95 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2019
    1. Comment reconnaître un ordre des discours, qui fut toujours un ordre des livres ou, pour mieux dire, un ordre de l'écrit qui associe étroitement autorité de savoir et forme de publication, lorsque les possibilités techniques permettent, sans contrôles ni délais, la mise en circulation universelle et indiscriminée des opinions et des connaissances

      L'argument est rhétorique dans sa forme (une question sans réponse) et dans son contenu (Opposition entre une autorité issue du processus de publication vs diffusion sans distinction des savoirs et des opinions) comme si le livre physique ne servait pas à diffuser aussi des opinons non contrôlées. Premisse et conclusion sont discutables.

  2. May 2019
    1. If you're reading my notes and annotations, please consider using Hypothesis to annotate articles and hold journalists accountable for badly reported pieces like this.


    1. After you’ve read/listened to/viewed more sources, you may need to change your thesis.

      I feel as though when we are taught, it is always that the thesis comes first. Reading this made me feel encouraged because I often times have to rearrange my thesis, but was under the impression you are not supposed to do this. Once you research things, you develop a more educated opinion of your knowledge, so to me it makes perfect sense that it is ok to change your thesis.

  3. Apr 2019
    1. Being a teenager is hard; there are constant social and emotional pressures that have just been introduced into the life of a middle or high schooler, which combines with puberty to create a ticking time bomb. By looking at the constant exposure to unreasonable expectations smartphones and social media create, we can see that smartphones are leading to an increased level of depression and anxiety in teenagers, an important issue because we need to find a safe way to use smartphones for the furture generations that are growing up with them. Social media is a large part of a majority of young adults life, whether it includes Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, or some combination of these platforms, most kids have some sort of presence online. Sites like Facebook and Instagram provide friends with a snapshot of an event that happened in your life, and people tend to share the positive events online, but this creates a dangerous impact on the person scrolling.​ When teens spend hours scrolling through excluisvely happy posts, it creates an unrealistic expectation for how real life should be. Without context, teenagers often feel as if their own life is not measuring up to all of their happy friends, but real-life will never measure up to the perfect ones expressed online. Picture Picture Furthermore, social media sites create a way for teenagers to seek external validation from likes and comments, but when the reactions online are not perceived as enough it dramatically alters a young adults self-confidence. This leads to the issue of cyberbullying. There are no restrictions on what you can say online, sometimes even annonimously, so often people choose to send negative messages online. Bullying is not a new concept, but with online bullying, there is little to no escape as a smartphone can be with a teenager everywhere, and wherever the smartphone goes the bullying follows.This makes cyberbullying a very effective way to decrease a youth's mental health, in fact, cyberbullying triples the risk of suicide in adolescents, which is already the third leading cause of death for this age group.


    3. There is no question that technology is becoming a part of our lives more every day. What we have to take a closer look at is the increasing dependency that children have on smart devices, which is taking over all other normal childhood activities, an important occurrence because it is interfering with normal childhood development and negatively impacting relationships between parents and children. Smartphones give young adults access to almost unlimited information and almost unlimited content that they may not yet be equipped to navigate. Every parent wants to know what is going on in their child's life, but with smartphones, this is highly suggested just to make sure the internet has not led them down a dark path. For example, an astonishing study found that 19% of young adults ages 13-19 sent sexually suggestive content online, and 31% had received this type of content. Smartphones make exposure to these things at an early age much easier, and preventing the exposure much harder. There are many restrictions and blocks that can be put in place to help guide children in the right parts of the internet, but there is still the issue of time management on devices. Smartphones and other smart devides have taken the place of activities that should be prioitized for a healthy lifestyle, such as homework and exercise. One aspect that has drawn many children into overuse of technology is online gaming. Online games often have interactions with other online players, which allows children to feel as if they are socializing without actually interacting with friends, especially for children who struggle with in person interaction.

      ​While this may be beneficial for short term socializing or motor skills, in the long-run, the children are choosing to sit and stare at a screen instead of interacting with people around them, or doing productive things such as homework, so the short-term benefits are outweighed by long-term consequences.

