Need Clarification

I am still a little confused on reasoning by analogy. I understand what an analogy is, but I get completely lost on how to judge an analogy. Like how many questions do I have to ask before I have asked to many? How do I know whether an analogy is good or bad? What are some better ways on evaluating an analogy? These are all things I am completely lost about. I am not even sure if I am asking the right questions. All I know is that while I was reading Chapter 12 on analogies I went from, "okay this isn't so bad" to "wait how do I do that again". I tried to learn by studying the examples, but it doesn't seem to help me too much. Maybe I should check out some of my peer's blogs on here. I am also not sure how much of this is going to be on the final, and since I don't know how to do any of it, I'm really scared that I'm going to bomb the final if there is a big enough portion on it.

Over the semester...

Over this last semester I have learned how to argue effectively. My friends have always told me that I should be a lawyer because I am always arguing about something. I will admit I do like to argue, as weird as that sounds, but it is mostly because I believe people should stand up for what they think. Whether a person is right or wrong he or she should stand up for what they believe in, and this semester of Comm 41 taught me how to argue more effectivly. I now understand what makes an argument strong, weak, valid, sound, and invalid, and these tools will really help people in their everyday life. By using what we have learned throughout the semester, we can grow more as individuals because we know how to create strong arguments for what we think. I also learned how not to argue. Concepts such as bad appeals to authority or to common belief are used everyday, and people assume that these claims towards an arguement are true. I bet we have all encounted many arguments that have been listed throughout the Critical Thinking textbook, but now we have a name to put them to, so it is not that difficult to understand these concepts. Overall, I have learned a lot throught the semester and I know I can put what I have learned to good use.

Generalizing

Generalizing is a bad way to judge people. The concept of generalizing focuses on taking what you see from a group and applying it to a portion of that group. This can be directed at people and to other things such as experiments. Here is an example of a generalization directed at a person: Tonya hangs around with a group of friends who are in a gang. She is not a part of the gang, but she has some mutual friends of some members who belong to the gang. One day Tonya is walking to the store and gets shot by some rival gang members. This is a perfect example that happens in everyday life. Although Tonya is not a gang member her friends are, and since she hangs around them, rival gang members think she is a part of the gang as well. Rival gang members either don't care that she is not a member herself because she is friends with their rival gang and that is good enough for them, or they mistaken her for a gang member because they always see her hanging out with that gang. This example of generalizing is sort of brutal but it is one that stays true to everyday life.

Going Backwards!

While reading Chapter 15 once concept that caught my attention was tracing causes backwards. I thought that this concept was kind of funny because it reminded me of something you would see in a comedy movie where one guy gets bumped by someone else and he knocks over a vase of flowers and that vase of flowers pours water all into someones lap and then they get up all startled and knocks a woman's hat off her head and it goes flying into a bowl of punch. Then that woman looks at the middle man like it was all his fault even though there was a first man in the works. Okay I might have went a little overboard with my example but this concept is something we experience once in a great while in our lives and it has a comedic presence to it. This fits perfectly with the rest of the cause and effect chapter because it shows how different events corelate to each other to make one outcome. For example the practice quiz for the cause and effect website discussed people getting sick from the potatoe salad. What if one morning the cheif got sick on his way to work because his children weregot sick from someone at school, so when he went to work that morning to make the potatoe salad that those people had eaten he accidently coughed right into it. Someone from his childrens school got his children sick, who got him sick, and he coughed in the salad and got other people sick.

Super Cool Website!

Okay I might of gone a little crazy with the title of today's blog, but I love this website! I'm not too sure if this website was offered to us since the beginning of this semsester, but if it was'nt then it deffinatly should have been. I think this website would be a great help for chapter readings or even brushing up your communication skills before a final. I esspecially like how after you click on a subject, it breaks down into smaller subjects that you can click on,and it will take you to that part of the page where it discusses that topic. I might be going a little over board with how much I like this website but I am a full time student, part-time employee and a full time mommy-I need something quick and easy to refer to before I take a test instead of going through all the highlighted sections in my textbook. I will deffinatly refer back to this website before your final in this class, it's too helpful to ignore!

Cause and Effect Website

I thought that this website was very helpful when it came to explaining cause and affect. The example it used of the bicyclist and drivers worked really well for what the site was trying to teach. I did not feel lost at all when reading this web page; some web based material can use awkward language which can make it even more difficult to learn the lesson. If we did not have incorporate blogs in our classroom then I defiantly think that this website should be used more throughout our lessons. What I also noticed was that sometimes when I'm reading something similar to what I have previously read, I will just skim right through it. This website kept the topic interesting and helped me get a better understanding of how cause and effect work. While reading this website I did not skim through it at all, and it kept me wanting to read the rest of the page. The quiz at the end of the page was also helpful because it made sure you understood what you just read.

Appeal to Spite

Out of all the appeal to emotions, I disliked appeal to spite the most. I thought this appeal was somewhat decitful because it's only purpose is revenge. In certain situations I can understand why people would want revenge or that revenge could be called for, but if someone used this appeal to try and convince me of something they would fail. I dont think this type of reasoning is very convincing at all. Seeking revenge does not make things morally acceptable or more understanding; it has one purpose and that is, to get even. What if you used this appeal in court after murdering someone? They would have no pity over you and sentence you to life probably. Although I am open to try to see how this appeal can be more effective so please leave me comments if you find a way this appeal can be used in a stronger situation or circumstance.