Final Video Essay

For your final essay I want you to try and predict the future. You need to answer the question: What will the future, ten years from now, of communication technology look like and how will it affect the ways we communicate?

To do this I want you to watch a few quick videos. Group A has two videos watch them both, they deal with communication issues. They are funny, and make great points, but are not safe for work as they say. Group B is a link to Ted Talks on technology pick one and watch it.

Foor your video essay you will cite the Ted talk as a source in your essay. You may cite more sources, but you must cite the Ted Talk you watched.

For the essay itself follow the persuasive argumentative essay structure. Your video essay must be at least five minutes long, and be persuasive while answering the question.

As usual you may as creative as you want, while still meeting the guidelines.

They are due on Friday of finals weeks.

 Good Luck!
Group A




Group B
link

Argument Clinic and Fallacies

Maybe one of the best examples of an argument. So, what is an argument? What's a logical argument? We've talked about some of the models so now let's talk about fallacies. Or as prefer to call the stupid arguments you should never make.

Of course this isn't every fallacy but it's a good start

Stupid Arguments You've probably heard

 FAULTY CAUSE: (post hoc ergo propter hoc) mistakes correlation or association for causation, by assuming that because one thing follows another it was caused by the other.

example: A black cat crossed Babbs' path yesterday and, sure enough, she was involved in an automobile accident later that same afternoon.
example: The introduction of sex education courses at the high school level has resulted in increased promiscuity among teens. A recent study revealed that the number of reported cases of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) was significantly higher for high schools that offered courses in sex education than for high schools that did not.

 SWEEPING GENERALIZATION: (dicto simpliciter) assumes that what is true of the whole will also be true of the part, or that what is true in most instances will be true in all instances.

example: Muffin must be rich or have rich parents, because she belongs to ZXQ, and ZXQ is the richest sorority on campus.

example: I'd like to hire you, but you're an ex-felon and statistics show that 80% of ex-felons recidivate.

 HASTY GENERALIZATION: bases an inference on too small a sample, or on an unrepresentative sample. Often, a single example or instance is used as the basis for a broader generalization.

example: All of those movie stars are really rude. I asked Kevin Costner for his autograph in a restaurant in Westwood the other evening, and he told me to get lost.
example: Pit Bulls are actually gentle, sweet dogs. My next door neighbor has one and his dog loves to romp and play with all the kids in the neighborhood!

 FAULTY ANALOGY: (can be literal or figurative) assumes that because two things, events, or situations are alike in some known respects, that they are alike in other unknown respects.

example: What's the big deal about the early pioneers killing a few Indians in order to settle the West? After all, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
example: Banning "head" shops from selling drug paraphernalia in order to curb drug abuse makes about as much sense as banning bikinis to reduce promiscuity.

APPEAL TO IGNORANCE: (argumentum ad ignorantiam) attempts to use an opponent's inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the validity of the conclusion, i.e. "You can't prove I'm wrong, so I must be right."

example: We can safely conclude that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy, because thus far no one has been able to prove that there is not.
example: The new form of experimental chemotherapy must be working; not a single patient has returned to complain.

 BIFURCATION: (either-or, black or white, all or nothing fallacy) assumes that two categories are mutually exclusive and exhaustive, that is, something is either a member of one or the other, but not both or some third category.

example: Either you favor a strong national defense, or you favor allowing other nations to dictate our foreign policy.
example: It’s not TV. It’s HBO.

FALSE DILEMMA: (a form of bifurcation) implies that one of two outcomes is inevitable, and both have negative consequences.

example: Either you buy a large car and watch it guzzle away your paycheck, or you buy a small car and take a greater risk of being injured or killed in the event of an accident.
example: You can put your money in a savings account, in which case the IRS will tax you on the interest, and inflation will erode the value of your money, or you can avoid maintaining a savings account in which case you will have nothing to fall back on in a financial emergency.

 FAULTY SIGN: (also includes argument from circumstance) wrongly assumes that one event or phenomenon is a reliable indicator or predictor of another event or phenomenon.

example: the cars driving in the opposite direction have their lights on; they must be part of a funeral procession.
example: That guy is wearing a Raiders jacket and baggy pants. I’ll bet he’s a gang member.

 DAMNING THE SOURCE: (ad hominem, sometimes called the genetic fallacy) attempts to refute an argument by indicting the source of the argument, rather than the substance of the argument itself.

example: There is no reason to listen to the arguments of those who oppose school prayer, for they are the arguments of atheists!
example: The American Trial Lawyers Association favors of this piece of legislation, so you know it has to be bad for ordinary citizens.