    4. The music we listen to highly impacts our decision making, especially as adolescents. Adolescents are extremely impressionable, and the music they listen to has a great impact on how they decide to live their day to day lives. Popular musicians are seen as role models by the people who idolize them, and adolescents may try to represents the songs in which they favor through their actions every day.

      Recent studies have found that adolescents who listen to music that supports substance abuse and violence have a greater chance to act upon what they listen to. What young adults and teenagers listen to through music and popular media will affect their decision making process. Specifically with substance abuse, and there is a direct uptake in use of illegal substances by adolescents who listen to music that promotes such activities. This can cause a whole societal problem considering most of todays popular music among adolescents touches upon substance abuse and violence. Adolescents are extremely impressionable and the music they listen can shape how a person tries to act, or represent themselves.

    5. Music and the media directly impact the way we view sports, and the way we prepare for our games. Sports depend on music and the media for inspiration, and something to be connected to. Not only can we use music to get us ready for a big game, or a long practice, but we can use the songs we listen to, to connect us to the atmosphere in which we like to play our sports in. The entire world of sports revolves heavily around music, especially the way in which our sports are portrayed in the media. Every season professional sports and the NCAA included will use a popular song in one of their commercials to give you something to tie that sport to when you hear that song. This method of familiarizing the game to a song helps viewers always connect the two when either watching a game, or listening to a song.

      ​Not only can we connect our sports to songs, but we prepare for our games with music. Music can influence the way we feel as stated previously in the about section. This can be a powerful effect for pre and post game activities. For people who are unfamiliar with being in a locker room atmosphere, nothing can bring a team closer together than a song that is consistently played before or after games. Teams will usually have a few songs that have significant value to every player and become part of the teams ritual. When you have a song, or multiple songs that bring you together as a team this can significantly increase the feeling you of joy you have during wins, or loses with your teammates. Music is one of the most important ways to artistically articulate the world of sports.

  4. Mar 2019
    1. Social Anxiety and Academic AchievementTo the best of our knowledge, only two research groupshave tested the hypothesis that social anxiety is directly and

      The author gets to the main point of the article and establishes the main concept by citing two sources that will later be explained in further details



    1. It is rather unclear what the purpose of the paper is as the author continues to discuss or mention other sources' viewpoints about the problem and not his own. There is basically no argument whatsoever in the article.

    2. The literature has revealed that anxiety was one of the predictors which contribute to several results of academic performance specifically to students at high school and university level. Therefore, in order to achieve better academic performance, students must be able to control and present themselves in a moderate and appropriate level of anxiet

      main claim again is discussed along with the way the author thinks the affected students should deal with the disorder

  5. Feb 2019


    1. argument


  6. Jan 2019


  7. Dec 2018
    1. the self-sampling assumption

      All other things equal, an observer should reason as if they are randomly selected from the set of all actually existent observers (past, present and future) in their reference class.

      From Wikipedia, Self-sampling assumption

    2. the risk that humankind will go extinct soon has been systematically underestimated
    3. The Doomsday argument

      The Doomsday argument (DA) is a probabilistic argument that claims to predict the number of future members of the human species given only an estimate of the total number of humans born so far. Simply put, it says that supposing that all humans are born in a random order, chances are that any one human is born roughly in the middle.

      From Wikipedia, Doomsday argument

  8. Nov 2018
    1. Anyone who considers it appropriate to dub these people “violent criminals” surely has a heart two sizes too small.

      I don't agree that it makes them heartless, I just believe they are close minded and have not been informed right.

    2. Viewed in the light of their actual historical functions, the Canadian and American governments are themselves murderous cartels that rely, in turn, on Mexican cartels to protect their murderous colonial mines.

      I disagree because I really do believe that the Mexican cartels wouldn't want to help the United States at all.

  9. Oct 2018
    1. Second, and more importantly: political toleration does not require the strong and doctrine of philosophical relativism. Increased awareness of diversity together with an awareness of the historical contingency of one’s own convictions will promote political toleration just as effectively.

