Jordan’s AP Blog

1. Gould says that scientistsneed to have a wide variety of samples in their experiments. Also he asserted that other mitigating factors need to be taken into account when reviewing data.

3. Gould uses passages from the scientist’s own books to mock them. He uses passages that show how ridiculous their line of though is in the light of today’s society.

6. Gould uses paragraphs 9-12 to explore why Broca’sfindings are so far from the truth. He shows are simple corrections made by taking into account other factors essentially makes Broca’s findings irrelevant.

7. Gould uses the point here to show that sexism is no better then racism. Racism has much more negative connotation attached to it though then sexism does.

9. Gould brings his arguments together by exploring conclusions that we can draw from the arguments. That we can either accept or fight the results of Broca’s biased experiments or we can accept that people vary in intelligence and trying to stereotype a group will inevitably always fail.

10. The appeal to pathos is hidden in Gould’s use of ridiculous claims made by the 19th century scientists. The obvious bias stuns the reader who is used to their politically correct world.

11. The shift weakens his essay because it is displayed as a scientific piece and the shift to first person ruins his objectivity.

• Use a variety of sources for each paragraph. Don’t make a paragraph thats all about document A.
• Feel free however to refer to a document multiple times.
• Write a strong thesis that lets the reader know where you stand on the issue.
• Stay on topic with your argument. Dont fall into the pitfall of going off on tangents to explain sources.
• Recognize the counter argument and explain why its logic is faulty.
• Elaborate on your argument. Dont just state an idea then move on. Explain why the idea is the correct one.
• Makes sure that your sources dont overpower your argument. The refrences to the documents should be short refrences that strengthen your argument. Dont try to get them to write your essay for you.
• Make sure that your word choice is varied. Try and avoid using the same words multiple times.

1. Trubey assumes that most of his readers will be participating in “TV turnoff Week”

2. The ocassion that Trubey is writing for already gives TV a negative image. It makes his argument effective because it seems like his argument is being validated nationwide.

3. Trubey’s question creates the feeling that TV is an addiction much like nicotine or alcohol. It is one that seems like it would be easy to break but is in fact much harder then the user relizes. I believe that Trubey is right that watching television is a waste of time. However often late at night it is a relaxing way to unwind before going to sleep. Not many other activities can say the same; often at night I’ll try reading and find I’m too tired to concentrate for long.

4. Trubey’s use of classification gives him ethos because it makes it seem like he has done some reasearch on the subject.

5. Trubey’s citation only modifies his credibility to the most careful reader. The casual reader will read the stastics and automatically assume they are true.

6. The lists at the end of his essay strengthen his essay by giving hard facts that are hard to dispute. Staunch opposers however would point out his lack of citation.

Synthesis is an interesting mix of analysis and arguement. It requires carefully analyzing sources for  information to form an argument. It reminds me of document based questions in A.P. U.S. history. They required using and citing several documents to establish your position. One must remember you are using the pieces to help strengthen your argument, they are not writing your argument. The key is to work the sources in without having them dilute your argument.

1. Robert Putnam establishes his credibility by referring to many different studies. Then at the end of the piece he  cites them all in his notes. 

2.  Robinson, Godbey and Kunstler are all referred to in the passage. Robinson and Godbey wrote Time for Life. Kunstler wrote Geography of Nowhere.

3. By citing multiple sources Putnam adds to his ethos by establishing that this is not a unique occurrence. He proves his study’s  validity by showing multiple examples of it.

4. In footnote 14 Putnam gives exact information about where he got his statistics. This gives the reader the option to find the sources and check the author’s numbers.

5. Putnam uses the statistical information in two parts. First he shows that more people are staying home to relax. Next he shows this majority is spending that time at home watching television. 

6.  Kunstler’s extreme view  makes Putnam’s more mild view seem much more reasonable.

7. Putnam’s notes suggest he wrote the piece after 1999 and that he uses stastics for much of his research.

I believe that the model represents the majority of pop culture. Many people get stuck in the feedback loop that is pop culture. Ultimately however marketing kills all fads. There are some notable exceptionsto this loop though. The so called geek culture is one notable example to an exception. The culture relies on allusions or technical jokes. An example is a t-shirt I have it reads”In order to understand recursion one must first understand recursion.” The joke requires that one have significant prior knowledge to understand it.  The joke is that you cant define recursion without using recursion. The geek culture retains its exclusiveness not by being unmarketed-I can buy it easily online http://www.thinkgeek.com/- but by the knowledge necessary to understand the culture. The majority of the masses will never expend the effort required to understand the so called geek culture.