 EQUIVOCATION: allows a key word or term in an argument to shift its meaning during the course of the argument. The result is that the conclusion of the argument is not concerned with the same thing as the premise(s).

example: Only man is rational. No woman is a man. Therefore, no woman is rational.
example: No one who has the slightest acquaintance with science can reasonably doubt that the miracles in the Bible actually took place. Every year we witness countless new miracles in the form recombinant DNA, micro-chips, organ transplants, and the like. (the word "miracle" does not have the same meaning in each case)

BEGGING THE QUESTION: (petitio principii) entails making an argument, the conclusion of which is based on an unstated or unproven assumption. In question form, this fallacy is known as a COMPLEX QUESTION.

example: Abortion is murder, since killing a baby is an act of murder.
example: Have you stopped beating your wife?

 TAUTOLOGY: (a sub-category of circular argument) defining terms or qualifying an argument in such a way that it would be impossible to disprove the argument. Often, the rationale for the argument is merely a restatement of the conclusion in different words.

example: The Bible is the word of God. We know this because the Bible itself tells us so.
example: You are a disagreeable person and, if you disagree with me on this, it will only further prove what a disagreeable person you are.

 APPEAL TO AUTHORITY: (ipse dixit also called ad verecundiam sometimes) attempts to justify an argument by citing a highly admired or well-known (but not necessarily qualified) figure who supports the conclusion being offered.

example: If it's good enough for (insert celebrity's name here), it's good enough for me.
example: Laws against marijuana are plain silly. Why, Thomas Jefferson is known to have raised hemp on his own plantation.

 APPEAL TO TRADITION: (don't rock the boat or ad verecundiam) based on the principle of "letting sleeping dogs lie". We should continue to do things as they have been done in the past. We shouldn't challenge time-honored customs or traditions.

example: Of course we have to play "pomp and circumstance" at graduation, because that's always been the song that is played.
example: Why do I make wine this way? Because my father made wine this way, and his father made wine this way.

 APPEAL TO THE CROWD: (ad populum or playing to the gallery) refers to popular opinion or majority sentiment in order to provide support for a claim. Often the "common man" or "common sense" provides the basis for the claim.

example: all I can say is that if living together is immoral, then I have plenty of company.
example: Professor Windplenty's test was extremely unfair. Just ask anyone who took it.

 STRAW MAN: stating an opponent's argument in an extreme or exaggerated form, or attacking a weaker, irrelevant portion of an opponent's argument.

example: A mandatory seat belt law could never be enforced. You can't issue citations to dead people.
example: What woman in her right mind could truly desire total equality with men? No woman wants the right to be shot at in times of war, the right to have to pay alimony, or the right to have to use the same restrooms as men.

 SLIPPERY SLOPE: (sometimes called a snowball argument or domino theory) suggests that if one step or action is taken it will invariably lead to similar steps or actions, the end results of which are negative or undesirable. A slippery slope always assume a chain reaction of cause-effect events which result in some eventual dire outcome.

example: If the Supreme Court allows abortion, next think you know they'll allow euthanasia, and it won't be long before society disposes of all those persons whom it deems unwanted or undesirable.
example: If I let one student interrupt my lecture with a question, then I'll have to let others and, before long, there won't be any time left for my lecture.

 APPEALING TO EXTREMES: A fallacy very similar to slippery slope, which involves taking an argumentative claim or assertion to its extreme, even though the arguer does not advocate the extreme interpretation. The difference between the two fallacies is that appealing to extremes does not necessarily involve a sequence of causal connections.

example: Husband to ex-wife: Well, if you want to be completely fair about dividing everything up, you should get one of my testicles and I should get one of your breasts!
example: Debtor to creditor: Hey, you've already repossessed my car and my television. Why don't you just draw a quart of blood or carve a pound of flesh from my heart too?

 NON SEQUITAR: (literally means "does not follow") in a general sense any argument which fails to establish a connection between the premises and the conclusion may be called a non-sequitar. In practice, however, the label non-sequitar tends to be reserved for arguments in which irrelevant reasons are offered to support a claim.

example: I wore a red shirt when I took the test, so that is probably why I did so well on the test.
example: Mr Boswell couldn't be the person who poisoned our cat, Truffles, because when I used to take Truffles for walks he always smiled and said "Hello" when we walked by.

