Chapter 3 Blog Reading

This section of "Everything’s an Argument" focuses on Ethos is writing and how they can affect the reader. The section I read was called "Claiming Authority," and in this section the main issue was authority of a writer. This text talked about certain authorities that writers should have when they are talking on a specific subject. Having these authorities not only make the writing more trustworthy but also the writer. To be able to claim authority on something you’re writing its good to have certain level of knowledge and experience. If you choose to write about cheese and how to make it, it would help if you were a manager of a cheese manufacturing company. Therefore, your readers will trust your knowledge and believe in what you are saying. It is good to identify your position and how it relates to your claim, it could be as suttle as putting a "Dr." before your name or being very specific of your credentials. The most important part about claiming authority is to actual know about what your claiming, even when you don’t make a huge effort to assert it, authority can be conveyed by using small signals that readers will notice.

A certain section that grabbed my attention was the example of using experience as a type of authority in your claim. In the reading there was a short expert from an essay written by a woman who had undergone mastectomies and was sharing her gut wrenching experience. Terry Tempest Williams is an activist who attacks those who poisoned the Utah desert with nuclear radiation. However, Terry is not a radiologist, a nuclear expert by all means but Terry has experienced Breast Cancer, and it is known that some cancers are caused by too much radiation can lead to cancer. Therefore, she has some authority to talk about radiation and its effects on women that can lead to Breast Cancer.


An example that would work for me is my knowledge in soccer. I could write about soccer and state that I've been playing since I was four years old. That information would give authority to my claims on soccer, because not only would I have knowledge on the sport like rules and positions but I would have personal experience being that I have played for more than a decade.

The Power of Visual Arguments Pg 442-444: "Everything's an Argument"

This section talks about the power of visual arguments and how they can stick in our memories. Also the different types of visuals like, images, t-shirts, billboards or movie screens. Visuals date back for centuries, starting with cave paintings, statues of pharaohs of Egyppt, portraits of Roman emperors. Two events occured that were turning points in the power of media. The first was the 1960 presidential election. When J.F.K and Richard Nixon had a debate on nationally television. Because of this event, images and physical apperance became a big deal and changed what was an acceptable look for a president. The second event that happend in the early 1980s when an introduction of personal computers with graphic interfaces surfaced. This made it easier for people to see images, letters and symbols using computers. People are still adjusting to the new decade of visual arguments and being prepared to deal with a world that is more than just words.

A certain part of this section that was interesting to me was the example of visual power in the J.F.K. and Nixon debate that was televised. It is crazy to me that something as simple as the way you look can lead you to being president of the United States. Just because Kennedy was "beeter" looking and more put together than Nixon lead to a narrow victory for him. Even though Kennedy was more presidential looking, Nixon could have made better arguments and would have been a better president but because he looked "ill" it lost him that oppurtunity.

An examply of this would be in some reationships girls will chose the better looking male who may not be as intellectual or passionate as someone who may not be as attractive. Even though the other male that is said to be not as good looking would be a better partner than the better looking male, the girl will still chose him based on looks and sexual attraction. May be shallow or just may be a visual argument.






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Me, Myself and I

A little intro about myself...

I'm Alex Carpenter, grew up in Northern California in a town called Brentwood. I have played soccer all my life, stopped playing this year sadly.. I snowboard and wakeboard. I love the Beach I go as much as I can. My mom's side of the family is from LA and my dad's side is from Reno, so I get the best of both worlds (snow and beach). I chose ASU because I wanted to go to a big school that had good sports team, good parties and good weather. So far ASU hasn't let me down. My major will eventually be nursing, I hope to be a traveling nurse one day and really help the world. For now I'm just doing my prerequisites before I apply for the program my junior year. I'm Spanish, Mexican and White ethnicity, I can't speak spanish but I hope to learn some day. I really enjoy spending time with my family and close friends of course. I love watching "Family Guy" and "American Dad", I also watch all the Real Housewive shows on Bravo. I love reality TV! I'm always loved the mobster lifestyle, so I enjoy all kinds of MOB movies, I also love Will Ferrell, any movie with him I most likely like. My favorite team are, Raiders (football), Oakland A's (Baseball), Sharks (Hockey), Lakers(Basketball), I LOVE watching sports and I get very defensive when people talk crap about my teams :) I hate cats...like HATE HATE them, they are creepy and gross. I love all kinds of food, I will honestly try ANYTHING. The one food or condiment I hate is mayonnaise. GROSS. Thats pretty much it!

byeeeeeeeeeeeee !