The Drag

This past Friday we took our field trip down to the restaurants on the Drag. I noticed that all the restaurants were grab and go type restaurants typical of college students. The set up of the restaurants were all aimed at college students, hence their placement on the Drag, but I felt a bit sad to note that none of the restaurants were quite like family cooking or actually like places where you can sit down with friends and have a “real” meal with mashed potatoes and dessert and something not inside a pita or two slices of wheat bread. There should be more restaurants like the Cracker Barrel or Jims-type restaurants that promote eating a meal and actually sitting down to enjoy it. Sure there’s Kirby Lane, but that’s just about the only alternative with the exception of a few Asian restaurants. Overall I’d like to see college students relaxing and enjoying meals without having to race as fast as they can to get their food, pay and then scarf it down.

Presenting Arguments in Restaurants

This week in class we’ve been discussing numerous restaurants that we’ve all been to and enjoyed, or are familiar with. But what exactly makes those restaurants both memorable and favorable to so many people with varying tastes? I think it’s all about the presentation: presentation of the restaurant itself, the food, the menu, and the atmosphere.

Restaurant’s existence depend on how well they present their argument. Every restaurants proposes an argument to consumers to inform them and persuade them of why their restaurant is better than all others and why consumers should chose to spend their well-earned money there. From the moment the consumer pulls up to the restaurant they are viewing a presentation put together by the restaurant. There may be a loud flashy neon sign proclaiming that food and beer is available 24 hours a day, or there may be velvet ropes and valet workers in tuxedos giving the restaurant a classy high-end touch.  Once the consumer enters the restaurant they face a wast multitude of arguments being presented before them. The attire and attitude of the staff can give a lasting impression, such as when you walk into Olive Garden and are greeted by a friendly staff neatly groomed and dressed in crisp white shirts and ties, which greatly varies from the staff at Dick’s where the waiters wear T-shirts and jeans and are instructed to be rude to consumers and embarass them by making them wear large paper hats with humorous yet vulgar remarks written on them. Olive Garden argues that it is a classy restaurant where you should be willing to dress up and spend a little more cash, while Dick’s argues that it is a restaurant that with a crazy memorable atmosphere where you can be loud and show up in ripped jeans and stained tees. Each of these arguments comes through to the consumer simply by the presentation of the restaurant with the combined efforts of the staff, the menu and the decor.

Presentation is a lasting memorable aspect of a restaurant and any arguments. Restaurants become famous and well-publicized  for the way they they are presented. Just as with restaurants presentations we should be aware of how we present our arguments in everyday life and writing because it also creates a lasting impression and conveys the points we are trying to make without stating them explicitly. 

Humor in arguments

     This week in class we read about using humor in arguments. Humor in arguments can range from satire to sarcasm and when used appropriately they can strengthen an argument. Authors must be careful though because use of humor inappropriately can hurt credibility.

      Last week we read a few chapters from the book Skinny Bitch. This book used humor in the form of sarcasm to grasp the attention of the audience. Humor made the arguments in Skinny Bitch more memorable, but the heavy use of sarcasm came off as condescending, and made me feel less likely to agree with the argument of the authors.

       This week in class we also looked an pro-ana and pro-mia websites. I was surprised to see that such a controversial site would be available for view to the public. The girls on that site seemed not only to purge their food, but also purge out feelings of hatred toward their body. They all wanted to lose weight even though they were already severely thin and even asked for tips on how to lose weight from other girls. All the comments that I looked at seemed to be supportive of the feelings of hunger and hatred toward food. I never saw a comment suggesting that any of these girls receive help. In my opinion, the pro-ana and pro-mia websites seem only to be reinforcing the behaviors of anorexic and bulimic girls. I also found it odd to see the girls trying to fight their hunger with images of really thin girls and celebrities in “thinspo.” 

Style Me Thin

When I think of the word style, thoughts of the latest fashion trends come to mind. I envision runways with stick thin models looking “fierce” and fashionistas posing for pictures on the red carpet. Style, as used in “Everything’s An Argument”, refers to the way in which an argument presents itself and can be modified with words and punctuation.

This week in class we discussed the in-your-face- book “Skinny Bitch”, which happens to have a very distinctive style.  It has a low informal style that gives readers the feeling that they are talking to a friend, a very loud, blunt, condescending friend. “Skinny Bitch” also uses punctuation to exaggerate its in your face attitude by throwing in a few exclamation points every now and then, usually after taking a blow to your ego and body image of course.