RED HERRING: attempting to hide a weakness in an argument by drawing attention away from the real issue. A red herring fallacy is thus a diversionary tactic or an attempt to confuse or fog the issue being debated. The name of the fallacy comes from the days of fox hunting, when a herring was dragged across the trail of a fox in order to throw the dogs off the scent.

example: accused by his wife of cheating at cards, Ned replies "Nothing I do ever pleases you. I spent all last week repainting the bathroom, and then you said you didn't like the color."
example: There's too much fuss and concern about saving the environment. We can't create an Eden on earth. And even if we could, remember Adam and Eve got bored in the Garden of Eden anyway!

 INCONSISTENCY: advancing an argument that is self-contradictory, or that is based on mutually inconsistent premises.

Example: A used car salespersons says, "Hey, you can’t trust those other car salesman. They’ll say anything to gt you to buy a car from them."

Example: A parent has just read a child the story of Cinderella. The child asks, "If the coach, and the footmen, and the beautiful clothes all turned back into the pumpkin, the mice, and the rags, then how come the glass slipper didn’t change back too?"

List found here

The speeches from today

The Poverty Talk POVERTY

The education talkCreativity

Imitation Your Way to Success

I know many of you don't feel terribly creative. I also know many of you want to find as many short cuts as possible for getting your work done. In the long run there aren't really any shortcuts you can take, but you can use some pretty cool hacks to make things easier for you.

One of the oldest teaching methods is imatatio, or imitation if you're not obsessed with Greek and Roman philosophers. It was the basis of the entire Roman education system. Find something that is a great example and learn it's style and structure and imitate it.

You can do that with writing, and you can do that with speaking. If you hear a great speech, or read a great sentence write it down. Then take it's structure and insert your words and ideas around that structure.

Here are some of my favorite sentences/ ideas, from some amazing writers:

“That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.”– Fredrik Douglas, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass

Here—and his hands touched grass—was a place to be in for the night, not far from the tribe, so that if the horrors of the supernatural emerged one could at least mix with humans for the time being. –William Golding, Lord of the Flies

If there was no beast—and almost certainly there was no beast—well and good; but if there was something waiting on top of the mountain, what was the use of three of them, handicapped by the darkness and carrying only sticks?– Jack London, White Fang

We explored the streams, quietly, where the turtles slid off the sunny logs and dug their way into the soft lake bottom.
–E.B. White “Once More to the Lake”

He was clambering, heavily, among the creepers and broken trunks, when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry.
–William Golding, Lord of the Flies

Here is what they look like after I've borrowed their structure and syntax:

My Sentence: There—and his hands adjusted the scope—was a place to be in for the kill, not far from the target, so that if the humanity of the his spirit emerged he could at least mix with humans disappearing  for the time being.

The Original: Here—and his hands touched grass—was a place to be in for the night, not far from the tribe, so that if the horrors of the supernatural emerged one could at least mix with humans for the time being. –William Golding, Lord of the Flies

My Sentence: If there was no truth—and almost certainly there was no truth—to hell and be done; but if there was something waiting beyond mountains, what was the use of the knowledge, distorted by the mind and carrying only antiquated dreams?

The Original: If there was no beast—and almost certainly there was no beast—well and good; but if there was something waiting on top of the mountain, what was the use of three of them, handicapped by the darkness and carrying only sticks?– Jack London, White Fang

My Sentence: We explored the stars, solemnly, where the cosmic spores wisped off the nebulas and dug their way into the fabric of time.

The Original: We explored the streams, quietly, where the turtles slid off the sunny logs and dug their way into the soft lake bottom.
–E.B. White “Once More to the Lake”

My Sentence: He was dancing, heavily, among the tomb stones and broken dreams, when a sprite, a vision of light and dreams, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry.

The Original: He was clambering, heavily, among the creepers and broken trunks, when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry.

–William Golding, Lord of the Flies

My Sentence: “That solemn child, under the influence of the pixies, soon became vibrant with life; that soul, made of sorrowful images, changed to one of love and magical dreams; and that graven face gave place to that of an angel.”

The Original: “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.”– Fredrik Douglas, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass

If you really want to improve your speaking and writing you should try to imitate them as well.

The Call To Action

Class Will be online Thursday 4/16/2015

I,m sorry guys but I am sick as a dog. I will be posting at least an audio lecture tomorrow about a persuasive technique called the call to action. I can be a major key in a persuasive speech so make sure you get the material.  If you know what day you need to give your speech email me and I'll start the sign up sheet digitally.

If you have any questions I will be on Edmodo during the class time. Please share this with your classmates that might not see it.

Check edmodo before you go to class 4/7/15