Essay 2

Natalie Barletta

3/12/13

Professor Guarino

Church VS. Homosexuals

One of the hot topics nowadays is gay rights. Gay rights has become an important issue. Most people can say that we’ve come a long way since our parents generation of being in the closet. However, there are still remains of homophobia, and there are people out there who think that homosexual people should not marry. One of the main reasons why people think this is because they claim that the Bible doesn’t condemn gay marriage. In a recent New York Times Article, titled “Reading God’s Mind”,  Frank Bruni writes about these issues. He showcases a homosexual male named Jeff Chu whose life has consisted of hiding who he truly is because of the religion that he’s grown up with did not agree with homosexuality. In the article, he discusses his struggles with accepting himself for who he truly is, in addition to his parents struggling with who their son really is. The argument that he makes, although its a good one about the subject relies too much on pathos, therefore becoming untrustworthy because it has a narrow scope with very little factual appeal.

I noticed that Bruni only mentions the South Baptist religion.  We all know that there is more than one sole religion in the world. Other than the multiple branches of Christianity, there is Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Muslims. If Bruni had talked about these other religions, then he would have presented a more valid point. It would show that the topic is more personal, than a hot issue. However, since he made it solely about the Southern Baptists, it leaves the reader wondering, “what about the other religions?” The article is an example of hasty generalization, because it’s an argument that is made based on solely one person’s experiences. “And his parents, strict Southern Baptists, have always deemed such a love sinful, and against God’s wishes.” After this quote, one can say that it would be good to add some additional information about the other religions about there. This makes it lack credibility because if he had added more experiences of homosexual men and women of different religions, it would have been a more holistic approach.

The piece has more emotional appeals than factual appeals which makes it biased because it has a narrow scope. While reading the article, one can say that it’s a very personal article. This piece talks about Jeff Chu’s closeted experience with the church which didn’t approve his homosexual feelings. It was very personal, and you can tell that it was biased. “Jeff Chu was married last September, on the lawn of a house on Cape Cod, against the backdrop of an ivy-covered fence. About 80 people came. His mother and father weren’t among them”. This quote is a good example of pathos because Bruni is playing on the emotional heartstrings on the readers. You can’t help feeling sorry for someone whose parents don’t approve of their marriage. More logos would have approved this article. It would have showed more credibly. With too much ethos, we tend to wonder if the person actually knows what they were talking about. Emotional appeals can be good to strengthen arguments. However with too much emotional appeals it can be over the top and weakens the argument altogether.

The argument presented is an issue that I do agree with. I do agree with Bruni and his views on homosexual marriage and the way religions perceive it as being against God’s word. However, Bruni could have done a better job presenting it because he plays on the heartstrings on his readers, in addition to providing a tunnel vision of the Southern Baptist religion. With presenting more logos, he would have been able to present the argument better, in addition to making the tunnel vison wider. Then, he would have had an even better article on his hands.

The Highs of Grade Inflation.

Alfie Kohn is an author, and a lecturer. He's a very controversial figure in American culture, and attacks many social science issues such as parenting and education. Alfie recently wrote an article called "The Dangers of Grade Inflation". In this article, Alfie uses fallacies to support his argument that grade inflation is a good thing. He uses fallacies to pull on the heartstrings of anyone who was or is a student. Two examples of him using fallacies to support the argument is when he says that good grades motivate students to study harder, and when he begins to talk about standardized tests not being a good enough source to measure intelligence. 
In the article, Kohn mentions that receiving higher grades is motivation to work and study harder. In his article, he says "With the exception of orthodox behaviorists, psychologists have come to realize that people can exhibit qualitatively different kinds of motivation: intrinsic, in which the task itself is seen as valuable, and extrinsic, in which the task is just a means to the end of gaining a reward or escaping a punishment. " In this quote from the article, Kohn is simply saying that when someone gets a good grade then they would be movitvated to work harder and get an even better grade. If someone doesn't do well, then they would quickly lose interest in doing well. As a student, I can agree with him. Last year, I took a very challenging AP course, and quickly lost the motivation to do well. I didn't study quite as hard as I should, and my grades showed it. However, in my classes that I did do well in, I had the motivation to do better. This uses fallacies because the author using sentimental appeals to present his argument because he uses emotions to distract the reader away from the facts. 
Another example is when Kohn mentions how standardized tests aren't a good source for getting measuring intelligence. Kohn says "Third, a decline in overall SAT scores is hardly the right benchmark against which to measure the grades earned at Harvard or other elite institutions." This shows fallacies because he is using an Ad hominem argument, because he is attacking the Harvard University system, rather then the argument that is presented.
Overall, Kohn presents a really excellent argument using emotional fallacies. He uses them in the two examples that I've presented; when he talks about the motivation to study harder, and when he attacks Harvard's system of admissions. 