      This is it chief

    2. The anti-relativists counter-argue that even if we grant that political tolerance is an important value, and that accepting relativism would promote it, we should never adopt philosophical views about the nature of truth or justification simply because of their assumed good moral or political consequences.

      There is a key difference between moral relativism and tolerance, and making decisions and being a dick.

    3. Advocates of relativism, particularly outside philosophical circles, often cite tolerance as a key normative reason for becoming a relativist. On this rationale, all ways of life and cultures are worthy of respect in their own terms, and it is a sign of unacceptable ethnocentrism to presume that we could single out one outlook or point of view as objectively superior to others.

      This is the main point I will be arguing against, the belief that I thought I previously had.

    1. This argument dictates that one might reasonably withhold access to A (desirable), where it is likely or inevitable that such freedom will lead to circumstance B (undesirable).

      The author states his second argument,which argues that sometimes what people want will not happen. Instead, it may torward an exactly oppsite way. So people thought the determination they made is benefical for society, but at times they may lead to a bad situation which they haven't expected before.

  10. Mar 2018
    1. To brag that our humanities (or our liberal arts) are digital is to proclaim that we’ve met a base requirement for modern communication. It would be like your bank crowing that you can check your account online. Of course you can. At this point, you would only notice if you couldn’t.

      While this is true, I don't think it is unimpressive to introduce digital humanities. While most undergraduate students are immersed in the digital world, English and humanities classes in schools have always focused on analog practices. Bringing together the familiar digital world into the dry, (oftentimes boring) world of academia is a good way to bridge the gap for students.

  11. Feb 2018
    1. Connacht

      'I have compiled this selection out of many hundreds of songs of the same kind which I have either heard or read, for, indeed, the productiveness of the Irish Muse, as long as we spoke Irish, was unbounded.' (vi) This point in Hyde’s preface to Love Songs of Connacht is relevant to two questions that my M.A. thesis preparation is concerned with.

      ● What are the ways that works of the Irish Revival period express the idea that a natural cultural inheritance might be recuperated through art?

      ● What are the reasons for such works to treat of rural folkways as a repository of essentially native identity?

      Hyde illustrates that an awareness of the significance of the Irish language within a revivalist milieu will be required for informed discussion of the questions stated above.

      Proper-noun naming of an ‘Irish Muse’ suggest that there is such a thing as some essential indigenous genius, which lies in wait of stimulation. An idea of the Irish language emerges whereby it is connected intimately with a native genius, and holds inherent power to spark creativity.

      Of course, this line of argument proffers Hyde’s translations – through their close linkage with the Irish language – as stimuli for new artistic production. It works well as a way of turning Hyde’s skill as a linguist into a selling point for his book.

      In so doing, it highlights that a perceived inter-connection between language and an essentially native worldview was a major part of the book’s appeal. The representation of that connection in this and other works becomes important to my first research question as a result. An implication for my second research question is that I should consider the Irish language as a key part of the symbolic importance which attached to rural populations.

  12. Oct 2017
    1. The catalyst forthe novel, however, seems to have been a straightforward reaction to a newwork by an author Austen considered her competition*the Scottish MaryBrunton’sDiscipline(1814).Disciplineis a fictional autobiography with the strong religious themes ofsin, repentance and redemption.

      The author claims here that Emma was inspired by the 1814 novel Discipline by Mary Brunton, which surely is not part of the male literary canon laid out earlier in the article. The author outlines the main themes of Discipline and explains the relationship between the two authors.

      I feel like a broken record here, but again, this seems to be a very tenuous point without computational analysis. The author's own language belies this tenuousness as she says that the novel's inspiration "seems to have been a straightforward reaction" to another novel. The word "seems" does not inspire confidence.

