Once upon a jail cell...

Within this letter, MLK jr was addressing the other church leaders who have criticized his actions. He only wished to explain his motives and why he felt so strongly that what he was doing really was the right path to success. He addressed the people to whom he is referring, he addressed the problems at hand, and he respectively addressed the church.The piece of writing had a lot of voice in it. Even if were were not familiar with this man and his successes, he would know that he had a passion for what he was working for. The tone of this letter was not angry nor sad, but strong and urgent. 


I feel this letter was very effective. Never took much time in mentioning why what other people are doing wrong, but primarily stuck to why he felt what he was supporting was right. Spending too much time listing faults of opposing views becomes distracting, and because he avoided this kept me as the reader focused in on his purpose. Today, the length of his letter would probably have inhibited his message because our ability to stay focused has shortened, but for his purpose I don't believe the length hurt one bit. Especially because of the conclusion he included. 


For his use of logical fallacies, I believe he used name calling. It's more in a positive manner because he references a handful of past leaders and quoted them about taking a stand. He also may be using a bit of Hasty Generalization with his assessment of how people feel towards him or his actions, how the colored population saw themselves, or about the lack of the church's support. Some of his generalizations may have been based from fact or experience, but it sounds like he could have over/underestimated certain situations. He balances the ethos, pathos, and logos parts of his arguments very well. You don't ever feel overly exerted onto his personal moral framework but you can understand his emotion. Also, he backed his information with facts. 


This provides me with a good example for my persuasive essay. this piece demonstrates how a paper can be written and reflect morals, emotions, and logic all at once. 

Fallacies

Bandwagon : Everyone is doing it, so why shouldn't you?
      --> This is exactly where fashion trends begin. One of the latest observable trends were hair feathers, they were huge this summer. I began noticing them in magazines and in fashion images long before the summer, but that is when I really began seeing people I know wearing them. Particularly at the pool I worked at this summer, I was able to see the trend grow through this very technique. The first week the pool opened only a few of the girls were sporting this new trend. I knew how much it cost to get these feathers put in, but i also knew how to get them cheap and put them in myself. I never wore them personally, but I made a little bit of extra money by offering them to the other guards. The first week I started I put feathers in one girl's hair, after 5 weeks I had done the same to nearly all the female guards, and one of the male guards too. I heard several "well, if you're going to get them, then I will too," and "did so-and-so get one? Okay I will too." Yup girls, jump on that bandwagon. I'm not free of this, I loved my ugg-style boots.

Either-or: suggesting there are only two choices in a complex situation
     --> Either you clean your room, or you're grounded! That's one I heard a lot. To my mother, those were the only two options, but I'm pretty sure I heard this a lot more than I was ever grounded, and my room was never clean. For one reason or anther, the outcome many times was not what she argued.

Hasty Generalization: a broad claim based on a few occurrences
     --> I'm from a small town and I feel this is how to explain why each town has another small town that they just don't like. The town I'm from has a particular feeling towards every other nearby town. Ex. We don't like town A because they are all snobby, we don't like town B because they are all really dumb, and town C is just a bunch of ridiculously rude people. Obviously, these statements are not true but that is how it is generalized possibly because of singular occurrences or people.

{ TOPICS }

After much consideration, these are a range of topics I have come up with:

• ·         Why to eat breakfast
• ·         Why athletes should not be paid so much
• ·         Why ghosts exists
• ·         Why elective/cosmetic surgery should be avoided

df

       I feel these topics could provide a range of arguments. The breakfast topic may fall into your 'duh' category so I'll probably not choose that one. It's almost Halloween season so maybe all the horror movies will put me in the mood to write about our transparent friends. 

Opinion matters..

I always seem to be those "ah, that's what I should have said!" moments after some kind of argument or debate of some kind. When I'm driving or something and going over the conversation in my head, that's when the brilliance hits, just a little late. Sometime's I'm on point though, and say exactly the right thing to win or convince.

There has been plenty of times I've had to try to hone in my argument skills to get others to see my way, or convince one way or another. Group projects always seem to be a situtation you can see this happening. People disagree on how things should be done, and there is always banter trying to get things settled. One project in particular I remember was just last year in an Advertising class, I had a idea I had to convince others of and eventually we ended up using it, and it turned out great. So that is one of the successful times I've put my argumentative skills to use.

Clear as Dirt

just kidding, its a little better than that.

Muddiest point:
        This is a bit confusing to me because if you are picking a product and trying to convince others that they should be using it, isn't that the same as arguing a position for the product? I might have some trouble choosing a topic.

A bit more clear:
      I understand choosing a topic that isn't just for or against. Choosing a product or something else that there could be many views on provides a larger base for details and arguments.

Notaro..

 "There is a box of Twinkies in that grocery store, not just any box of Twinkies, the last box of Twinkies that anyone will enjoy in the whole universe. Believe it or not, Twinkies have an expiration date. Someday very soon, life's little Twinkie guage is going to go...empty." - Tallahassee, Zombieland


Okay, back to the narrative... 

• The introduction told us of how he was chosen for this task and why he needed to do it. It was necessary to the story to explain all this. The first line is quite grabbing. Especially "it was my turn." That grabs your attention because it's a bit daunting. 
• this is definitely a singular event, he only references past events that are specifically related to the story. 
• He gives some good description that makes you see exactly what he is describing, I could picture it all perfectly. 
• The dialogue was well used, it helped make understanding the characters much easier. 
• The fact that he is helping a slightly crazed relative could probably be relate-able to most people. I know I've had to help my grandparents on the farm in some pretty interesting situations, but I don't think any were quite as memorable as this would be. 
• this was really just a recollection of an event. The author doesn't really describe how that has effected the person he has/had become. 
• It provided a humorous ending to the anecdote, but it wasn't enforcing a moral or understanding the story.