Seven Bad writing habits

I read this blog today and agreed with some of the things it had to say. The post talked about how when you are writing a paper for school you kind of use a formula to write it. Its not very creative and its very boring to read. It made this example by comparing an award wining essay to an award winning novel. The novel will be way more interesting to read compared to an essay. Although the audience is also different it is a statement that I still agree with. For example, when telling a story to a friend you will try to make it as interesting as possible.
Something I didn't agree with in reading this post is that when it said now you have to write short paragraphs. It stated that paragraphs should only be limited to three sentences. I didn't agree with this because what if you have more to write about, why would you limit yourself. For a post that was talking negatively to a certain writing formula it seemed kind of contradictory to say this.
Something I agreed with was at the end how the post explained how at the end of the day, its your paper to write not anyone else's. So don't be afraid if you write outside the lines a little bit because I think any respectable english teacher still knows how to appreciate a good paper. So write what you want and don't worry too much about breaking some of the rules.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 in Everything's an Argument talked about arguments based on facts and reason. Aristotle was the first to divide arguments bases on fact and reason into two different kinds. One being hard evidence. This is what most court rooms will use in cases, the smoking gun is what the evidence is sometimes called. Examples of this would be anything not artistic, such as statistics, facts, testimonies etc. In my opinion even though it is hard evidence it doesn't always make the argument true. For example the book describes how numbers can be presented in a way for a person to give the message that they want. They can do this by leaving some things out or comparing them to other numbers. Another problem with hard evidence is that sometime multiple people will see an accident but have completely different responses when asked how it happened or who caused it. Hard evidence isn't always crystal clear so its important to know that you can trust the source where you're getting these so called "facts" from before passing it on to someone else.

The other kind that Aristotle talked about was arguments based on reason and common sense. These are all the artistic appeals. This is used usually in the absence of hard evidence and can also be called logic. Most people use informal logic. This is logic based on assumptions that we already made in our culture. An example of this is called an enthymeme, or any sentence that has both a claim and a reason. "We'd better dance the picnic because it's going to rain." The speaker doesn't have to go on to explain that he/she got their information from the weather bureau or explain that a picnic is outside and vulnerable to rain. These are assumption already made. That is the difference between formal and informal reasoning and it too can also be effective in an argument.

Arguments

In English we have been discussing and also reading on our own about the topic of arguments. Arguments can be both verbal and visual and the purpose of them is to persuade someone or something to act in the way you want them to. There are visual arguments everywhere we go. They are on t-shirts, billboards, and the obvious, television screens. Whats important to know is that whether or not you realize that they're there, they have  big impact on the way we think, they influence us. A visual argument can be anything. Even cave paintings from way back in history are considered visual arguments. Visuals mean a lot in our society. For example in 1960 John F. Kennedy may have one the election against Nixon because on a televised debate John F. Kennedy looked more presidential than Nixon mostly because Nixon just recovered from an illness. This proves that our society is heavily influence by visual arguments. This means that all the advertisements we see everyday actually are probably influencing us into choosing which brand we buy at the store. Images and photographs are shaped by those who create or capture them. For example, someone can take any picture and change it in a way that can sway your audiences opinions.  When showing a person your photographs you are most likely going to pick one that showcases you in the best light. The only thing that gets in the way of this effectiveness is that everyone sees things differently. In the instance of a car accident, many witnesses to the crash may say different things. It all depends on the person whether or not your message gets across.

The image above is an advertisement (or visual argument) paid by Camel, a tobacco company. I chose it because there are a lot of things to talk about in my first writing assignment. The city, the fireworks, and the camel are all things that influence people and I would like to go into more detail with it.

Introduction

Hello everyone my name is Brandon. Im from the Chandler/Tempe area in Arizona and have lived here my whole life. I am currently studying business sustainability but am looking to maybe change to finance. I own a small dog and his name is scooter. I own a small dog instead of the typical lab because they're cuter and they show that I'm sensitive. My favorite T.V. shows are Breaking Bad and How I Met Your Mother. Besides watching a lot of T.V. I also love to go on the internet and find interesting stuff. Youtube, Facebook, Stumbleupon are the websites I visit the most. Me and my friends also sometimes try to make funny videos for youtube. They're never that funny.  I put a video below that i thought a lot of people might enjoy, its not my video. I really enjoy watching movies and in terms of which genre I am ok with just about anything. Some of my favorites would be Se7en, Fight Club, and Inception. I like movies that are exciting to watch and also make you think. When I grow up I would like to have a profession in business, maybe even own my own. I enjoy the way business is handled in this capitalistic society and would like a part of it. Lastly I love being a student at ASU and have had a very fun experience so far as a freshman.