Style can also be conveyed through images, such as in the movie “Thin”. This movie gives off more of a middle toned informative style. The movie shows the struggles of women staying in an eating disorder treatment facility and emphasizes the negative effects that arise from being or trying to be stick-thin. Images of twig-like arms and bare backs where all the vertebrae are visible is enough to make viewers cringe. 

After seeing the women in the movie ”Thin”, I still cant grasp how someone could let the desire to be thin take over their life. Food is so delicious and people shouldn’t have to stress over calories. Enjoy a guilty pleasure or two, but in moderation, it’s a bit gluttonous to indulge on a dozen Dunkin Donuts by yourself.  

Epidemic Shmepidemic

Recently, in class, we’ve been talking about the so-called “obesity epidemic.” I feel that obesity indeed is a problem, but not to the extent that the media is taking it. Chapter 10 of Everything’s an Argument discusses casual arguments which are apparent in everyday life, such as obesity. It can be argued that insecurity of body image is an effect arising from 1: the over exaggeration of obesity by the media, 2: Emphasis of “perfection” in the media, and 3: Values on body image from parents and peers.

I’ve never been one to fuss about weight and body image; weighing a mere 100lbs give or take what I had for breakfast, but after being bombarded by media images of perfection, worries about “catching” obesity, and seeing my own mom strive for bodily perfection with the aid of diets,  concerns about body image began to stir in my mind. I was a nutrition major for a while and spent just about everyday learning about the content of food, what is healthy, and the definition of obesity. While taking Nutrition 311 I became obsessed with reading the Nutrition labels on everything I ate making sure that I avoided trans and saturated fats at all cost in order to lessen my risk of getting that little belly pudge and becoming overweight. What was I thinking? I became miserable; a slave to the nutrition facts label and food pyramid, and my surroundings didn’t exactly help to alleviate the concerns with body image. I’d watch E! News everyday and see the latest updates on the glamorous Kira Knightly or how Angelina Jolie was the epitome of perfection; noting on how both were skin and bones. During commercials, the woman from Cheers (Kristy Alley, I believe) and Valerie Bertonelli would come on Jenny Craig commercials and praise the product for making them thin, and in lines the values of the media; beautiful. That’s still not the end to my evil influences of thin is beautiful. My twig-like best friend would take me shopping with him and complain of how he moved from and extra small sized T-shirt to a small, (how terrifying!), while I’d get periodic phone calls from my mom proclaiming her delight of how skipping breakfast helped her lose 5 pounds and allowed her to reach her ideal of 115 again (yikes!). I’m surprised I made it without turning anorexic.

In the end, after completing Nutrition 311, I decided that being a nutrition major just wasn’t for me. I just enjoy the delicious saturated fat and empty calories of Hostess cupcakes way too much and my life is stressful enough minus the added stress of worrying how many calories I’m about to put into my mouth and how many miles I’ll have to run to work it off.  The media and society are over exaggerating the whole problem of obesity in America. I think that all these influences and ideas of perfection are merely causing people to think they are “morbidly obese” when, in fact, they are actually quite healthy.

Can You Define That Please?

Sure Webster’s Dictionary is a convenient tool to get an widely accepted formal definition, but its definitions aren’t the final say-so when it comes to defining words. Language is a rather complex subject and one concrete definition per word just won’t cut it in a world where everyone has different opinions about what a certain word means to them. Chapter 8 of Everything’s An Argument pointed out just that when it explained that making a claim of definition is a valid way to formulate an argument.

Arguments of definition can arise in just about any situation. In Chapter 10 of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Kingsolver questions the definition of the word local when used in relation to the “local” food she was eating at a diner. In her situation, the owner of the diner she was eating at clarified  that local strictly meant “an hour’s drive.” In other cases, local may mean straight from the neighborhood, or even within the boundaries of an entire state. I feel that it’s safe to say that finding the “right” definition of a word depends primarily on the situation.