Final Essay from an Essay!

Love in A Bottle?
    Coco Chanel is basically an icon. Even though she died in 1971, her legacy is something that perhaps will outlive us all who are alive today. Her collection ranges from purses to cosmetics. Her products are for all ages, teens to elderly women. There is an advertisement for Chanel perfume in Seventeen magazine, a very widely known publication amongst teenagers. This advertisement is a two page ad located at the front of the magazine. The ad is a  fair skinned young girl who is wearing nothing but a vine of pink flowers, with a pink ribbon at her feet, and is hugging a giant bottle of Chance by Chanel. The giant bottle is full of baby pink liquid, and is overspilling to the second page. The girl’s facial expression is one of being in love with the bottle of perfume, as if it was something that she can’t resist, and could not enough of. This image is selling love in a bottle, so it can be attainable for everyone. The girl being drawn to the giant bottle of perfume symbolizes the perfume being a magnet to anyone who is in it’s powerful path, the pink colors symbolize love, and he blank backdrop symbolizes the reasons why people want to fall in love, because love is something that has endless opportunity.

The main focus in this advertisement is the young girl being drawn into the perfume as if she can’t resist, like a magnet’s opposite poles coming together. She is embracing the perfume as if she’s in love with it, and can not live with out it. It’s overflowing, and looks like a perfume explosion. This part of the picture is showing that the perfume is so irresistible, that one can be drawn to the plain bottle itself. Therefore, anyone who wears this perfume will be irresistible, and whoever comes into the wearer’s path will be drawn to them. This is going back to the love in a bottle concept because if someone likes your scent, then they will be drawn to you due to it. If they like you, then they would ask you out on a date, and you go through the dating cycle with them.

    A second key factor in this ad is the coloring, especially the dominate color pink. There is not much color to be scene in the ad. The background is basically a pure snow white. The only color in this picture is pink. The flowers are a baby pink, and the ribbon on the girl’s calves is pink. The perfume itself is a shade of pink. The color pink is often associated with love. After all, one of the main colors of Valentine’s Day is pink. When you go down the grocery store candy aisle, all you see is an ocean of pink hearts. Ask the Hallmark Card company, they can vouch for you. Therefore, this perfume can be sold as love in a bottle,  because the color pink is often credited to being one of the main colors for love, the other color being red.
    The blank background is the blank story pages that represent a love story, and the life of two people coming as one. That is the desire of why people want to fall in love. When you’re in love, there is no limit on what can you do. “The limit does not exist!” says Lindsay Lohan, from Mean Girls. That also applies here, when you are in love. There is nothing that can stand in your way, and the two of you can do whatever your heart desires. A true relationship, such as the one that is true love, is something that can equal just about anything. The blank slate background symbolizes the number of chances and stories that need to be written when love happens, the life that is shared together. Whether it may be living together, or the kids and marriage route, there is a bunch of endless opportunities This further supports this picture’s message, because this shows what the love itself can entail, a sea of endless opportunities that two people can travel on together. Sometimes, people want the feeling and opportunity of love so much that they are willing to do anything to reach that goal. Chanel plays on this pathos, because they know that love is something that pretty much everyone wants.
    Overall, one can safely say that this image is selling the idea of falling love, and the perfume helps aid us to find love. The color pink symbolizes the color of love itself. A girl that is infatuated with the perfume bottle is showing how irresistible that the perfume is. The blank background is the symbol of the blank slate or story that one has when love reaches their path. Falling in love is something that is everyone’s reach. This makes love easier to obtain, all thanks to our friends at CoCo Chanel.

In Raising A Child.

There's always mixed feelings about pregnancy. For a young married couple, who were in desperate want of a child, when the stick turns pink, there is great joy in the news. However, when you're 16, the emotions are little different. No matter what the case or scenario is, we can all conclude that having and raising a child can cost money. That money, has to go different ways. This snapshot argues that education is the largest expense in raising a child, therefore making it an important priority. It also argues that food and household products share equal importance to it as well.
The largest bill, and perhaps the most important one, that comes when raising a child is of course their education. It's what makes your child. Sometimes, the cost can be as simple as going to a private instead of public school, which can be over ten thousand dollars a year. Other times, it can be supporting them when they go off to college. Parents often think of education as being a top priority, because simply they don't want their children to not get the education that they need so that they can avoid a fate similar to their parents. That's why they start savings funds for college, so that their children can grow up and be successful and support themselves the ways that they can not. This theory proves why education was the most spent when raising a child.
Another top one was food. Food is something that children need to grow and become strong. Most importantly, however, it's important to eat the right foods that have the right nutrients, so that they can become big and strong. Those foods are often very expensive. However, you can not survive with out food, so that's a top priority for children, and adults in general. This cost is so heavy, because the healthier foods tend to be more expensive then the not so healthy choices. Parents typically want to give their children not only nutrition, but food and general, so that they can develop healthy eating habits, and survive.
The final one was housing. A house, or somewhere to live, is important because children need to feel safe, and warm at night. Houses do this. By providing a roof over their head, you are providing them a safe haven, a place to lie their heads at night, and a place to feel safe.
Overall, raising a child is expensive. Obviously, there is more expense then listed here, but these ones, the top ones are the top ones needed to raise a child.