  13. Sep 2017



    2. More recently, some feminist criticism has turned away from describing female subjectivity as normatively governed by a will to resist. In looking to describe modes of female subjectivity outside a subversion/complicity duality and identify how women attached significance to inhabiting norms, as Charlotte Lucas did, this critical approach broadens our understanding of the multiple forms that subjectivity and agency take in the early novel.

      Interesting, especially since the majority of the article seemed to do what recent feminist criticism "has turned away against"

    3. reframe Pride and Prejudice as a confrontation between alternative modes of female subjectivity, some of which, like Charlotte’s, suggest the possibility of an alternative genealogy for Austen’s relevance to contemporary feminists

      The "takeaway" of this article, even though it is not completely synonymous with the thesis.

    4. Elizabeth, as we have seen, understands marriage as progressive, parallel to and inextricable from internal growth; Charlotte, by contrast, regards her internal narrative of growth and her social life as a single and then married woman as two separate strands: people are as likely to grow apart as grow together

      Moe reiterates her main argument towards the end of her article to pick up momentum and emphasize her thoughts.



    6. I will argue that the agonistic relationship between Elizabeth and Charlotte exemplifies competing claims about the development of the person through conjugal intimacy. Ultimately, marriage in Pride and Prejudicebecomes a divisive lens for imagining future selves as well as justifying current happiness.

      Another point of Moe's argument. She contends that marriage and "conjugal intimacy" develops characters differently, based on their opinions on the subject.

    7. Because of Charlotte’s disgraceful attitude toward marriage, “all the comfort of intimacy was over” for the two women (P, 174).

      Moe does an excellent job at providing pivotal quotes from the text to support her characterization of Elizabeth and Charlotte's vastly different opinions on marriage. For an introduction, Moe's explanation of their different views to ground her eventual argument is effective, as it draws the reader in, and establishes the validity of her eventual assertions.

    1. The solution is to focus not onwhois greatenough to exert influence, or strong enough to grapple with the‘‘anxiety’’oftheir literary inheritance, but rather onhowinfluence operates. What we canlook to, then, are instances of‘‘misreading’’,‘‘misinterpretation’’,‘‘carica-ture’’,‘‘distortion’’and‘‘wilful revisionism’’for what they reveal. Austen isnot the only writer whose works must benefit from such an analysis, but she,perhaps more than any other writer, unrelentingly demands it of her readers.Austen insists that her readers follow her in deliberately, playfully misreadingand reconceiving a broad range of literature, both‘‘high’’and‘‘low’’.Mimicking her misprision in our response to Romantic theories of influence,we can at last recognize how such influence operates on writers whom thecanon ignores or marginalizes: women and novelists, certainly, but alsothose whose influential moment was fleeting, rather than historicallytranscendent

      This seems like the article's thesis to me. Here, the author argues that we should not seek to identify which authors/works are seemingly "worthy" of having an influence on other authors/works. Rather, we should explore on how literary influence is actually functioning in related works.Readers must look to different methods of influence, such as "distortion" and "misinterpretation" in their study of the topic. In the demands that she places upon her readers to be well-informed and attentive, Austen invites us to be a part of a complicated and ongoing literary conversation. Additionally, through studying Austen's works, we can observe the influence of those traditionally left out by the canon.

      This argument does seem relevant and original to me. In my admittedly brief study of literary influence, the discussion is usually exclusively related to the canon. Murphy asks us to consider influence in a broader sense. However, the main question that I have after reading this article relates to computational literary study. Franco Moretti, Matthew Jockers, and other such scholars have made significant strides in the application of computational tools in the study of literary influence. I am very curious as to how this article's premises and main argument would hold up when subjected to such tools. This seems like a weakness to me. Even after my brief study of computational literary analysis, it seems that any conversation of literary influence is incomplete without actually looking at the data.