In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, an argument of definition was also brought up when dteremining the meaning of the word organic.  In this case, Pollan concluded that the word organic was rendered meaningless. Organic, like so many other words, can take on a wide variety of meanings. Pollan was more intent on defining organic as a way of producing vegetation or live stock in a manner that was free from pesticides, commodity corn, antibiotics, environmental damage, or rather anything unnatural. Large scale industrial organic producers would be more likely to define organic as abiding by the minimal requirements and guidelines set by the USDA.  As you can see, the word organic can be stretched to mean just about anything. Webster’s Dictionary defines organic as “Of or relating to, or derived from living organisms.”  (That seems to clear everything right up.) I have nothing against Webster’s or anything, but I feel that it should be used primarily to get an idea of a word meaning rather than a solid definition or you’ll find yourself on one end of an argument of definition.

Gimme the Facts

Chapter 7 of Everything’s An Argument presented us with the topic of arguments of fact. These arguments are aimed at making a sound claim and are driven by loads of hard facts and supporting evidence. This past week in class we were faced with arguments of fact in both, You Are What You Grow and King Corn.

Michael Pollan seems to have a knack at making me cringe with his words. Omnivores Dilemma didn’t exactly make me get up and make a ham sandwich after discovering that my slice of ham most likely had a horrifyingly depressing life. Besides the gruesome details that Pollan speaks of, I wondered what exactly it is about his book and article that really make me believe just about anything he’ll put out there. It’s the hard facts; just give me the facts and if they’re credible I’m here to listen.

In You Are What You Grow, Pollan presents his argument to inform the public and supports it with lots of hard facts in the form of statistics and sound nutritional facts. In my opinion, he was definitely successful in getting his point across smoothly without any question from his audience; me. I was glued to the computer screen reading that article. Fact after fact I learned the truth about the Farm Bill and how it only grants subsidies to growers of commodity crops like corn and soybeans. I was deeply saddened to find out that a lot of the corn ends up processed into food that is being fed to school children.

King Corn is another example of an argument of fact with a different set up for presenting evidence.  King Corn seemed to have a greater effect on me than Pollan’s article and that was probably due of the striking visuals used in the movie. Visual facts are much more memorable and sometimes more influential because many people tend to believe what they see. The images in King Corn gave a more extrememe picture of everything Pollan described with his words. King Corn actually allowed me to see the massive golden mountains of corns and to look into the sad eyes of the cows which it was being shoved into, in some form or another.

Both pieces of material presented in class opened up a horrifying new world to me by using facts to support an argument.  Now I will forever have the thoughts of pigs gnawing on each others tails and the image of a cow with a large gaping hole etched into my mind.

Blog 3: Toulmin Argument presented in Ch. 9

Our group was asked to analyze the aspects of Toulmin argument used in chapter 9.

Claim: Modern use of the word “organic” has been rendered meaningless.

Grounds:  Pollan gives anecdotes, starting on page 144, describing his trip to Cascadian Farm and Earthbound Farm to support his claim with evidence that organic farms are not truly as they are depicted by the labels on their products.

Pollan also finds hard facts to support his claim and states, “…The USDA…in 1997….allowed for the use of genetically modified crops an irradiation and sewage sludge in organic food production.” Pg 154

Warrant: “It would also be a mistake to assume that the word “organic” on a label automatically signifies healthfulness, especially when that label appears on heavily processed and long-distance foods that have probably had much of their nutritional value, not to mention flavor, beaten out of them long before they arrive on our tables.” Pg 181

Backing:  “But perhaps most discouraging of all, my industrial organic meal is nearly as drenched in fossil fuel as its conventional counterpart.” “An industrial organic meal…does leave deep footprints on our world.” Pg 182

Qualifier: (When speaking of “industrial organic”, Pollan states), “Of course it is possible to live with contradictions, at least for a time, and sometimes it is necessary or worthwhile.” Pg 181

Rebuttal: In part 5 of Ch.9 “My Organic Meal” Pollan buys Organic food items for dinner and compares them to conventionally produced food items in order to address the counter arguments that organic may indeed be better. In response to the question of whether organic is better for taste Pollan states,”…Very likely, at least in the case of produce–but not necessarily.” In response to the question of better for his health, Pollan remarks, “ The answer, again, is probably—but not automatically.” Pg 177

Blog Numero Dos- Whole Foods

I walked into Whole Foods Market this morning around 11a.m., with two objectives in mind. One: to get a few notes and analyze the store for my blog. Two: to get my hands on those delicious samples they serve on Sundays. I have to admit that I’m a sucker for the healthy gimmicks that are endlessly promoted by Whole Foods. Eating an organic Pink Lady apple helps me alleviate the guilt from the late night Taco Cabana at 2a.m. Saturday morning. I frequently shop at Whole Foods, but I’ve never really taken the time to thoroughly analyze the store and figure out exactly what the surroundings do to draw me into wanting to adopt a super healthy lifestyle every now and then.

