Arguments can either be strengthened or weakened by the use of humor. This depends on the context and on the audience. That’s why it is very important to know the audience and realize what is relative to their lives and personalities; humor can sometimes be offensive or bring down the argument if the audience doesn’t get it. EA mentions two types of arguments, satire and parody. While satire uses humor to unmask an underlying problem, parody is taking something familiar and turning it into something new that is critical of the original work. Humor can also bring the author and the audience closer together, setting the foundation for the author to present his argument. In relation to food and body image, humor is used to present arguments that mostly criticize behavior, perceptions, or people. For example, it is easier to feel better about having a certain body shape if the opposite body shape is criticized. This is often used to sell people ideas and is mostly done through the media. What we have been getting into these past two weeks about body image does not have humorous arguments, but we have been getting into the effects of arguments that are made on tv, radio, newspapers, etc. One one hand, there’s the ‘obesity epidemic’, and on the other hand, there are eating disorders. Looking at the end of the film Thin and researching Pro Ana and Mia sites was a hard task to do because I felt like I was entering into people’s lives and minds. It is different than someone opening up a situation because I don’t know the people in the websites, and it kind of leaves me powerless to help after hearing what they are going through and not being able to respond in any way. I was able to see the rhetoric used in the websites, like Thinspo and Fatspo, image after image of ‘desirably thin’ people and ‘undersirably fat’ people. I found it interesting how this type of rhetoric works on anorexic people. It feeds the mind with pictures that it wants to see, with things that are not real. I am glad that I am more conscientious of the the rhetoric and thoughts that drive eating disorders.
Style and Presentation in Arguments March 23, 2008
This week we discussed arguments made about body image, specifically being thin. The chapter in EA about style and presentation in arguments has a lot to do with how the wording, punctuation, sentence structure, and the use of tropes in an argument affect the impact of the argument on the reader. Word choice is very important in making an arguments because it can distract or capture the reader. For example, the text we read this past week, Skinny Bitch, uses slang terms and has a demeaning tone. This type of language, may capture some readers, but according to commentaries about the book, it can also arouse discontent in others. Whatever the situation, though, the argument is made that people who want to be skinny need to use their heads more and turn vegan. Although the author’s don’t outright speak this point, through the use language encapsulate this message. The text also uses short sentences to make stronger points. One example is when the author’s say, “So drinking soda can make you fat, sick, and unhappy.” (14). The authors just throw blunt statements out to the reader; these shape the argument, giving it more definition. In terms of punctuation, one example in the text is the use of ‘=’ signs to make connections, such as ‘Healthy = Skinny. Unhealthy = Fat.” (11). Such sharp conclusions make the argument sharp as well. Tropes (such as metaphors, similes, and analogies) and schemes (such as parallelism and inverted word order) also style arguments. In the text, Skinny Bitch, the authors use a metaphor to show the evilness of soda to the body by saying, “Soda is liquid Satan.” (13). To some readers, like me, these types of metaphors can be too much, but for others this type of language is acceptable and the point that the authors are trying to make is understood. The target audience is important to consider when styling and presenting arguments.
Casual Arguments March 3, 2008
The ‘obesity epidemic’ topic that we have been getting into this past week is the perfect example of a casual argument. For the past couple of years, obesity has been on the spotlight more and more, as statistics report that a greater percentage of Americans are obese each year and many are dying of obesity-related diseases. Why so much focus on obesity? Some argue that there really is not much to worry about and that money is behind all of the attention that the word ‘obesity’ is getting. In chapter 10 of Everything’s an Argument, three types of casual arguments are explained. One is an argument that states a cause and then examines its effects. Another type of argument moves through a series of links, saying that A causes B, B causes C, C causes D, etc. The third type of argument is one that states the effect and then traces it back to its causes. The latter is the type of argument that we examined with the topic of obesity. Through measurements of body weight and size, which are just numbers, and deviation from a desired body image, people, mainly those influencing public opinion, have decided that ‘obesity’ is the effect of varying factors. While we cannot escape the effect, increasing BMI’s, where the blame should be placed and to what degree we should care about obesity are points of controversy that we looked at this past week. Causes that have been linked to obesity include increased consumption of high-calorie, high-fat foods, sedentary lifestyles (decreased physical activity), genetics, and environmental influences. One of the characteristics of casual arguments is that they are often definition based. This is something that we examined this week with the addition of the word ‘epidemic’ to the word ‘obesity’. Saying that our nation is facing an obesity epidemic seems like a long stretch of the word for many people. Because an epidemic is usually thought of as terrible, widespread, and contagious, placing obesity, which is a BMI> 30 pounds per squared inch, under this light argues that obesity, and, therefore, obese people can be terrible, widespread, and contagious. Any argument has to be supported by evidence. This past week we looked at an article in the Scientific American that commented on the inaccuracy of obesity research and the real intentions of people that provide shocking statistics about the ‘obesity epidemic’. The article was a good example of analyzing arguments by looking at the evidence provided. Arguments made about obesity, body image, and health are prevalent in our society and can be blown out of proportion or underrepresented. In either case, it is good to filter what we receive through careful analysis of the source and differentiating facts from opinions.