    2. If we enlarge our understanding of the concept of‘‘influence’’, we canbegin to see the ways in which artistically unremarkable, canonicallydisregarded works inform the development even of masterpieces. Ros Ballastercorrectly states that:[...] most women novelists of the eighteenth century tended to locatetheir own writing in relation to a strong line of male predecessors orcontemporaries [...] if women read each other’s work they did not, forthe most part, openly acknowledge influence.16Jane Austen is the exception to this rule. Far from shamefacedly concealing herdebt to Brunton’s novel, on the contrary, Austen’s linguistic allusions toDisciplineinEmmadraw the reader’s attention to the two novels’intimateconnection

      This is a key section. Here, the author claims that Jane Austen's Emma is influenced by the rather unremarkable and certainly much less well known novel Discipline. This is in contrast to the existing tradition. Murphy cites and agrees with Ballaster's argument that 18th century women authors situated their own work within the male tradition and did not seek recognition for the influence of other female authors. However, Murphy argues that Austen makes obvious the connection to Brunton.

    3. Such active, criticalreading, of course, distinguishes the work still expected of students andscholars of literature, and Austen’s assumption of this ability in her readers wasunderpinned by historic changes in the study of literature.

      Here, Murphy makes a claim and supports it with a secondary source on the place of literature in English education. In doing so, Murphy is illuminating the basis of Austen's assumption of a certain body of literary knowledge.

    4. his essay demonstratesAusten’s career-long preoccupation with the nature and practice of reading, andher attempts to train an ideally critical reader. It is through such active, critical,objective reading that Austen developed her manifesto for a new kind of novel inthe face of ongoing cultural conservatism*a form which, unburdened by theinfluence of heroic predecessors, could maintain its connections with a rich literaryheritage without suffering from the creativity-stifling anxieties of poetic influence.

      Here, the author outlines the main argument of the article, which is that Jane Austen aimed to cultivate a critically aware reader and, in doing so, creates a new novel that gains influence from manifold sources, not just the literary canon.

    5. This essay argues that her attitudetowards literature was equally critical.

      This follows up on the author's comparison of influence and inheritance systems. Here, we can see that Austen turned a critical eye not only upon patriarchal inheritance laws but also patriarchal systems of literary influence.

  14. Apr 2017
    1. They say that measles isn’t a deadly disease. But It is. They say that chickenpox isn’t that big of a deal. But It can be. They say that the flu isn’t dangerous. But It is. They say that whooping cough isn’t so bad for kids to get. But It is.

      rhetoric questions, without argumentation but supposedly the hyperlinks contradicted it. But it is not clear hyperlink would be effective here (or if the linked page does provide good evidence)

    1. "Trump’s campaign promise to “maximize flexibility for states via block grants so that local leaders can design innovative Medicaid programs that will better serve their low-income citizens.” "

      Again, the use of the phrase "will better serve our low income citizens" tried to sound like they are coming from a humanistic basis. They are also trying to frame this in a way that seems to give flexibility and freedom to innovate to local leaders...that by doing this they are facilitating this potentially more innovative and fliexible approach. It "sounds" good framing in this way, but it's not taking some of the realities of how horribly this can effect the states who might be left holding the bag financially and the citizens who may wind up left with out much needed services.

  15. Mar 2017
    1. sets of conflicting argument

      In the way he is stating this it seems like if we ever came across opposing narratives the argument would go on forever and cause a blip in the story. Learning to live with people who don't think like you do is pretty necessary.

    2. narratives we tell (ourselves) create and define the worlds in which we hold our beliefs

      So basically he is saying that whatever side of an argument we choose to be on, that further develops our lifelong narrative?

    3. alone

      Another facet/form of risk.

    4. risky

      I think this is key. The only alternative to argument is a risk--to risk one's self by making their narrative plain and facing the possibility that the other will reject one's narrative (and thereby reject one's personhood.

      The difference between the previous steps to avoid argument and this one is that this one advocates risk and seems to make no promise of resolution.

