Rhetorical Case Study- Troops in Iraq # 2

I expect my case to factor into the next presidency of four years because Obama, once inaugurated, is going to immediately start having to make foreign policy to establish his credibility and authority in international matters. In his campaign, he adamantly was against the war in Iraq, and made a speech, which I used as a source in which he promised to bring them home as soon as he is in office. He is going to have to hold true to his word, but we know that never happens in politics. Even if he immediately pulls the troops out of Iraq the day he becomes president, he will still have a lot of cleaning up to do over there, some smoothing things over, and some compromises to reach with the country itself. I predict that he will be strongly advised and shown that pulling the troops out would be disastrous, and although he didn't get into this mess, he is the one who will have to make the wise decisions to et the US out of it. i expect it will be a very intense and debated subject within the next 4 years.

Rhetorical Case Study- Troops in Iraq

My rhetorical case study of different views on the war in Iraq couldn't have been more clearly linked to the election since it is a subject that has been brought up in debates, interviews, and published on the candidate's websites. Obama wants to bring the troops home immediately, and McCain wants to keep them in combat for as long as it is necessary to secure peace. Both couldn't disagree more, and although I would love to be bias in my paper and exert and opinion based on the research, it will also be challenging to remain unbiased and just write on the primary sources, not the subjects they are arguing.

Voting

When I voted in the 2008 presidential election, it wasn't a great as I thought it would be, simply because I had to do an absentee ballot. its just not the same mailing a piece of paper in rather than walking up to the polls after waiting in line forever to cast your ballot (electronically, of course). I knew exactly who I was voting for for president, but I had no idea who some of the Representatives were , or the judges and court officials. I refused to just vote for whoever was running in my party, so instead I called my Dad and asked him to briefly explain what each person would do if elected.
It was a god feeling, though, being able to vote for president of the United States. It also made me realize how important it is, especially when i came across people who were too lazy to go and vote.

Researching for My Topic

I was almost overwhelmed at the number of articles and primary sources available in the TCU library system about the war in Irag. I wanted to focus in on troop removal, and the consequences of that, so that helped to narrow down the number of sources. like I said, it was very overwhelming and took alot longer than I had planned, so I kind of regretted doing the topic. But I interviewed my father as a primary source and got to see some of his personal photos of when he was over there and get a personal account. I was also reminded and careful of how biased the media is, and how they will twist and not report whatever helps their point they are arguing, so it helped to get a positive account of the troops in Iraq from my dad. I also looked up primary sources of what Obama and McCain claimed what their point of action would be with the troops once they were in office to compare with each other and explore the potential consequences of each of their decisions.
The assignment I concluded is going to be tough to do, but interesting and helpful because I feel the war is such old news to people that they almost disregard of forget about it.

Topic for the Next portfolio

I am doing my topic on the war in Iraq. I find the war incredibly controversial and will be very interested to do research on more than I already know. I chose this topic not only because I find it interesting, but because I feel like the war has been going on for several years and people are either forgetting about it, don't care anymore, or are sick of hearing about. Not only will I be able to use speeches and policies as research, but I am also planning to use interviews from my Dad who was over there in 2005. I have a lot to narrow down, but I haven't decided which aspect to focus on yet.

My Humorous Argument

My cartoon that I did was in reaction to one of the laws that Obama passed in Illinois that "oks" after birth abortion. Also know as infanticide or induced labor abortion. Many Americans are against abortion and many are for it. My cartoon obviously tries to bring a little humor into the situation that many do not find funny. It shows Obama dragging a baby away from the finger of God, which is also a play on the famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel called "the creation of man". The point is that many feel that once babies are born into the world and are breathing on their own, they are human beings and are creations of God, and therefore no one can still have the right to take their life away after birth. But Obama is pulling the baby away because he supports pro-choice and after birth abortion.

