Blog #7

Blog #7

1. Read through your peer reviews for the Toulmin Analysis. Select one comment you think will help you.

- In a comment on my Toulmin Analysis, Elizabeth said, “You could also add that the individual personality is being expressed. "I live"” while I discussed the image aspect of the advertisement. I felt that this comment was very helpful because I forgot to incorporate the Jeep slogan into the analysis and this idea would definitely support the claim I tried to prove in my paper.

2. What is the most important term you feel you have learned in class so far?

- The most important term I feel I have learned in class so far would be Birdsell and Groarke’s visual culture. The way images or a series of images are presented to the audience effects the way we perceive it, analyze it and understand it. Visual culture depends on new technologies, art forms and sciences in order to create and present images in fresh ways and influences the making of visual meaning indirectly. I feel this is most important because as new modes of communication are being developed, advertisements have to adhere to the changes in order to keep up with the times. For example, when color film was first developed and an audience was shown two advertisements, one in color and one in black and white, they would find the colored one more appealing and pay more attention to it.

3. Re-read your Adnalysis and find a type of proof you have used in your essay. Describe the proof and show an example.

- In my Adnalysis about the Motorola Droid there is a proof that establishes ethos, which “appeals to the audience’s impressions, opinions, and judgments about the individual stating the argument.” Throughout my analysis, there is a mention of the trust that the consumer has with Verizon Wireless and with Google. In my paper I wrote, “The iPhone does not use Google for their navigation system; therefore Verizon wants the audience to know that they’re using an item by a brand they can trust…Verizon and Google are two major companies that are well known by the public. By combining these two powerhouses, these companies are able to magnify the trust and credibility that people associate with them. Because of this trust, customers will buy the product.” The advertisement of the Droid with Google directly plays into the audience’s trust of a combined product of Verizon Wireless, Motorola and Google.

Works Cited

Birdsell, David S; Groarke, Leo. Toward a Theory of Visual Argument. ( Argumentation and Advocacy. 33.1 (1996). Research Library)

Wood, Nancy V. Essentials of Argument, 2nd Ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 2009.

Blog #6

1. Read through your peer reviews for the Adnalysis. Select one comment you think will help you. Paste the comment and explain why it is a good comment for your paper.

- “It is rather unclear to what your thesis may be, however it is clear that you are providing an argument that this advertisement successfully demonstrates that the product is useful for every day life, such as driving.” This comment is extremely helpful because it states two things about my paper. The first is that I need to work on making my thesis statement clearer. The second is that my paper explains why this advertisement is successful, which means I used good examples and the reader easily understood my argument. From this comment, I learned that I just needed to make my thesis statement reflect what was written in my paper.

2. Define warrants. Why do arguments work better when warrants are shared by the arguer and the audience?

- According to Essentials of Argument, “Warrants are the assumptions, general principles, conventions of specific disciplines, widely held values, commonly accepted beliefs and appeals to human motives that are an important part of any argument.” Warrants are based on a person’s background and perspective, and therefore causes them to be expressed in various ways. Warrants present an argument with critical links and are culture-bound. This means that warrants associated with various cultures will be different from one another due to dissimilar values, beliefs and ways of life. Since warrants start with the arguer, they can either be shared or contradicted by the audience. When the warrants are shared, arguments are more convincing because the audience will accept them. Also, shared warrants are extremely important because they can provide a common ground between the arguer and the audience.

Works Cited:

Wood, Nancy V. Essentials of Argument, 2nd Ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 2009.