blog #7

I agree that the argument made in the essay is a valid point.  The author provides solid supporting evidence and statistics to back up her claim.  I mainly agree with the claim that new generations are learning with a style much differently than what was previously taught.  Technology is without a doubt changing the world as we know.  I agree that the world is evolving through technology, and soon print material will be a thing of the past.    I feel as if the internet is taking over and the switch from hard text to electronic is not only economically sufficient, but also would be the green solution.  Eventually this conversion will be made, so it makes since for ASU to jump on board early, to gain the competitive edge.  I feel that the author failed to include the green solution, and that is valid support for the argument being made.  Supporting an eco friendly solution can gain support of a green crowd.  The intended audience appears to ASU staff and administration.  The author starts by explaining the situation, and then offering a problem, solution, and justification.  The values of these individuals would be to provide a quality education that far exceeds other universities.  The audience is also a business and looks out for the good of the students, but also the university.  By providing reasons with how this can improve the university makes the audience wants to listen.  The author of this argument addresses these values by claiming ASU can gain the competitive edge by jumping on board the switch.  Her supporting reasons are a changing world, economically cheaper, and the ways in which future generations are learning.  I feel that this author is a credible speaker.  They present themselves in a professional manor and provided a works cited to further validate the presented material.  I feel this model is a good example of a proposal assignment but can definitely use some work.  Some of the supporting evidence mentioned above is left out.  I also caught a few grammatical mistakes.  Also the works cited is all online sources.  While online sources are proper sources, many can be misleading.  I feel including sources from text and/or magazines would make this article more credible.

Overall the author presents a solid argument.  The organization of the paper makes it easy to read and comprehend.  I like how she started by introducing the background and explained how the world we live in today is changing.  Also by providing statistics supporting the change to electronic text verifies the above statement.  The author then moves on to a potential problem and provides a solution for the issue.  The author then concludes her essay by justifying her claim.  All of this add to her persuasive appeal that is being attempted.  I feel that if a more in depth analysis was provided then this would be a high quality essay.  I feel as if possibly the author rushed through this paper without giving it enough thought process.  With a little bit of work this paper is solid.  

blog #6

With the problem of technology becoming so far advanced that it replaces a majority of human labor, the question can be asked, what can we do?  Well to start, in a free enterprise market, their is only so much the government can do.  Economics shows that with the removal of jobs allows for the opening of new jobs.  If machines replace one job, someone has to produce the machines.  Someone then has to maintain the machines.  Specialists will be needed to work the machines.  The government can also create laws to protect workers.  Laws can be made to increase minimum wage, or to lower the standard of living.  If this issue became a reality, the government may need be changed, as we would be living in a new world.  As far as unemployment and poverty, the government would have to supplement income, or provide food stamps.  The government would also have to find a way to create new jobs.  This is a problem not all based on the government solely however.  It is also up to us as citizens, as economics explains that we as consumers ultimately control the economy.  If less technology is purchased, then less will be produced.  As other nations compete against us, we only have the option to continue to advance as nation.  The government would have to work out agreement’s with other countries in order to keep jobs available for everyone.  This new era would make the entire world have to come together in order to save the human race.

blog #5

Robots and computers eventually over powering humans has been an idea depicted in numerous scientific films for centuries.  However, as technology continues to advance, this idea is becoming no longer so far fetched.  Many articles and newspapers have recently been released about one day in the not so distant future, this becoming a reality.  As technology advances, more and more jobs are being eliminated.  If this situation continues to grow, many problems will arise.  With technology replacing jobs, unemployment rates will sky rocket.  People will be out of jobs and poverty can strike.  This can cause an increase in crime rates.  This can also cause people to rebel against the government and cause for many societal issues.  It can cause complete societal chaos.  If half of Americans were unemployed, it would be up to the government to protect it’s people, but there would not be much they can do.  They would need to create new positions, or supplement a form of income.  This issue has the potential to change the way we live as human beings.  Technology is also causing human interaction and social skills to diminishing.  The youth of each generation’s social skills are becoming weaker every generation.  By online interaction, many people lack social skills as it has been replaced by computers.  This situation needs to be realized, in order to be stopped before it is too late.  There is no stopping or controlling advancing technology, but I feel that we as people need to learn to begin to rely less on technology as a whole.

Blog Entry #2

Barrack Obama’s speech, “The Connection Between Faith and Politics” contains various rhetorical strategies used to persuade and/or sway the audience.  Barrack Obama’s use of diction adds to the rhetorical appeal of ethos, further validating him as a reliable source of information, as he is an very important figure in America.  He starts by utilizing the strategy of an anecdote, “I want to give you an example that I think illustrates this fact”.  He tells the story of his 2004 General Senate Election verses Alan Keyes.  Alan discriminated against Obama’s opposing religious views, which set up for the point of Obama’s entire speech.  Obama also utilizes the rhetorical strategy of pathos, as he tells the story of Alan Keyes claiming, “Christ would not vote for Barack Obama because Barack Obama has behaved in a way that it is inconceivable for Christ to have behaved."  This makes people feel Obama’s frustration towards the issue.  He also uses the strategy of logos by inputting statistics, “90 percent of us believe in God, 70 percent affiliate themselves with an organized religion, 38 percent call themselves committed Christians, and substantially more people in America believe in angels than they do in evolution.” This further validates his point of majority of America being religious.  Obama also uses the strategy of transition words to make the speech run smoothly.  Although many strategies are utilized the main ones are ethos, logos, and pathos, which make his speech very persuasive and swaying.

Blog Entry #1

Barrack Obama’s Speech, “The Connection Between Faith and Politics” which was delivered at the Call to Renewal’s Building a Covenant for New America Conference in June of 2006, expresses his views on religion and politics in America.  He briefly discusses controversial political topics such as poverty, abortion, and welfare, and  then quickly moves on to his main point that no issue will ever be solved until Americans can become more religiously tolerate of other peoples views and beliefs.  He refers back to the U.S. 2004 General Senate election where he ran against Alan Keyes.  In the debate, Mr. Keyes claimed, "Christ would not vote for Barack Obama because Barack Obama has behaved in a way that it is inconceivable for Christ to have behaved."  This statement really bothered Obama.  He felt as if just because he did not hold the exact same Christian views as Mr. Keyes, that he was being discriminated against and Jesus would shun him.  America is full of diversity, and since everyone comes from different religious backgrounds, not everyone will have the exact same beliefs.  He emphasizes the fact that people of all religions can be positive contributing members of societies, and Americans need to learn to accept others differences.  He expresses his belief that no religion is superior, and every American is equal, as that was the founding idea that this country was built on.  Obama reiterates the fact that until America’s tolerance for different religious backgrounds progresses, the opposing political parties will never be able to come to an agreement, and none of these issues will ever be resolved.  He concludes his speech with his prayer for America that one day, “we can live with one another in a way that reconciles the beliefs of each with the good of all.”