Arguments with Humor

I found this cartoon and used it as my example for humor. It does not even have words, but gets its point across as clearly as possible. I thought it was humorous, but definately within the proper bounds, not anything crude or very offensive. It can't be denied by anyone for or against Obama that he goes overboard on his "decorations" and turns his speeches into a spectacle. The artist plays on the second coming of Christ, which is prophesied to be the beginning of the end of the world. i believe this would be considered satire over parody because it is using humor to "unmask' the issue that election funding is going to a fireworks show for the spectators.

Arguments of Evaluation

My argument of evaluation is one that I actually have been arguing on TCU campus since the semester started: The new TCU meal plan sucks.
But in a more formal manner: The TCU meal plan is a waste of money, time, and efficiency. One could argue that the new TCU meal plan is a lot better quality than last years. The old TCU meal plan actually gave the students options of places to eat with just the one lump sum of the $1,100-$1,200 meal plan you chose. WIth that $1200 you could buy medicine, plastic cups, utensils, along with anything else you wanted to take back to your dorm or take on the run at Frog Bytes. You could eat at Sub Connection with that same sum if you have classes in Smith and no time for a long lunch break. You could also deduct money from that sum to get late night coffee and snacks at the library if you were studying late, or to eat at Pond Street Grill if you live in the Greek and like the short distance. But, TCU is, after all, a business, and they will do whatever to make an extra hundred thousand to do more less-than-absolutely-necessary re-gutting of buildings, putting in more sidewalks, and adding fancy flat screen TVs right by the doorway in Market Square that absolutely no one looks at. With the raise of the cost of the initial required meal plan, along with "send home" for snacks at the Bookstore, and only $100 of frogbucks for the semester per person, TCU is making a pretty penny off of all the money we are spending for food. Take the extra $900 for the meal plan and frog bucks and times it by the 2,000 that live on campus and you get an income of 1.8 million more than what they were making last year.
Don MIlls, the head of TCU dining services on campus recently emailed me with a menu of the day's food when I questioned him about vegetarian options for myself and many others. Unfortunately, there is some miscommunication between him and the kitchen staff because I still found my options severely limited.
Although the head of Dining Services and Greek Life did come to the most recent Panhellenic Council meeting and promise us to improve on what many students had complained about. They are trying to accommodate more seating in Market Square and working on more late night options for 1873. I recently asked 50 girls whether or not they were satisfied with the meal plan and all 50 of the polled were strongly against it and the changes it underwent from last year. This proves that most of the student body is opposed to the new meal plan, which means that the whole system needs to be reevaluated. The TCU class average, according to Student Foundation statistics have dropped significantly in the past year, and we dont want the meal plan being a reason for students choosing another school.
My claim or opinion is such: forget the extra seating ,the few more options for our salads and putting up a clock in market Square ( all of which were promised as a symbol of the administration hearing our pleas for improvements). More money equals more options. Let us pay the 2 grand for food, but just have more options come out of that sum: Frog Bytes, Bistro Burnett, Sub Connection, and Pond Street Grill.

Argument of Definition

Marijuana should be made legal because it is in fact a helpful medical treatment, rather than a harmful drug. I dont agree with this, obviously if I am thinking about being in the FBI, but I thought it would be easy to understand. The next step after finding a topic is to research it, which the most interesting research I found was many facts and statistics about the harmful effects of alcohol versus marijuana, which are significantly less. You can craft your claim of this argument by defining how marijuana helps in medical conditions, more than it harms when used in non medical ways. It can swing both ways, like the 2 pictures of patriotism in the chapter. You can show the medical affects, or you can show one of those "above the influence" commercials that makes weed look really bad.

Factual Arguments

my hypothesis that I started out with was " there are more women on campus than me". This came from complete observation as I walked to class the past couple of days, and even the numbers in my classroom. I went to a source to prove my hypothesis was an argument of fact- my tour guide book of facts. I haven't read the updated 2008 one, and it stated that TCU was indeed, 56% women and 44% men. I also had statements from people that work in the Admissions Office that TCU had more women than men. In presenting my hypothesis, I would choose the first source to use because it is more reliable and believable by my audience than just what someone claimed- everyone knows how false or misleading that can be.

