Question 3

One concept I would say needed further discussion would be the difference between Euphemisms and Up-players. I don’t really understand if there is a difference. When I looked at the two different definitions, Euphemism sounded pretty vague; “A Euphemism is a word or phrase that makes something sound better than a neutral description.” When it says “something” that could be referring to a claim, a statement, or really any words put together. The exact definition of an up-player provided on the blog is, “An up-player exaggerates the significance of a claim.” I believe both of these definitions are too vague to distinguish between each other. I also think that if you were to qualify something as an up-player or euphemism it would all be subjective to you and your experiences. I researched these terms and I did not find anywhere where it said that these terms can be qualified by each individual and if there were to be a strict guideline that would cross the board would be not even possible because it is subject to the interpreters decision.

Question 2

2). What was your favorite thing about the class? What was your least favorite thing about the class? How can this class be improved? Again, be specific.

My favorite thing about the class I would say hands down was the group work. To finally interact and talk with someone about what we are learning, and different methods we were all using to complete our work was refreshing to say the least. Once again, this was my first online class and I definitely was not prepared for the sort of time that it required so when I had the chance to talk to my group members I saw how they were completing the discussions and other assignments and started to emulate them. For example, did you know that when you are posting to the Blogger, you can create a new post, and even if you forget about it till tomorrow or the next day, as long as it is still on your browser you can hit send and post it and it will post at the time that you originally hit “new post.”

In addition, one of things I did not like about the class was the way that it was set up online. I know we are the millennial generation and we are supposedly accustomed to learning from our little screen that links us to the “world”, but part of the reason I am getting my degree from San Jose State is to make connections, and engage in a classroom setting with my professor, and my peers. I know you’re thinking, well you should have not taken an online class then, well, you’re right, and this will probably be my last online class I take. Seeing how this is my first, I went into it with a little more optimism then I guess I should have.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the professor and the content was refreshing; I just do not like how these courses are being offered in the first place. Just because something possible doesn’t mean it should be done, especially in the subject of Communications. In the Bay Area we have many different cultures, languages, and religions around us. I know that I can learn all about all of them from reading some statistic online, but it’s when we actually engage with those different cultures that we learn the most and gain the most perspective. If school begins to separate us from the world, and keeps us looking forward at the screen, then we will not know how to “Communicate” when we finally do have interaction. It would be interesting to see where online classes go in the future.

Question 1

1). What have you learned in this class over the course of the semester? Be specific.

First, I’d say I learned a lot about how to approach an online class. This was my first experience having to try and learn without having a scheduled time and place for a learning environment.

In addition, as far as subject matter, I find myself constantly analyzing arguments now. Even if the argument has nothing to do with me or my circumstances I still am intrigued and listen in on the different stances attempting to apply the different concepts we have learned over the course of the semester. I found that on almost every occasion where a discussion elevates into a heated argument, there is a least one fallacy in play. Most recently, while I was on my way to the Library, I overheard a couple arguing at each other about whether or not the boyfriend thought that one of the girlfriend’s friends was hot. After a few comments on either side I overheard the girlfriend loudly projecting her voice and stating: “Just tell me, I want to see if you pick up the things (appealing features) that she’s trying to show off.” The comment stuck with me as one that has probably been used by many women who think that they know what every man is thinking about them. I thought to myself about the argument, and where the premise and conclusion were. I realized that it was a clear appeal to vanity, or apple polishing.

I have been identifying concepts with arguments much more than just this example and am thankful that I had the opportunity to see things from a different perspective.

Response to Mission Critical Website

The Mission Critical Website is a gold mine. It is highly organized so you can freshen up on any term very quickly. All the information on the website is reliable and easy to understand. I like how it is organized chronologically from “the basics” to “analysis”, then “Fallacies.” When I looked under the Casual Arguments heading I found it took me to the link that was up on the professors blog before. I guess the links that I had been following are all Mission Critical but I was just jumping to the particular topic that we were going over for the week. This is the first I’ve seen the Main Menu for Mission Critical. I plan to use this for most of my studying when it comes final time. I have a low B in the class now and would really like to do well on the last assignments and discussions and hopefully the Final as well. I actually am disappointed in myself and the lack of attention I paid to weekly discussions and want to make up for it in these last couple of weeks.

Exercises for CA

I thought the exercises for Casual Arguments was one of the better exercises I’ve run through. The reason I found it so insightful was because of the scenarios presented at their clear application to Casual argumentation. For example, one of the questions asked was, “Five people became sick at the company picnic. Which of the following might be considered the most significant “commonality” in their illnesses?” The choices were vague but the correct answer was determinable. The answer is “they all ate the potato salad.” Why I enjoyed so much is because it elucidated Casual arguments in complex scenarios as well as simple. The exercises worked their way up in complexity until they really had me going over what a casual argument really is. What I took from the string of questions about the company picnic was a way of going through a checklist in my head and determining if there is only one difference, therefore making it a casual argument, or, if it does not all add up and is really a fallacy.

Criteria and Example Reasoning

In this last post I will briefly elucidate Criteria and Example Reasoning with an attempt to clarify some points for my fellow students. An example of criteria reasoning is when there is information presented about a certain topic and a subject gathers the information and draws a conclusion from it. This is most commonly found in written arguments. When we draw conclusions on paper usually we use more concrete fact and try and stay as objective as we can. Because of this, when we write we tend to use criteria based writing rather than draw from personal experience. In contrast, Example Reasoning, in my opinion, is used more during conversation. People constantly draw on past experiences and other past experiences, whether it is from a day ago or a year ago, it is much easier to draw on such examples from your memory bank then read up on a recent study on a conclusion that your trying to prove.

Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning

In this next post I want to discuss Inductive and Deductive Reasoning. These are terms I have heard throughout my academic lifetime but never really mastered. Basically, Deductive reasoning is the intuitive reasoning that one would deduce logically. For example: Trees are used for wood. This table is made with wood. This table is made from tree. Why this example is deductive is because of the logical progression of premises to a conclusion. The is the most general type of reasoning and also incorporates different types of reasoning such as casual as well. Its complement, Inductive reasoning, is similar but different in a few important ways. First, we can take a look at an example of Inductive Reasoning. Inductive Reasoning would look like this: Well, every other day that I have attended class the teacher has been late…so, I can assume that today will be no different. The teacher will be late. Why this is Inductive Reasoning is because of the steps taken to reach the conclusion. The subject assumes that future events will be held true solely based on past events. Now, this form of reasoning, as you can imagine, can get you into some trouble. Just because it happened in the past does not mean that it will happen in the future. If I were to choose between the two forms of Reasoning I would choose Deductive. It’s a safer bet.