Rhetorical Devices

We use many rhetorical devices in our everyday communication.  One rhetorical device that I have used recently is euphemism.  Euphemism is defined as the replacement of a term that has a negative association by a neutral or positive term.  I was downtown the other night and some guy was super wasted and being a fool.  The euphemism that was used was I said that he was the life of the party instead of saying that he is a drunk or embarrasing.  Another rhetorical device that I have used recently is sarcasm.  Sarcasm is defined as the use of ridicule, insults, taunting, and/or caustic irony.  The example of sarcasm is used was when I described the A's baseball team and called them a minor league team to describe their poor play and players.

Reason and Emotion

In the book, reason is defined as the process of supporting a claim or conclusion on the basis of evidence.  It involves the use of intelligence and the application of rules for problem solving.  Reason is used everyday in our lives.  Without reasoning about everything we do, we wouldn't be making strong decisions due to the lack of depth provided in them. 
According to many philosophers, to achieve happiness and inner harmony, we must live a life of reason.  Emotion is defined as a state of conciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, etc.., is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of conciousness.  In the western culture, it is thought that when emotion plays a role, it causes slopiness among our decision making.  Many of us have high and low emotional inteligences depending on our ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion.  Personally, I think people that do not have a high emotional intelligence are more likely to have problems in life due to the lack of ability to handle different circumstances as they are presented in front of you.

Beliefs in God

Accordingto Dawkins claims, I believe that he thinks that believing in God and in evolution is capable but not at the extent that Charles Darwin states.  Dawkins says that thanks to Darwin, it is no longer true to say that nothing that we know looks designed unless it is designed. This relates to Darwins belief that God is the creator of everything, he is the one that started everything and was the push to everything in existence and there is no other alternate solution.  Dawkins believes that evolution by natural selection produces an excellent simulacrum of design, mounting prodigious heigths of complexity and elegance meaning that evolution by natural selection provides a resonable understanding to how everything started and has evolved over time.  Aquinas would most likely respond that the five 'proofs' asserted in the 19th century are the only belief and the only reasoning behind evolution stated in this five proofs.

Fallacies Ad

The first time I read the ad on pg 143, I thought it was extremily feminist and an unfair depiction of woman.  I understand that in the late 1960s things were different and different ideals were accepted than those today.  A couple fallacies I noticed throughout the ad, was for one the picture at the top of the ad of women dressed fancy in what was the early 1910s. By saying that they have "come a long way" misrepresents what women were fighting for at the time.  Yes they were fighting for their own equal rights, but they weren't trying to be snobby about it such as this ad depicts.  I feel that woman are probably more snobby today than they were back then.  Another fallacy I noticed was the picture of a beautiful, skinny woman that at the time didnt depict the true woman.  By saying the slims were just for woman was to instill this superficial idea.  No wonder they attracted younger girls due to the sex appeal and independence displayed all over the ad.

Leadership in Groups and Teams

According to the Essential Guide to Group Communication, there are four different main styles of leadership. Authoritarian, consultative, participative, and laissez-faire.  Each style has many different advantages and disadvantages associated with them.

Authoritarian leadership is defined as the exercise of control by the leader without input from other group members.  This style of leadership allows for faster decisions but only take in one persons point of view, the leaders.  It can cause problems that could be corrected by asking for peoples opinions.  This type of leadership is displayed in communist countries where the citizens have to follow orders of their leader.

Consultative leadership bases decisions upon the opinions or ideas of group members.  Unlike authoritarian leadership, this type of leadership takes in their counterparts opinions and ideas to allow the leader to come up with a decision based off his opinions and his fellow peers.

Participative leadership involves a leader working with his fellow workers or group members to achieve a goal.  This type of leader enjoys to work with his workers and use their opinions and ideas along with theirs to accomplish a task or goal. Yes it may take longer to accomplish, but it will be more in depth.  Personally, this would be my go to leadership style.
The last type of leadership style in Ch 3 is laissez-faire leadership which involves little or no direct leadership.    This type of leadership is uninvolved unless the group members go out of their way to make sure they are involved.

Inductive Argument

We face many inductive and deductive arguments everyday in life.  One of the inductive arguments that I ran into within the past week is as follows:
Personally, I have set goals for myself this summer to get straight A's in my 3 summer classes, to put away $2000 dollars this summer from working, and to lose 10 pounds this summer.
Goal 1- To accomplish straight A's, I must work hard, study alot, and keep up daily on class due to the fast nature of summer classes.  If I work hard and complete all the assignment's assigned, I will therefore get straight A's in my summer classes.
Goal 2- To save money, I will have to make more money than I spend and come up with a strict budget that will allow me to put away $2000 dollars.  Therefore, If I stick to my budget, I will save 2000 dollars by the end of the summer.
Goal 3- To lose 10 pounds by the end of the summer, I must workout daily, stick to a strict diet, and cut back on my alcohol intake.  Chances are that if I stick to my fitness goals I will lose 10 pounds by the end of the summer.

Same Sex Marriages

Barrack Obama's stance about same sex marriage not being legal on the federal level but allowed to form civil unions and have equal rights is ridiculous.  As president, I believe that he shouldn't be saying that one view isn't allowed but allowing a similar view.  Either all civil unions and same sex marriage should be illegal or legal, not one or the either.  Personally, I believe that same sex marriages should be allowed because it does nothing to people.  It's just two people in love that deserve the same marital rights and equal rights as every other couple in love.
After reading Michael Nava and Robert Dawidoff's article called "The Case For Gay Marriages," I agree with what they are trying to say and the message they have in the article that gays and lesbians just want the right to marry for the same reasons that other American couples want to get married.  Barrack Obama may respond by saying that yes, because they are Amercian's they deserve the same rights as every other couple, however, being from his religious past he would not agree with making same sex marriage legal and would be looked as a hypocrit by many Americans.

Intro Post

Hello Class.
Currently I am a senior at State and looking to take this class to get credit.  During summer, I hope to get straight A's and improve my overall GPA.  I am a Business Finance major and have had one previous Comm class before this.  I will be graduating spring 2013 and I am a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.  I hope everyone has a great summer.
SJB77