANY text that expresses a point of view. For example, what kinds of arguments might be made by the following items, and which audiences to they target specifically?


1) EXAMPLE:
the label on a best-selling rap CD (answer: A label affixed to a CD might warn that the lyrics and themes in the album are unsuitable for children. Some people might avoid the CD for that reason, and others might select it because of the adult content.)

Now it’s your turn. Everyone gets one text to explain which argument it makes. Type your answer as comment to this blog entry.

Alexander:
the embossed leather cover of a book

Allyson: a Boston Red Sox cap

Ashley: a Livestrong bracelet

Brittany: the label on a pack of cigarettes

Chelsea: a belated birthday card

Clayton: nutrition labels on food items

David: a metal car sticker displaying a fish saying DARWIN

Dephane: a Rolex watch

Jerad: a USDA organic label

Justin: the Nike swoosh

Lashawnda: rating on a movie

Michael: the Sean Jean label, as seen on its Web site

Patrick: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Joe: Ground Zero

Sara E.: a dollar bill

Sara M.: Oprah Winfrey

Simone: a license plate that says MYTFINE

Todd: the campaign sign VOTE FOR CHANGE

Brandon: Sleeping Beauty's castle on the Disney logo

Abdul: a t-shirt with a reproduction of Michelangelo's painting about God creating Adam; but instead of touching Adam by the hand, he gives him a joint

19 comments:

CJ said...

A nutrition label attached to a food item would advise a person about how many grams of fat, sodium, cholesterol, or carbohydrates are contained in that certain food item. This would be directly aimed to people who need to watch their salt/sugar intake or people who want to loose weight and stay healthy.

jromine1988 said...

A USDA organic label gives the argument that people want healthy lifestyles. It aims at people that want the healthier types of food. This may attract people on diets or people with health problems seeking better well being.

Brittany said...

The label on a pack of cigarettes warns smokers that their product may cause harmful contents. The main target audience is to "adults" or to all "smokers." The company wants to aware all people what smoking can do. They also aware one that if you are pregnant that it may be harmful to your pregnancy.

Dephane said...

Time flies by when you are having fun. But if you have a Rolex watch you can keep an eye on your time.

The argument for the rolex watches is to catch the attention of the consumers. Sellers will want to sell their product and will use commercials to do just that. If they can grab the attention of the consumer they have a possibility of selling it. Also gives the statement of If you buy this you'll be up to date with the latest fashion and technology .

cburg said...

A belated birthday card is more closely related to the argument to convince. The card itslef is almost like an apology to the bithday boy/girl. The card giver wants the card receiver to realize that his/her birthday was not completely forgotten. The particular audience for this argument could be anybody, from a small child to an aging man.

David Newton said...

A metal car sticker displaying a fish saying "Darwin" makes an argument towards people of all different ages, the argument states that Darwin was the one that had his own evolution theory, that is proven by science.

ashleyj said...

A Livestrong bracelet can be viewed as all the arguments, but mostly the argument to explore. It encourages people to ask what the bracelet means and if interested, encourages them to find out more about the ideas behind it. It attracts all audiences, one because it symbolizes strength for cancer patiences and two because it seems fashionable to the younger audiences.

Patrick said...

The Vietnam Veteran's memorial is directed towards committed and honorable individuals. The memorial also includes people that fought for their country that take characteristics of pride and loyalty.
-Patrick Hogan

sreents said...

Oprah Winfrey makes an argument that woman can be very independent and can stand as role models for other women. She typically appeals to a female audience.

Sara M.

densch said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brandon said...

Sleeping Beauty's castle on Disney's logo makes the argument that she is an original and that her story was one of the first, also that Mr. Disney has created a kingdom of characters. Brandon

sesmith said...

Sara smith- dollar bill

A dollar bill can mean many things. Money is what the world revolves on and effects everyone.money can mean trustworthiness or credibility and many people view how successful they are based on the amount of money they make, the more money or dollar bills you have the more "trustworthy" you are.The dollar bill affects everyone world wide.

densch said...

I believe the embossed leather cover of a book would be making the argument that this book is important. The fact that it is embossed leather makes the book seem expensive or more special than a paperback book, for example. The embossing may also mean that the book has been personalized for someone. This targets anyone who may see the cover of the book.
-Alex Densch-Giese-

Brittany said...

the nike swoosh makes the argument that the shoe is cool. this product targets the younger members of our society. this is due to the fact that they are more likely to pay attention and be attracted to things that are considered or labeled as cool.
justin kozak

mfitts said...

Sean Jean's slogan is "Sean Jean - It's not just a label". I believe that the Sean Jean label is used to attract certain customers. People who like pricey and flashy clothing. Sean Jean clothing was invented by the rap singer, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. His name is very important for this clothing line so he could attract more customers.
-Michael Fitts

Lashawnda T said...

Rating on a movie can convince parents that it is not safe for their young children to watch. There is too much violence and that's not good for children.

Lashawnda

Ricky joe said...

Ground Zero is a reminder to the American people of the tragic evens that happened there on September eleventh. It is also a reminder to us of the people who lost there lives in the terrorist attacks on are country.

chris said...

This shirt tells about a person that wheres it is that this person is not a very religious person. This shirt lets you know that the person that wears this shirt is a smoker. This is also a joke shirt. You will mainly see people in college wearing these shirts

todd said...

A campaign sign vote for change is an argument to convince. A sign reading vote for change would target a certain subject to change. This argument could cause a audience that is ready for a change to vote for this candidate, whereas people that are not ready for a change on that topic would most likely not vote for this candidate.