Saturday, October 30, 2010

Macbook Selling.


  1. Buy this Macbook.

  1. Devon, a 24 year old married BYU student.

  1. The goal is to sell a Macbook.

  1. Logos: The argument was pretty logical and matter-of-factly. The seller said I should buy a Macbook because they are great quality, last a long time, and don’t get any viruses. These are all good things for anyone looking for a laptop because they don't want to buy something that falls apart in a year or two. The seller also skewed their argument towards me as a student. She told me that I could take notes in class, connect to WiFi on campus to study, and that it would help me to be more organized and to be a better student.

Ethos: There were a few claims to authority by stating that this Macbook is made by the famous company Apple. Apple has made a good reputation for itself in past years which makes retailers to really talk up how great Apple and its products are. Once the seller can make that connection and say “hey, Apple made this so you know it is going to be great,” then the sooner you can feel more confident about making your purchase.

Sufficient: I don't feel like the argument was completely sufficient for my needs. We talked a lot about things I already knew and most of the strong points the seller used could be found in other laptops made from other companies that also have a great reputation. The seller could have talked more about some of the capabilities of a mac versus a PC rather than just what a laptop in general is good for.

Typical: The seller definitely hit me correctly in being a student. Most of the claims being made were all pro student claims. Talking about how I can take notes and do better in class are all things that appeal to me as a student.

  1. Effective: I don't feel like the argument was as effective as it could be. It was typical and it did provide some good facts and appeals to authority, but it lacked in other ways. After our conversation, I was not totally sold on buying a Macbook so that it is why I feel it was not completely effective.

Words: 381
BYU Bookstore Mac store seller.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Music Video

Words: 279
  1. We are destroying the world.

  1. People who don't know what terrible things humans do.

  1. The goal is to show what awful things have been done.

  1. Pathos: The music video is heavily based on emotion. The video shows many dramatic images of animals being abused and dying. They show pollution and entire forests that have been chopped down. All of these images are meant to stir up emotion and make people feel horrible about what we have done to mother earth. Many of them are shown back to back with beautiful healthy animals and trees and then shows them all dead.

Logos: The video also uses a little bit of logic to reach its audience. By showing the happy, healthy animals followed by dying animals, the film reaches a new aspect to its emotional strengths. By pairing logical images together, the logos helps the pathos and will hopefully promote people to change the world and not kill animals and trees so much.

Sufficient: I do not believe the argument was very sufficient at all. It has a great start, but it would need to cover a few more things to make it better. Maybe some more images that don't look so staged and so on. Real people doing real things that are bad.

Typical: I do think it is typical though because the people it targets eat stuff up like this. Just with these images and words paired up, they will feel the need to do something. 

5. Effective:  I do think it will be effective to its audience.  I do feel it could be better with some better images and pairing up, but as it stands now, I do feel it will get the job done.  People will be touched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2F0HmajCwU Michael Jackson: Earth Song

Friday, October 15, 2010

Source Paper #2 Review

  1. Video games help in learning processes.

  1. Researchers and educators in this field of learning.

  1. The goal is to show how games help education.

  1. Logos: The article is very logical in its approach. It starts by explaining education and the various ways we learn as the foundation. After that, it shows how games have positive effects on self-learning and how exactly that works. They use several examples and different types of games ranging from single player games to multi player games to cover all their bases.

Ethos: As this is a scholarly paper, there are claims to authority all over the place. The writers have done their homework and appeal to experts in many different fields to back up any claim they make. Several studies are mentioned throughout the entire article.

Sufficient: I do feel that this article is sufficient because it covers so many areas and questions that a person could have about video games and education. The way they split it up between single player games and multi player games helps strengthen their claims and makes sure their studies were not too narrow or bare.

Typical: They do well to write to their audience. I, however, am not their audience, so I easily get lost or bored with some of their jargon and wording. It is written for smarter people than me, but as we learned in class, that is still lame writing no matter who you are.

Effective: Yeah, way awesome effective. It is fun to see so much research and studies that have been done to see some of the positive effects of video games. They use many sources to make sure this somewhat different approach on video games can be easily verified.

Words: 290
The article went over the effects of digital games and their impact on self-learning.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Source Paper Review


  1. People should limit their excessive gaming habits because it ruins their relationships.

  1. The audience would be family counselors and psychologists.

  1. The goal is to show the damaging effects of excessive gaming and to point out the warning signs and how to help those that need it.

  1. Ethos: The author points out several other studies and news articles to make her point clear and give it a lot of authority. For example, she has 32 sources for her paper to make sure her bases are covered according to other experts and their studies.
    Pathos: There is a little appeal to emotion, though maybe not intentionally. Her examples of the man dying from playing so much really plays on your emotion of fear on how addictive these games can be. Also the entire paragraph dealing with the impact on families talks a lot about how it hurts relationships and can cause marriages to end in divorce which also scares people and makes them worried about it. It can also cause sadness to think of those negative effects on loved ones.
    Logos: The entire article is very logical as it is basically a scientific study. She lays out her argument by listing extreme examples of people who have played too much as well as listing several studies that have been done and have discovered lots of negative impacts it has on relationships. She is clear and uses a high appeal to Ethos to back up all her points and it all makes sense.
    Sufficient: She is quite sufficient. In fact, she is very thorough in her research to show the most important facts about gaming, the effects of gaming, the signs of too much gaming, and how to solve the problem. All it needs is a little bow and it is a perfectly wrapped present, ready to open and enjoy.
    Typical: This article is perfect for her audience and I believe her audience will be grateful to have it. It lays out so many things that they will need to know in order to help other families with this new addiction that is becoming more and more prevalent.
  2. Effective: The article is extremely effective. The only thing I think it is missing is some clear cut counter arguments, but it does such a good job on its initial argument, that most counter arguments do not come up. She achieves this by having so many sources and covering every base in order to convince her readers that this is a total package and the research is solid. 

    Words: 428
    The article is a scholarly study on the effects of excessive online gaming on adolescents, young adults and relationships.  It covered the impact gaming has on family, friends, and relationships as well as describing all of the symptoms of an addiction to gaming and how to best handle the addiction.