Blog 5

A gift that millions of little girls have probably received around the world, perfectly placed in a rectangular box with fashionable clothes, a bright smile, and a so called perfect body, a Barbie doll. According to the author many view this doll to be bad, others good, and then adding another side to the list with those who have a moderate view of the doll. (97) Those on the “bad” side argue that “Barbie's proportions create impossible images of beauty that girls will strive for.” (96) Basically their statements sum up to say that Barbie is a mindless, materialistic, vapid woman who is the worst type of role model for girls. However, those on the pro-Barbie side of the argument say that “Barbie is a fun part of growing up.” Supporters argue that Barbie was ahead of her time, that she “achieved” careers historically before women did, such as becoming an Astronaut. Finally, the third camp of arguers, the moderates, say that while Mattel made Barbie “the ideal woman,” she also sends the message out that girls can be who ever they want. (97)

As a child I received Barbie's all the time, in fact some of my most vivid memories as a toddler include when my father would bring me home a new Barbie, well a new Barbie and gummy bears. But Barbie to me wasn’t something to aspire to be, something to wish I looked like and in fact a majority of young girls probably felt the same way as I did and still do. Most young girls don’t aspire to be Barbie, because Barbie can be whatever or whoever you make her. She doesn’t dictate what you should be, or wear, or how you should look. Instead the child is the one deciding what Barbie wears, who she will be and how she will look. Children, particularly young girls, assert their independence and thinking through her.

While the author does not exactly agree with the standpoint I have taken, she doesn’t disagree either. Instead the author holds a moderate view towards Barbie, and sees her as a “scapegoat,” stating that it’s more important to look at “an entire culture” and see the ideas that we are teaching about beauty as a whole to children. (98) While reaching her conclusion the author incorporates a blend of templates used in They Say, I Say, including the arguments of X, Y, Z (such that X, Y, and Z stand for pro-Barbie, anti-Barbie, and the moderates) and then stating her own argument. With her argument the essay points out her own standpoint, where she agrees and disagrees with the three sided debate and exactly wherein those categories of X, Y, and Z she stands.

Works Cited

1. Wood, Nancy. Essentials of Argument. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

2. Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say, I Say. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2006.

Blog 4

Birdsell and Groarke’s purpose is to take David Fleming’s claim that “visual images (“pictures”) cannot, he claims, be arguments” and prove him wrong. (1) In fact according to Birdsell and Groarke “the point that visual images are frequently vague and indeterminate cannot, in view of the demonstrable indeterminacy of verbal expressions, show that images are intrinsically less precise than spoken or written words.” (2) Simplistically meaning that even though pictures can be vague does not mean that they are any less exact with sending their message than that of spoke or written word. A picture of a bloody battle may not tell you where the battle took place, what day, what time or who was fighting, but it will still tell you that a battle was fault and the end results were tragic. While a passage from a novel may depict a bloody battle scene with gruesome looking corpses littered around, this is hardly more detailed and in fact is telling you the same thing that a picture of that battle scene might show. Sometimes a picture has the ability to come across with more meaning than words ever can. Some things in life cannot be expressed in words. Imagine the most beautiful scenery you can think of and then think of the words to describe it, you can spend a lifetime trying to find the perfect word to describe the scenery and always fall up short. However you can take a photo of that perfect scenery and capture that image as it is for a lifetime and never once need a word to describe it.


Birdsell and Groarke provide a solid argument for immediate verbal context, immediate visual context and visual culture. They divulge into the significance of each term in its relation to visual argument. For instance, “ the significance of immediate visual context is most obvious in film, for it incorporates a progression of images which allows us to recognize a single frame as part of an overarching argument.” (6) Birdsell and Groarke go on to say that immediate visual contexts capture “more than the sequences of images” and that immediate verbal context “provides a basis for the interpretation of visual images.” (6)


Works Cited:

1. Birdsell, David S; Groarke, Leo. Toward a Theory of Visual Argument. (Argumentation and Advocacy. 33.1 (1996). Research Library)

Blog 3

There are eight features of visual argument and all are arguably important in their own right, but it is the eighth feature, “visual argument invites unique interpretations from viewers,” that is most important. (Wood, 244) Individuals view images differently for the reason that just like snowflakes no two people are the same. This individuality allows a person to view an image and relate it to themselves, an experience they had, or even a story they may have read. The ability to perceive images differently is important because with that comes some of the other features of visual argument, such as “visual argument evokes an emotional response.” (Wood, 240) If there is a group of people viewing the same image of a war scene each of them will more than likely have varying emotions. Some of those people may be angry over the war scene, some sad, while others may just be indifferent to it all. The ability of the picture to evoke an emotional response all leads back to the importance of “unique interpretations” that Wood speaks about. It is easy to become involved with an image and the message the photographer, artist or whoever the “message sender” is, when images are up to the interpretation of the viewer and therefore the message of the image become a part of them. (Wood, 245)

Humans perceive images differently and interpret those images to mean different things. While looking at the picture of a lady outside a bathroom a person would associate it with being the woman’s bathroom. However this image of a woman is not in fact a woman but instead a representation of a woman, an icon. The icon is the most important feature of visual image; icon meaning “any image used to represent a person, place, thing or idea.” (McCloud, 4) According to McCloud non-pictorial icons have a fixed meaning while pictures, such as one of a face, can have various meanings. (4) Due to the fact that images, “icons”, can be interpreted differently, they become more relatable, such as cartoons. Cartoons are drawn so simplistically that it becomes easier for the viewer to place himself or herself into the image of said cartoon. As McCloud says cartoons are “…an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel in another realm. We don’t just observe the cartoon we become it!” (8) The iconic images of cartoons don’t leave you wondering about their backgrounds or why their clothes may be strange, instead they let you fill in the gaps and personify the cartoon as what you want it to be.


