Online Advertising

http://livingsocial.com/deals/8086-photo-session-95?pid=13015596

The advertisement I found is about an opportunity to have an in-studio photo shoot with Blue Sky, which is supposedly a prestigious photo shoot company for known brands and magazines. The advertisement entitles customers about eighty-four percent discount than the usual price, and also guarantees a satisfactory experience and portraits. I believe the claims given in the website are acceptable since livingsocial.com is a website that many of my friends use and trust when it comes to getting exclusive discounts.  

However, it also depends on the product that the website is advertising. There might be claims that sound very appealing to customers, but there is a possibility that there are catches when it comes to things that are too good to be true. Even if Blue Sky sounds like a reputable photo studio, we do not know if they really produce good photos because for the famous brands mentioned in the ad. It is obvious that they would edit the pictures for extra cost to create more appealing posters for their companies. There is no certainty that the pictures taken for average customers would be as good as for those taken for the top notch brands mentioned. We cannot be so sure with internet ads until we actually check the fine prints and agreements that come with them.

Repairing Arguments

Star Wars is under the Science Fiction category.

Jasmine needs to buy a Science Fiction book.            

Based on the given example, the person stating the argument is being irrational because the first premise does not relate to the second sentence.  The first sentence stated is completely irrelevant to the second premise, which can help the argument to become stronger if it is removed. However, the example does not state the reason why Jasmine is getting a Science Fiction book.

The argument would be stronger if there would be a connection to the conclusion with the second sentence- perhaps something like, “It was one of the required books for her Literature class,” or if connected with the first sentence, “Jasmine can purchase a Star Wars analogy book because it is under Science Fiction.”  By adding on these premises, the argument would be more plausible and easier for the reader to comprehend what the person is trying to imply for bringing up Star Wars or why Jasmine needs to purchase a Science Fiction book.  

Negotiating Effectively: Practice Mentoring

On page 66 from The Essential Guide to Communication, by Dan O’Hair and Mary Wiemann the book discusses how mentoring works. A mentor is someone who has more experience and is able to be a role model for others who are less experienced, the protégé, by helping them out and setting a good example for them to excel too.

We can usually see mentors in the work field wherein they teach and help protégés develop their skills because they were the ones who have been there.  For the mentor-protégé relationship to work, the protégé should be willing to learn from and work with the mentor. On the other hand the mentor should be willing to “be approachable, confident, and secure,” for the protégé should be “ambitious, loyal, and open-minded,” so the relationship could work well and result in a positive note (O’Hair, 67).

The mentoring stages are:

1.       Initiation: this is when the mentor and protégé know more about each other, wherein the mentor gives advice to the protégé. As for the protégé, this is when he or she should be open-minded and ready to learn from the mentor.

2.       Cultivation: this is when the mentor and protégé create a deeper bond wherein the mentor “protects and promotes the protégé” (O’Hair, 67). Respect and familiarity is gained during this stage.

3.       Separation: this is when the mentor and protégé begins to drift apart, either because somebody moved to a different department or the protégé can handle him or herself on their own.

4.       Redefinition: this is the point wherein the relationship between the two is successful, and usually when the mentor and protégé see each other as equal. However, the mentor can still share advice with the protégé.

Fallacies: Straw Man

I was lucky enough to have already encountered this type of fallacy in my English 1B class, so I was able to use the book that we used in class for reference which was Writing Logically, Thinking Critically by Sheila Cooper and Rosemary Patton. According to the book, a Straw Man argument is when “a person creates and then attacks a distorted version of the opposition’s argument.”  For example:

The manager wants to put up new shelves for shoes, clothes, and accessories. She said she might  hire someone new to help in the store too. And she's going to decrease our salary to be able to do it.   

In a Straw Man fallacy the statement says something positive that will completely deceive the reader as if everything about it is great. However after describing the statement in a positive note, the statement would suddenly distort the argument by identifying something negative that would oppose what was first specified. By doing so, it discourages the reader to believe all the positive statements mentioned because of the negative comment, thus making the reader think negatively of the statement.

Structures of Arguments

Exercise #2:

1) I’m on my way to school. 2) I left five minutes late. 3) Traffic is heavy. 4) Therefore, I’ll be late for class. 5) So I might as well stop and get breakfast.

Argument: Yes

Conclusion: I’m late for class anyway, might as well stop and get breakfast.

Additional Premises Needed: I think to fully understand why the person decides to stop and get breakfast instead of heading straight to class; there should be a connecting premise between 4 and 5. Something like “Even if I’m only a minute late for class the teacher will still deduct 5 points anyway,” will help elaborate the argument. By adding another premise, the argument’s conclusion which is 5 would make more sense.  

Subargument: Sentences 1, 2, and 3 are the subarguments. The 4^th sentence is the result of the first three, while 5 is the conclusion.

Good Argument: The argument is good if the person would add on another premise between 4 and 5 to explain the conclusion. However, it was weak when only left with how it was given in the exercise. After adding the extra premise the argument became stronger and clearer to understand how it came about to the conclusion.

This exercise helped me break down the statement and fully understand what is missing to make the argument more credible. It also showed how one premise can change the strength of an argument. I am definitely going to use what I learned from this exercise to make stronger arguments in my research papers.