In Class Writing Assignment: Tumblr That Talks.

Based on my Tumblr, one can conclude that I am very into classic rock music from the 70's and 80's, enjoy nature, Gilmore Girls, cupcakes, inspirational quotes and Star Wars. This sends mixed messages about my personality, values, and ambitions, both positive and negative.
There are quite a few positive aspects from my Tumblr account. By the quotes, you can judge that I am a person who thinks of the glass being half full, not just half empty. This is a good example of character, because people like to have more positivety then negativity in their lives. By the nature pictures, one can draw the conclusion that I am a timid person who takes the time to stop and smell the roses. From the posts about Gilmore Girls, one can say that I am a fan of the show, because it's a female empowerment show, who shows a girl following her dreams to become a jornalist. Then, one can analyze that I have a lot of dreams, such as Rory's to become a writer.
There is a couple of negative aspects from my Tumblr that represent negative ethos. The first, and probably the most prominent one is that there is a lot of pictures of classic rock pictures, music that has an image and a schema. And what is that schema? That schema is, long hair, piercings, tattoos, and a rebellious attitude. This could be bad to a potential employer, because they could think I have a tattoo and a rebellious attitude, things that are not necesarily stars on on an employment application.
Overall, my tumblr shows the positive and negative aspects of what makes me, well me.

Obama's Brighter Tomorrow.

This week starts the new term, the second term, of President Barack Obama. In four years, one can argue that Obama has changed the country completely from when President Bush was in the Oval Office. On Monday, January 21, 2013, he began his presidency by addressing his supporters, whether they were two feet in front of him, or a thousand miles away with a simple speech to tell. In this speech, he promises the American people a brighter tomorrow, using the ethos of hope to connect with the American people, thus making his speech more memorable.The first example of President Obama using ethos is to install hope in the American people is in the quote 'This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience.' This quote talks about the many crises that were in recent history, ranging from September 11th, to the most recent tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. This quote is an example of the emotion of hope, because he is saying we've been through a lot in the past, and have recovered. Now, we'll recover from those recent tragedies, and become a stronger union.
The second example of President Obama using ethos is a bit later on in the speech, when he kept on using "we the people" throughout the speech. I felt like people could connect to that because, they identify with the Constitution, as a document that proposed change in the laws, making our government the way that it . Obama is proposing change now. This identifies with the ethos of hope, because the Constitution changed things.
The third example of Obama's usage of ethos, is when he said 'We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time.' This shows hope because, Obama is realizing that some programs that worked in the past are outdated, and there is going to be a need for new programs that would work better for our modern day country. This is an example of help, because he is showing that he actually is going to do something, which is something that the American people want to hear from their leader.
We will have to only wait and see whether or not President Obama's ideas become action, and how the country would be when he leaves the White House four years from today. However, in his speech, he declares a hopeful future for Americans.

Mac More Superior Than PC?

Do you remember those commercials by Apple when they compare their computers to their own, trying to prove that their computer is obviously the winner? Well, now it's in image format. The image shows two cars, a newer one with the Apple logo, and an older, more run down one representing Microsoft. This picture is an example of showing how Macs clearly are better then PCs, because the one that represents Apple is in tip top shape, while the Microsoft car clearly needs some work and looks like it's a lot of headaches, showing consumers which computer would be the best one for them to buy. By looking at this picture, any one person can conclude that Macs are clearly the better purchase then PCs, because they are more reliable, and last longer then PCs.
This image is obviously part of the Mac vs. PC campaign to show buyers that although Macs can be expensive, they can be worth the price. The PCs are generally more cheaper then Macs. However, sometimes the cheaper thing isn't exactly the best, because when it breaks down, such as a computer breaking down, it can be expensive and troublesome to fix. The image is saying that it's more reliable, and that it lasts longer, therefore being more cheaper, and worth the extra money. This can relate to cars, which is probably the analogy shown in the pictures. Cars that you buy more used and run down are inexpensive, versus a newer car that lasts longer, but is more expensive.
 Overall, this picture sends the message that Macs are better then PCs, because of their reliablity, and because of their longevity.