Mission Critical

This website was much more helpful, in my opinion, compared to the last website we looked at. In this website, the break down of each concept relating to arguments helps me look and clearly understand each part. Having each part separated and individually defined made it easier to refresh on what we've learned so far. Having the parts broken up is also helpful so that I can look at sections that I need more clarification on, and skip, or briefly look at, sections I understand.

In addition to the division of concepts, the ven diagrams help put examples as visuals, making understanding the topic easier. The numerous exercises make the website well rounded. The page we looked at in the first question is included in the sections, as well as other pages that include long, confusing definitions. Still, seeing all these concepts that we have learned about broken up and separated, it somehow makes it easier for me to understand recognize each concept. The organization of the page is what was most helpful to me on this page.

Cause and Effect

I probably have a unique response to this website.

While reading this website about "casual arguments," I continuously looked back to the situation, where a bicycle swerves into traffic to avoid a truck, forcing a car to brake, which then got hit from behind. Even though the topic seems fairly easy to understand, this website was useful in showing me how complex and mind-boggling arguments can be devised.

The exercises saved the day for me, so they are the most useful part about this site. I was able to understand that comparing the situation argued about to other situations where an incident does not occur is part of making a strong casual argument. I recognize that the cause described in the argument has to be reasonable for the argument to be strong. I can also tell that there has to be just one significant difference or similarity from other situations for the argument to be strong. However, reading through the whole page made the information much more complex and harder to understand. Maybe it's just me, but the most useful part of this website was the very last section of the website, as well as the exercises. The rest was useful for giving me a headache.

I also find it quite interesting that while reading the page and the original example, and debating the argument over who the accident was caused by, I clearly recognized right off the bat that legally, the second driver is at fault for the accident. Drivers who do not leave enough distance between themselves and the car in front of them are at fault. Somehow I still remember that from driver's ed.

My Opinion on Using Appeal to Emotion

Throughout this chapter, we've seen that using appeal to emotion in an argument can help get someone to agree to your argument. This can make it easier to get people to agree to your argument. With all the examples for appeal to emotion we've seen, it's incredibly interesting that all appeals to emotion are used frequently in advertisements.

Companies like to advertise using an appeal to emotion in their arguments. For example, the book includes an appeal to vanity for Pantene Pro-V. I also used another example in one of my recent posts, where I talked about using a styling gel to liven up my hair, and apparently to help me socialize as well. You can also point out that the "wearing a seatbelt" ad appeals to fear, by saying that every time you don't wear a seatbelt, you, or someone in the car with you, will die.

Like I stated in my last post, using axe styling gel did not get girls to play with my hair, even though the ad said it would. And even though wearing a seatbelt does lead to death, it doesn't mean that it will happen all the time, like it points out in the seatbelt ad. Suggesting that wearing a seatbelt can lead to death is a good argument, yet, it does not make it valid. The same can be said for something like the axe commercial.

This chapter told us that arguments using an appeal to emotion are good, which they are. However, these advertisements are very rarely valid because of it.

Appeal to Fear in Advertising

For this post, I am responding to exercise 3, where it asks to discuss an advertisement that uses an appeal to fear.

A very interesting advertisement that I found that strongly depicts an appeal to fear is a Australian seatbelt campaign, designating to wear a seatbelt in order to avoid serious harmful consequences. I will try to not go into detail, as the ad is very graphic.

In the ad, a young man, who is not wearing his seatbelt, is sitting behind the driver, who is wearing a seatbelt. The driver looks away for a brief moment, and suddenly collides with the car in front of her. Due to the force of impact, the young man is launched forward, and violently collides with the driver in front of him. If you would like to see the video, I'll add the link to the video at the bottom.

In this ad, I believe that a good argument is made, as the ad depicts a real life situation one might go through. What makes this crucial to the ad's message is when we remember one of the audience's main ways to interpret a message: personal knowledge and/or experience. I remember I had that "Every 15 minutes" assembly in High School, where car accidents, especially ones caused by drunken driving and/or not wearing seatbelts. Maybe you've seen the same one. By showing a possible scenario about a type of accident that occurs frequently, the advertisement is successful in clearly stating the argument that not wearing a seatbelt can have fatal consequences.

Video (some graphic content): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRo-2THXaOQ

Appeals to Emotion

When making an argument, or any statement for that matter, it is not uncommon for emotions to enter the picture. It is important to share your emotions with others, however it is also important to not expect everyone to have the same response to an issue. Sometimes, when arguments are made, emotions can drive our opinions one way or another. This is called appealing to emotion. A good example of those who appeal to emotion are protestors or advocates for certain projects or policies. They have certain agendas and beliefs, and hold up signs, hand out flyers, and/or get signatures in order to get their message out to people. However, based on their personal emotions, they argue something should be done, therefore appealing to emotion.

There are several types of appeals in arguments that relate to emotions: appeal to pity, appeal to fear, appeal to spite, and appeal to vanity. Appeal to pity is present when one argues on behalf of the less fortunate, advocating to help those in need. Appeal to fear is present when someone argues a point by making the viewer fearful of a problem. Appeal to spite is present when one argues opposite to another based on previous attitudes towards the other person. Appeal to vanity is present when one argues something to make you feel better about your appearance. This one is the one that "strikes" me best, because it is seen everywhere, especially in advertisements. For example, the recent AXE Style Gel commercials suggest that if guys use it, chicks will go ga-ga over their hair. Personally, I use that style gel, and I have yet to have some model run her fingers through my hair.