Pick one concept or idea from any point in the semester, or in Chapter 14, that you found useful or interesting.

I found the various concepts under the Appeals to Emotion both interesting and useful. I as mentioned before many of these concepts were familiar, both from previous conversations and from previous readings. There were many that I had encountered such as; appeal to fear, appeal to pity, and appeal to vanity, but others such as appeal to nature, appeal to spite and appeal to novelty that were less familiar. What was interesting however is that each of these was based on a psychological strategy to convince or coherence but affecting or altering a specific emotion. I would not be surprised if specific legal and advertising professions required their employees/students to take classes in this powerful form of reasoning. Besides subjective and objective claims, these appeals are some of the more common concepts that we can incorporate in our college writing. I will definitely continue to write with a more critical eye and now intend to use more of the concepts we studied in this class in my future classes.

What was your favorite thing about this class? What was your least favorite thing about this class? How can this class be improved?

My favorite thing about the class was the interactive blogging. This exercise gave me the much needed time I needed to compose my thoughts and write a detailed explanation on my understanding of the reading and covered concepts. It would be nice to allow posts in an increment of less than 12 hours, but the time limit was not too restricting. My least favorite thing was taking a timed quiz. I don’t know what it was about seeing the minutes tick away, but it made the process of online tests more stressful and tense. I don’t know what can be done about this, except maybe to add more time. In addition, it would be helpful to be able to see what questions were missed, along with the actual question. This would be helpful in making sure we understand the concept for further assignments, projects and for the midterm or final.

What have you learned in this class over the course of the semester?

I wasn't sure what to expect from the course, but what I found interesting was learning the formal definition, and sometimes correct use, of many concepts that I had used previously in my writing assignments and daily conversation. The online course was helpful in that the blog interaction provided some clarity to some of the more difficult to comprehend concepts. For me the examples the book provided were extremely helpful in further defining the concept, as were my classmates examples. The online interaction offered a different perspective in analyzing concepts, which is what I find beneficial for retaining the details of a subject. It also presented the opportunity for crucial feedback on postings and sharing of ideas not previously considered. The expressive forms of writing often humorous and enjoyable to read and probably allowed many who would have remained quiet in a classroom setting, a more comfortable forum to communicate.

Topic not discussed: Cause and Effect in Populations

I found this part of the cause and effect concept very interesting, because in most science research papers it is necessary to support your arguments with statistics and/or published research. Stating an argument like ‘steroids causes change in behavior’ is not enough, you must support your argument by expanding the claim with verifiable data.  A regular cause and effect claim argues that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur; a c/e in population points to evidence to show a greater chance of cause and effect and gives a conclusion using statistical data. ‘People who continue to use anabolic steroids in intervals of _______ (# of dosage) for more than ______ (period of time), run the risk of severe mood alternation and addiction’. This type of argument can be done one of three ways: 1) a controlled experiment using a control group (one group gets steroids, the control group does not) 2) an uncontrolled experiment using representative samples of population groups to determine cause = effect (monitor a group of people who are work/live/ in the same environment – who uses/shows effects and who doesn’t use/show effects) and 3) an uncontrolled experiment using representative samples of population groups to determine how effect = cause (look at individuals who show effects (addiction, behavior) and analyze common thread for occurrence (steroid use, smoking, drinking, etc).  

Mission Critical Website

Since both of these websites originate from the same SJSU source I would have to say that both were helpful. However the main Mission Critical homepage offered more information and I liked how the concepts were broken down by categories, some of which we have read in class. Although we had already covered concepts such as: vagueness, ambiguity, premise, conclusion, validity and burden of proof, it was interesting to read the alternate definitions and use of the concepts. In addition, it appeared there were concepts not covered like: universal statements, but this was another term for the concept of general claims using “all” and “none”. There were some concepts that were unfamiliar such as: universal and non- universal syllogisms and a more familiar, but so far undiscussed concept of hasty generalizations – a fallacy that draws a conclusion (or assumption) about a population based on a sample that is not large enough. Example: I read where there have been no reported cases of HIV infection in Liberty Lake. The people of Liberty Lake must be free of the HIV virus. These examples as well as the exercises are always helpful, because they can clarify the concepts, give you detailed feedback for incorrect answers and give you a way to see how the concept is correctly used.

Cause and Effect Website

I think the website made more sense after reading the chapter. Reviewing the concept of inductive reasoning was helpful. Inductive reasoning is usually based on information derived from observation or proven by means of experiment. A use of inductive reasoning shows that if I observe that something is true many times, then I should conclude that it will be true in all instances. Key points are: a) make observations b) form conclusions from observation and proven data c) prove conclusions with deductive reasoning (the process of drawing a conclusion by starting with the cause and ending with the effect).

Applying the chapter information regarding normal conditions was helpful in understanding the difference in causal arguments. Things that would “normally” happen are crucial to determining that the causal argument is an “out of the ordinary” incident. I also liked the use of examples in explaining the two rules when dealing with causation: 1) the cause must precede the event in time and 2) even a strong correlation is insufficient to prove causation. In addition, explaining by eliminating reverse causation (things that happened before the incident) or post hoc ergo proper hoc (looking too hard for a cause) you can miss important factors in determining a real case for cause and effect. The exercise was the most helpful part of the website, showing the difference in difference and commonality. For me, examples clarify the concepts and hopefully, help be apply the correct use in my writing.

Not easy to understand - Reasoning by Criteria

Reading through the various reasoning concepts, the one that seemed the most unclear was the idea of reasoning by criteria. I understand that a ‘criteria’ can be a certain measurement, condition, or standard used in making a decision, but I was sure how this was to be utilized within an argument and I felt the suggested website did not provide an adequate example to expand on this concept. Upon further research, it appears that this is actually a claim or statement that suggests or offers a choice; as opposed to having a choice or decision already made.

The job guidelines are clearly defined; its possible that this applicant meets the necessary requirements.

Not: This applicant does not qualify.

The nursing program requires 40 hours of community service work for an agency or organization that you might recommend to your client.

Not: The San Jose Food Bank is an excellent agency.