The book “Everything’s an argument with Readings” gives a reflection on almost all matters. The many ways of arranging arguments are presented fairly. Arguably there are arguments from almost all weighty topics; from culture, to advertisements to matters of friendship, food, religion, diversity and work. From the various arguments, I have chosen to consider just two chapters, and from these I have chosen to discuss just four items. The four items come from the first two chapters.
Chapter 21, dubbed “How Does Popular Culture Stereotype you,” has excerpts of eight different essays. The two that caught my minds are Kenneth Cole’s “We all walk in Different shoes” and Barbara Munson’s “Common Themes and Questions about the use of Indian Logos.” Cole a popular American designer has created an image. In the image, a female ovarian cancer survivor is depicted advertising one of Cole’s products. The logical argument that Cole conveys is the fact that we all walk in different shoes. The fact that the woman has won a fight for her life comes out too. Lastly the image stirs up emotions because the woman is bald! The result is the moral implication of it; that Cole supports people like that to promote his clothing while giving them a better life in the form of better pay. I would say that Cole’s visual argument has been successful in capturing all aspects of advertising. He aimed to win over the audience which he does. He probably hoped to sell his product in an attractive way with a touch of uniqueness. He is able to achieve just that.
Barbara Munson has a logo that communicates something about culture directly. At the top of her document, she has designed a logo with the text “Indians are people, not mascots” and “Teach respect not racism.” Her message is remarkably clear. She desires to change the current perception of the people. She puts her argument in the first paragraph denouncing institutional racism. This is a clever way of handling things. Otherwise someone in a hurry may not read the entire text and think it was about something else. She recounts about how proud Americans have been about their native Indians. She also mentions how “schools have borrowed from Native American cultures” Other things that are obviously borrowed include ceremonial traditions, sacred objects, and some traditional dresses ” This serves to put her in good light of the audience and is quite commendable on her part. As she pens off, she concludes that the logo issue is about political correctness and she is just right. The message that she had intended to convey is certainly sent and delivered.
The next chapter is headed “How many Friends Have You Made Today?” This argument enjoys support from a web article, a Youtube video, magazine and newspaper articles, a report and a blog entry. This transcript is particularly funny and interesting. There is a blog that has an article concerning the friend of a friend issue. The blog is owned by the Office of the Canadian Commissioner of Privacy. There is a brief discussion of the many instances when people put their privacy at stake. As they say it, this happens when they sign up to the privacy agreements of some social networks just to get access to more popular content on these networks. The author of this article comes out as a brainy person. The most important article is laid first followed by the other details. The article is somewhat less intriguing than the previous two that we have discussed. I may say that it lacks the electricity that was present in the other two articles discussed above.
In another article, the writer argues that socializing on the internet among teenagers is apparently not a bad thing. If I were to write this article, I would have begun with a discussion of the study. But writer surprises me. They begin by the words, “Good news for” then go on to set down their own argument first before giving the actual details of the research. This writing comes out unique since most people would have done it differently. The advantage that Tamar Lewin gains from this is priority for her argument. If anything will be remembered from her article, she is willing to make sure it would be her argument and not just the study. The details that she eventually gives help the reader to evaluate the reliability of the results. This kind of freedom for the audience increases their confidence in the argument given. Then she gives real life examples of messages shared by teenagers and the point is home.
In light of the above discussion of articles, the reading on “Everything’s An Argument has achieved comprehensiveness in the kind of material covered. There is even one covering social networks. I am sure that anyone reading this book would be thrilled. Whether they are instructors or students would not matter.
Works Cited
Jentelhawkins5. "Making A visual Argument: We All Walk In different Shoes KennethCole.com." 1 November 2012. JentelHawkins5.com. 5 October 2013 <http://jentelhawkins5.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/making-a-visual-argument-we-all-walk-in-different-shoes-kennethcole-com/>.
Lewin, Tamar. "Study finds teenagers' Internet socializing isn't such a bad thing." 20 November 2008. nytimes.com. 6 October 2013 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/world/americas/20iht-20internet.17985214.html?_r=0>.
Lunsford, Andrea, John Ruskiewicz and Keith Walters. "Everything's an Argument with Readings." 2013. barnesandnoble.com. 5 October 2013 <http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/everythings-an-argument-with-readings-andrea-a-lunsford/1100924739?ean=9781457606045>.
Munson, Barbara. "Common Themes and Questions About the use of Indian Logos." 1997. Gogle.com. 5 October 2013 <http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Flegis.wisconsin.gov%2Flc%2Fcommittees%2Fstudy%2F2008%2FSTR08%2Ffiles%2Fmunsonhandout.pdf&ei=YSNRUtmDAemR4ASV64DYDA&usg=AFQjCNF1XorY4Hy8kVOgd6_LFUbsFfeU>.
Office Of the Pricacy Commissioner Of Canada. "A friend of a friend of a friend knows you’re on vacation." 20 September 2013. blog.priv.gc.ca. 6 October 2013 <http://blog.priv.gc.ca/index.php/2007/11/05/a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-knows-youre-on-vacation/>.