  16. Jan 2017
  17. Oct 2016
    1. Where he said WE MUST LEARN AGAIN TO ASK HOW WE CAN MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE HAVE, WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN. I disagree because we all this technology its more complicated to talk person to person and discuss more about our issues and problems with this planet why it matter anyways ? everyone is more selfish this days

    2. Inkeepingwithourunrestrainedconsumptiveness,thecommonlyac-ceptedbasisofoureconomyisthesupposedpossibilityoflimitlessgrowth,limitlesswants,limitlesswealth,limitlessnaturalresources,limitlessener-gy,andlimitlessdebt

      Why is our economy have a supposed possibility of limitless growth? Who puts that limit?

    3. Butalsowewillhavetore~examinetheeconomicstruc~turesofourlives,andconformthemtothetolerancesandlimitsofourearthlyplaces.Wherethereisnomore,ouronechoiceistomakethemostandthebestofwhatwe

      Isn't that kind of what we have been doing for some years? Trying to be eco friendly, recycling and such to make the world a better place. Yet people keep on cutting down trees. How is that going to change when people can do what they want to do. Yes, we can make the best of what we have but what if what we have isn't enough or all gone. What then? People will use something else and that will be gone soon as well.

    4. Inthearts,bycontrast,nolimitlesssequenceofworksiseverimpliedorlookedfor.

      I believe this is incorrect. Arts are nothing but limitless sequences of work with nothing but things to be looked for

    5. Weare,inshort,comingunderpreuretounderstandourselvesaslimitedcreaturesinalimitedworld.

      Yes we are limited, but being limited has never stopped mankind from progressing.

    6. Ournationalfaithsofarhasbeen:"There'salwaysmore."Ourtruereli-gionisasortofautisticindustrialism.

      Why choose that mentality when we have found ways to innovatively come up with solutions to prior problems in the past?

    7. economywithoutlimits.

      Would an economy without limits actually be limitless.

    8. mwellawareofwhatIriskinbringingthislanguageofreligionintowhatisnonnallyascientificdiscussion.

      There is no point and no risk in bringing religion into this argument because ones religion is a set of morals for them. Humans are minimizing their morals and beliefs to pursue this limitless life.

    9. Butoncegreedhasbeenmadeanhonorablemotive,thenyouhaveaneconomywithoutlimits.Ithasnoplacefortemperanceorthriftortheecologicallawofreturn.Itwilldoanything.Itismonstrousbydefinition.

      It is true that greed drives the economy, especially when it comes the the vast supply and immense demand for oil. However, as time goes on greed will push people to innovate new fuels that can replace oil. Isn't it contradictory for the author to make the claim that greed leads to no limits? For if that were the case, alternative solutions are inevitable.

    10. There are plenty of resources being scientifically developed for less of a negative effect on our planet. However, big businesses are blindsided and only use what is easy to get rather than what we can already use that earth gives us (wind, water, etc.)

    11. Ifweeachhadtwolives,wewouldnotmakemuchofeither.Orasoneofmybestteacherssaidofpeopleingeneral:"They'llneverbeworthadamnaslongasthey'vegottwochoices.

      If their live isn't worth it, then do you prefer to go back to the law of the jungle where there's only one chance?

    12. Inthearts,bycontrast,nolimitlesssequenceofworksiseverimpliedorlookedfor.Noworkofartisnecessarilyfollowedbyasecondworkthatisnecessarilybetter.Giventhemethodologiesofscience,thelawofgravi~tyandthegenomewereboundtobediscoveredbysomebody;theidentityofthediscovererisincidentaltothefact.Butitappearsthatintheartstherearenosecondchances.WemustassumethatwehadonechanceeachforTheDillineComedyandKingLear.IfDanteandTShakespearehaddiedbeforetheywrotethosepoems,no-bodyeverwouldhavewrittenthem.

      My contention with the contents of this paragraph lies in the fact that science is but an extension of art, sharing similar characteristics with it. I would argue anyway that Newton's work is just as nuanced, integral, and unique as Monet's or Dante's. Science began as metaphysics--"the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space"--(Google). I believe scientists and artists to be explorers. The ways in which they explore are similar; however, their headings are different.