Austin Whole Foods on Lamar is an incredibly large store, so I decided to focus on the produce section. I was immediately drawn to the produce by the vivid display of colors overwhelming my eyes. There were signs galore identifying each and every different type of fruit and vegetable and informing the customer of the country where it is grown and the dishes it’s best used for. Along with all of the signs, the boxes that contained the produce displayed the statement that Whole Foods is a supporter of the local farming community. There were also huge signs towering over various vegetables proclaiming that Whole Foods is the BEST at seeking out exceptional organic and conventional produce, and didn’t forget to mention that they are, once again, a supporter of local farms.

Many of the prices for popular fruits like apples and bananas were a bit outrageous but there were more signs accompanying the fruits stating that they were a “smart buy.” Advertising for the pricey bananas also used pathos to convince customers to spend those extras pennies. There was a sign next with a picture of a child placed next to the produce explaining that the bananas were part of a program called Earth University bananas, which is aimed at supporting education and entrepreneurship. I’m a big nerd and always support education, so my emotions were definitely touched a bit by the sign, but I just couldn’t convince myself to splurge on bananas that I probably wouldn’t eat anyway.

Before I left the produce section I also noticed large signs hanging from the ceiling with short quotes from farming couples. One couple’s quote told a short story of how they accidentally started a farm because people liked their veggies so much and that lead them to expand. Oddly enough, I noticed that the picture that accompanied this quote and every other local farmer quote all showed beaming middle aged Caucasian couples, and not a minority in sight. This seemed to be a reflection of the type of consumer that Whole Foods aims at and apparently does seem to attract. After making many rounds throughout the entire store (while tasting sample, of course), I noticed that there were only two minority families in the entire store on this busy Sunday.
My analysis confirmed to me that Whole Foods makes its argument to purchase pricey foods primarily through informative signs repeatedly placed all over the products. They are trying to target those who favor a healthy lifestyle, support locally grown produce, and give a slight indication that this category is mostly Caucasian middle aged individuals. Whole Foods focuses on arguing the point that they are the best choice for providing you with fresh organic produce and are true supporters of the community we live in.

A World of Arguments

Everything’s an argument? After contemplating the title of our tiny blue book I immediately felt compelled to challenge the statement it portrayed. How can everything really be an argument? All my previous years of schooling stamped the idea into my head that an argument is some form of persuasion or defense; usually cynical towards an opposing point of view. However, after taking the time to read Everything’s an Argument I discovered that the word argument is not always a persuasion tactic, in fact, an argument can be used as to lead audiences to discover a truth, to explore, make decisions, and even mediate or pray.

Before classes began I was a bit confused as to how we were going to connect eating or the “rhetoric of eating” to a book about a nonfood-related topic; argument. On the first day of class we watched a short clip of a comedian expressing his distaste for Hot Pockets. This clip was an ideal example of how arguments can be made through humor and be food related at the same time. The comedian displayed a use of emotional and ethical appeals to connect with his audience and successfully present his argument. Chapters one through three covered the topics of arguments based on pathos, ethos, and logos. These three types of appeals are presented to us on a daily basis, whether we turn on the TV and view a commercial or even open up our refrigerator to chose a snack. Arguments bombard our life. As the book suggested, even a simple sign such as the hurricane shelter sign in chapter one, poses an argument. In the case of the sign, the argument was to inform an audience of a truth and was appealing through an ethical source because it was posted by a credible source, Florida’s Department of Transportation. In class we also brought in food items to show how packaging can be used as an argument. My groups’ Smart Ones lasagna showed the use of emotional appeal in its use of imagery and word choice in describing the food, along with appeals to the audience’s ethical side by citing a credible affiliated source like Weight Watchers.

In order to fully understand an argument in its various connotations, I agree with the book that it is essential to examine arguments using rhetorical analysis to get a complete breakdown. Thinking critically and beyond the surface of the arguments presented to us will allow us to better grasp the concept and will be beneficial when the time comes for us to write one ourselves.