Works Citied:
1. Wood, Nancy. Essentials of Argument. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.
2. Handa, Carolyn. Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World. (Excerpt: McCloud, Scott. The Vocabulary of Comics.)

Blog 2

Argument. Arguing. Arguers. Variations but still the same word, but what does a word really mean? Does it or can it have more than one meaning? Apparently so, as I learned after reading the chapter, but beforehand argument really only had one meaning to me. Argument meant that there was a disagreement of some sorts between two or more people, and that argument had opposing sides. After the reading however it became clearer that argument is more than a dispute, it’s about expressing yourself and what you believe in. With that expression, argument can be more than spoken word. It can be written, drawn, and even (but not limited to) be played musically. Although while having your “argument” your audience may mildly agree or disagree with you, be neutral, hostile, or be unfamiliar. Despite the multiple types of audiences you might have a good arguer should “think of your relationship with your audience as if it were plotted on a sliding scale.” (Wood, 36) This means that the arguer should be prepared for the unknown, the audience he or she will have, and be ready to try to persuade that audience to change their original view points on the “argument.” Nevertheless an inability to change an audience’s stance on a particular topic does not make an arguer bad. Instead it should make that arguer re-evaluate their approach to their “argument” and look for a different path while expressing their point to an audience.

While perusing the covers of the magazine choices I noticed that O, The Oprah Magazine had an article titled “100 Things That Are (ACTUALLY) Getting Better”, and in today’s times things that are “better” or just good in general are a breath of fresh air. The 100 things that are getting better may not be the most important or may even be a little superficial but good things are good things no matter what they may be. Admittedly the tiny quote under the magazine’s title, “Live Your Best Life” got to me as well, being that inspirational quotes and stories are always appreciated (at least to me).

Works Citied:
1. Wood, Nancy. Essentials of Argument. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

Blog 1

Foss states that rhetoric is “how we perceive, what we know, what we experience, and how we act are the results of our own symbol use and that of those around us; rhetoric is the term that captures all of these processes.” (1) According to Foss, Foss and Trap rhetoric is composed by three parts; part one being human. It is stated how humans create symbols to define our world and when we change those symbols we ultimately end up changing the world. The second part is the composition of rhetoric is symbol itself. Symbols differ from signs by which a sign could be a toilet bowl signifying that you might be in the bathroom, it is the word bathroom that is the symbol. (Foss, 2) The third and final component of rhetoric according to Foss is communicate, stating that “rhetoric refers to intention, purposive interactions, while communication covers all kinds of meanings, whether intended or not.” (4) Rhetoric hails from ancient times in which Aristotle is credited for organizing rhetoric into a solid and comprehensible notion. Aristotle included four out of the five major cannons of rhetoric. These canons were made up from invention, organization, style, and delivery. The fifth canon, which Aristotle did not write about, is memory. (Foss, 7)

Rhetoric can be found in many aspects of life and because of that it is a form of communication in its entirety. While it may have many components, all representing different things, rhetoric is a way that we communicate with one another. We live through rhetoric or more specifically rhetoric lives through us. Rhetoric is every time a person speaks, gives something a name, or even argues a point. Due to the fact that rhetoric lives through us it can be found when a student is standing in from of the class arguing their viewpoint on any particular subject. Every time politicians give speeches rhetoric is found through the ways they try to persuade you to vote for them or agree with their ideas. Rhetoric is any time two or more people hold a conversation. Overall it is any form of communication that human beings make, whether actually conversing or something as simple as drawing a picture for another person. Rhetoric doesn’t necessarily need words, sometimes it is just found in the actions of others and oneself.

Definitions:

Rhetoric- n. 1-the art of speaking or writing effectively: as a : the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times b : the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion
2 - a : skill in the effective use of speech b : a type or mode of language or speech;
3-verbal communication

Rhetoric- n. 1. (in writing or speech) the undue use of exaggeration or display; bombast.
2. the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse, including the figures of speech.
3. the study of the effective use of language.
4. the ability to use language effectively.
5. the art of prose in general as opposed to verse.
6. the art of making persuasive speeches; oratory.
7. (in classical oratory) the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience.
8. (in older use) a work on rhetoric


Work Cited:
1. Foss, Foss, and Trapp. Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric, Third Edition. Washington: Waveland Press, Inc.

2. “Rhetoric.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Merriam-Webster Online. 1 February 2010


3. “Rhetoric.” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 1 Feb. 2010.
< http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rhetoric>.