    13. therealnamesofglobalwarmingareWasteandGreed

      Having studied the issue of Global Warming in detail under the direction of two other professors here, I find this claim Berry makes to be utterly flattering. It suggests that anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions (less than 5% of total CO2 surface emissions) rival those that can be attributed to natural processes. Do you believe Berry to be employing a "truthful hyperbole"--as Trump would say--here to illustrate the danger of our "limitless" view of the Earth; or do you believe Berry himself to be caught up in a view of human limitlessness (in other words, do you believe he thinks the impact humans have on this planet to be limitless)?

    14. so throughout this article it talks about how we are going to run out of oil. and then what are we going to do after that? But if you notice this has happened before. (whale oil) and even different sources of water, we just move to the next source until that source replenishes. whats to say that when oil runs out we have another resource that we use for everything. (hydrogen/ uranium)

    15. Weknowfurtherthatifwewanttomakeoureconomicland-scapessustainablyandabundantlyproductive,wemustdosobymaintain~inginthemalivingformalcomplexitysomethinglikethatofnaturalecosystems.

      If we are knowledgeable of what we need to do to sustain our resources, then why are we living as if we have an infinite amount?

    16. ButIknowtoothatwearetalkingnowinthepresenceofmuchevidencethatimprovementbyoutwardexpansionmaynolongerbeagoodidea,ifiteverwas

      Why is now the time to stop consuming? Who makes that decision, what line was crossed?

    17. removesomeoftheemphasiswehavelatelyplacedonscienceandtechnologyandhaveanewlookatthearts

      I think we don't have to remove any emphasis on the science and technology because those are still very important aspects to know about, but maybe just adding more emphasis to the arts while intertwining the three of them together.

    18. globalwarming

      I think an Ice Age is coming. I believe an Ice Age is overdue. In my personal opinion, it has been getting colder each year for the last ten years, not warmer. Is global warming really happening?

    19. "All are entitled to pursue without limit whatever they conceive as desirable.." I agree with this statement but in my opinion I would add that all are entitled to pursue without limit whatever they conceive as desirable as long as that desire would not harm others.

    20. Itishardtomakethemostofonelife.

      It might be hard but is it impossible?


      Restated argument


      Using statistics to defend argument that wealth determines educational success.


      Arguement: College has become more for students raised in middle and upper class families rather than normal Americans seeking better lives.

  18. Jul 2016

      common misconception

    1. A law professor's response to a student's complaint about his (or her) Black Lives Matter t-shirt. It is a lesson in critical thinking and persuasive writing -- as well as a reply to general hostility toward BLM.

  19. Feb 2016
  20. Jul 2015
    1. Twitter is an "argument machine"



  21. Nov 2014


  22. Feb 2014
  23. Nov 2013
    1. I wish I had not known the wretched-ness of wasting so much of my youth in this way. I wish that the scholars of rhetoric and dialectic would heed my advice and would sometimes think of the truth and usefulness of their subjects instead of tenaciously and obstinately quarreling over matters which they have naively accepted at a first hearing, without ever giving them proper consideration

      Regret. Ever achievable? Too quick to argue. Maybe difference between education and schooling?

    2. "If signs are infallible," he says, "they are not arguments, because where they exist there is no room for question; even if they are doubtful, they are not arguments because they themselves need the support of arguments."

      Signs vs. arguments

  24. Oct 2013

      Narratives need to be long enough to say what you need to but not too long.


      Parts of speech

    1. arguments put side by side are clearer to the audience;

      Of course they are, it is a very effective rhetorical strategy for the rhetorician. But are they clearer for the audience or do they make the rhetorician's point seem more clear? The arguments are side by side for a reason, to get the audience to believe.

  25. Sep 2013
    1. The four general lines of argument are: (1) The Possible and Impossible; (2) Fact Past; (3) Fact Future; (4) Degree.

      Lines of argument

    1. for I do not know what my own meaning is as yet

      I suspected as much, and yet he confidently presses on laying ground for argument. interesting.


      not arguing for the sake of argument, but clearly in pursuit of truth - the psychology of his approach - his method


      verbal sparring that made good rhetoricians