My article has changed several times, so I apologize in advance to my group who will have to read another one.
My article is about what women want in the election, what they will vote for- the article calls women an "untapped" energy. I chose this article because I think it was a brilliant political strategy for McCain to choose Palin after his chances were low and Hilary was out of the picture. It will be interesting to see whether or not this move will gain some of the Hilary voters since Palin is the only female left to vote for or whether they stick to the more left winged politics of Obama. The article discusses how women and men have responded positively or negatively to her nomination, and how the dynamics have now changed on the ticket. There are many positive and many negatives to VP Palin and I am interested to see how it will all play out in the election.

Election 2008

   The most important aspect of the 2008 election is the voter apathy that is rampant in the youth today. Countless people I know, have come into contact with, or even celebrity interviews I have read have reinforced the fact that many and most of the adolescents just don't care enough to vote. 

    Whether for Obama, or "Nobama", whether you think McCain is the best candidate yet, or will die of old age once in office, it is still no excuse for not driving to the polls Tuesday morning. Whoever decides not to vote is obviously so ignorant to not realize that there are millions of people around the world young and old that would die for the chance to vote in a completely free democracy with a fair count. They are compeltely ignoring the free rights our Founding Fathers fought to give us and set up for us in the Consitution. I would much rather the candidate I am not voting for win by votes of the previously apathetic than them to not vote at all.  

Arguments based on logos

Arguments that are based on logos are based on verifiable facts, statistics, and reason. The book claims that audiences are more likely to believe arguments that have "claims that can be counted, measured, photographed, or analyzed than those that are merely defended with words." Having logical facts to back your argument up is important.
My argument I am bringing in is a table a statistic of average maximum prison sentances for both state and federal prisons. It is measured in number of months for 8 different crimes, and compares how harsh of a sentance the state would give versus what the federal government would give. This would be an argument based on logos if I was explaining how the federal courts give harsher punishment to criminals. The chart clearly shows the prison sentances are alot higher in federal courts for all but 2 crimes: burglary and murder. It would be pretty hard for someone to argue logically against this, therefore making logos a key factor in my argument.

Arguments with Pathos

My argumentative object that I chose is a shot glass that I purchased at a Civil War Museum in Atlanta. ( fondly referred to as the "war of Northern Aggression" sometimes in the South). It has a confederate flag on the front and 3 markers on the back for however much alcohal you fill the glass with. The lowest marker says "yellow-bellied yank" on it. If you have a higher tolerance, you can fill it up to the 2nd marker and be a "southern belle". And by filling to glass all the way to the "Rebel" marker, you will be a true southern rebel. 

This definately appeals to the pathos, or the heart because it appeals to the idea of being a rebel southerner, a confederate, and all the ideas about how evil the yankees were to the South not allowing their seccession. It also appeals to the alcohol tolerance, because everyone wants to achieve rebel status by drinking all that alcohol in one sip. 

From: Atlanta, GA

Junior at TCU

Interests: painting, drawing, anything artsy, history

Major: History/ Art History

Minor: Criminal Justice, possibly French as well

I took this course at TCU simply because it is required, but not reluctantly, as I wanted to improve my writing skills. I plan to improve my writing style, skills, and argumentative points as I complete this course this year. I need to become a better writer for all the essays I have to write for my major. I write alot in and out of the classroom- surprisingly, I write letters alot, emails, text messages, emails, and write alot of "to do" lists and on artwork. 

My interest in politics is great, but not enough to be a political science major. Mainly national and international politics are the most interesting to me, and politics on the state level and below bore me.

After reading our book Everything's an Argument, I can somewhat see how this blog is making an argument. I am arguing the color scheme I picked, the facts are indeed facts are about myself, and the reasons I chose to take this course. Its more informative than anything else, but will turn to exploring as we go on in the course.