Types of Leadership

I found “Types of Leadership” resourceful and interesting as a student, because we do a lot of group work in class. I think group works will be easier to accomplish if people could get their hands on the topic about leadership types. Not only would the leader be happy but also the members. The results of the group work would also be much better.

Let’s admit it, there are times when some group members don’t cooperate as much as you want them to, or sometimes some members tend to take over and want to do things their way. When these things occur either way it can turn the group work into a nightmare.

The least I liked was the Authoritarian leadership; because it means the leader does all the decisions without any comments or suggestions from the group members. The only advantage that a group can get is by having things decided easily or swiftly. However, there are also disadvantages like group members are not as contented or dedicated to their work. The other one that I’m not a big of a fan of was Consultative Leadership. I think it was unfair how members put in their ideas but the leader is still the one that has the say to what the group will do. In comparison to Authoritarian leadership, the advantage of Consultative Leadership is “more reasoned and educated outcome” (O’Hair, 34). Laissez-faire Leadership is also part of my no-no list, because it completely lacks group communication.

The most I’m in favor of is Participative Leadership, because the group members and the leader work together to complete a task, wherein the leader just monitors the group but is equal to the other members as well. This style of leadership creates the most success with the group work as well as contented and dedicated group members.

I think it’s important for groups to know how to communicate with one another to achieve their goal and still keep a good working relationship.

Valid vs. Strong Argument

In order to say that an argument is valid, the premises should be true as well as the conclusion. It is not a valid argument if the premises are true but the conclusion is false. When stating a valid argument usually the arguments are based on facts or are plausible, which supports the statement and makes the argument stronger, in comparison to using how people perceive things or share their opinions. As an example of a valid argument:


In order to take the WST, students at SJSU have to pass the English 1A and English 1B courses.

Jasmine is a student at SJSU and passed the WST last semester.

Therefore Jasmine already took English 1A and 1B.

As students at SJSU, we know that before we can take the WST, we have to pass English 1A and English 1B. Because Jasmine is a student at SJSU and she passed the WST, we can strongly conclude that she took English 1A and 1B classes.

On the other hand, strong arguments can have true premises, but a false conclusion. However, even if the premises are true and it might seem like the argument is strong, there is still a possibility that the conclusion does not agree or support the premises. For example:

Jeremy passed English 1A and English 1B.

Jeremy is qualified to take the WST.

Jeremy will pass the WST.

The given example shows that Jeremy passed the English 1A and 1B, and is qualified to take the WST. The premises are true and are strong arguments. However, it does not mean that just because he took the required courses that he will pass the WST. We could only assume that he would pass the test, but there’s also a possibility that he will fail it. It may be because Jeremy could still be lacking some writing skills for the WST even if he passed the required classes.

Argument

Titanic is on the movie box office list for making over $1.8 billion worldwide. According to Yahoo! Movies’ five critics, the movie scored an A-. Titanic is the greatest movie of all time.

The example’s argument is strong because the premises given are true. However, even if the premises are true that the movie Titanic made more than a billion dollars since it opened in 1997, and Yahoo! Movies gave a rating of A-, it does not mean that Titanic is the greatest movie of all time, as stated in the conclusion. The first premise stating how much money the movie made is credible. According to my research, Yahoo! Movie’s A- rating was given by five critics. For the conclusion, it is true that Titanic may be one of the greatest movies of all time, but it does not hold the title as “The Greatest Movie of All Time.” It is also possible that Titanic was the greatest movie of all time, but another movie could have taken the title from it. The conclusion could also just be the person’s opinion stating the sentence; perhaps because it’s the person’s favorite movie or the only movie that person has ever watched.

Descriptive and Prescriptive Claims

Descriptive Claim simply states the explanation of the given subject. For example, when a student says, “The United States is recently experiencing an economic crisis; because of this, schools are the first ones that are very much affected by the budget cuts.” The example is just simply saying what is currently happening to the economic crisis in the United States, and how it is affecting the education system of the country, which makes it a Descriptive Claim, without saying what should be done like the Prescriptive Claim.


On the other hand, Prescriptive Claim suggests what someone should do, or what is appropriate to do to solve the problem for the good/better/best of the situation. For example, when a student says, “So that schools would not suffer under the budget cuts that are currently happening in the United States, the government should prioritize education and not choose to cut budget on that area the most.” The statement given exercises Value Judgment as well in comparison to a moral claim, showing what should be done to better the situation.

"It's cool"

I was walking to my Step Training class today when a couple of guys were talking in front of the indoor pool at the Spartan Complex. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but hear some of their conversation. One of the guys said, “It’s cool.” Immediately, it reminded me of the second discussion question we have for our class, so here I am using that as an example.


In my head I was wondering what he meant when he said “It’s cool,” because it could have been a totally different interpretation. He could have meant the weather was cool today or in a “That book is awesome” or “It’s alright or okay” type of cool. “It” could have been a different “it” from what I perceived from what I heard, like what I mentioned, the weather, or something that he cooked or baked and waiting for to cool down if applied to a different situation.

I just realized from this assignment how most of us use such vague or ambiguous language. The funny thing is we don’t even notice it until we really analyze it closer and really pay attention to it. I guess this happens because we assume that the people we talk to already know what we’re talking about, but to others it could have been a different interpretation.