Journal 45: Persuade Me

    I want to buy a new cell phone now! I have used the current one around four years. Most people around me use smart phone now. Although smart phone is not necessary for me, my friends in the US told me that it is more convenient to have you when you are abroad. Therefore, I decide to buy a new one, but I am torn between choosing iphone 4s and HTC Incredible S. My parents encourage me to buy iphone because I don’t need to worry about whether the system would fit the telecom in the United States. I just research some information about these two types of phones. To iphone 4s, the size of screen is 3.5-inch LDC, 640 x 960 pixels, and it is heavier than HTC. On the other hand to HTC, the size of screen is 4.0-inch LDC, 480 x 800 pixels, and it is a little bigger than iphone. Both of them don’t have keyboard, have shortage up to 32GB, and front camera. As I have these information and data, I believe that I am able to convince my audience. The type of this appeal is logical appeal because the information I provided are real and reasonable.

 

Journal 44: Reason Sits Firm

     According to the first sentence from the quotation, Reason sits firm and holds the reins, it means that no matter what are the reasons or evidences of a truth are, the reality stays the same and it won’t be changed ever. For example, the cake is eaten by my sister, but she keeps saying that it is eaten by her friend. Although she tells everyone that she doesn’t eat the cake, the reality stays that the person who eats the cake is my sister. “She will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms”, this sentence means that the speaker would choose to believe the truth, and try her best not to be affected by other things or people. “The passions may rage furiously, like true heathens, as they are, and the desires may imagine all sorts of vain things”, at this time your feelings or passions of the truth seem to be the heathens who are excluded. Moreover, the speaker’s instinct would turn to be vain thing. “But judgment shall still have the last word in every argument, and the castings vote in every decision”, the speaker might not satisfy the reality or the result. That is the reason why the argument still exist.

 

Journal 43: Unconvincing Argument

    If a person is trying to persuade me to buy a thing, I would probably buy it if it is really necessary for me. I might think about to buy a thing which is useful, reasonable price, and needed. I definitely won’t buy I thing which is not necessary for me or I even don’t like it. No one is able to persuade me to eat anything after I brush my teeth because I don’t want my teeth to be dirty again. For example, sometimes my father would buy night snack when I have already brush my teeth. I can hundred percent sure that I won’t eat it though he buys my favorite food. I have another example that someone successfully persuades me to do something. I went to graduation trip with senior last year, so I planned not to go this year. However, my friends really want me to go with them. They try to say something make me feel that I will regret if I don’t go with them. I am really torn between going to family trip or graduation trip. After a long discussion with my parents, I decide to go to graduation trip, and I think I make the right choice.

 

Journal 42: Evaluating an Argument

     I do not believe everything I read or I hear because it might not be true. I would only believe the one which I hundred percent sure. In current generation, there are lots of advertisements around us, so I choose not to easily believe the things I read or hear. For example, we can receive some advertisements from e-mail, but many of them are just created or made by someone that they are not accurate or true. Sometimes, it is hard to know what is believable and what is not. If I face this situation, I would believe the thing based on my instinct. To me, the people I trust the most are my family. I feel no pressure to think about whether they are trustable or not. Although I made lots of friends in my life, there are only two of them who I really trust. One us my middle high school classmate; the other one is my high school classmate. The thing they are in common is that they wouldn’t react unhappy when if they don’t know everything from me. Everyone has his or her private things which don’t want to let others know. I hope that they can be my best friends forever.

 

Journal 41: Opinion v Thought

     “The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion”, this quotation is from Elizabeth Drew. It contains a deep meaning that I am not sure that I totally understand it. Everyone has his or her opinion, so he or she might use different angel to see the same thing or person. For example, some people think that we have dinner with family is very important because it is the only time that everyone can really spend time with family on week days. On the other hand, someone might think that individual time is more important, so people should spend more time to do what they want to do. To me, I think family is very important, so I would like to spend time with them. I know that everyone has different thought and opinion, so I won’t force others to stand on my side or agree my opinion. I don’t like someone force me to agree his or her opinion. Therefore, I won’t do that to anyone too. If I really need to persuade someone that my opinions are better, I would provide enough information or detail in order to let that person know what I am thinking.

 

Journal 40: Get What You Want

    I remembered that I really wanted to go to graduation trip with current seniors, but my mother didn’t allow me to go when I told her. She thought that I went with my friends last year, so she didn’t want me to go this year. Last year I thought that I won’t go with current seniors this year because I didn’t know them very well. However, I made lots of friends and built friendship with them. Sometimes I would think that I might regret if didn’t go with them. Therefore, I told my mother that I wanted to go this year because I wanted to spend time with my friends not because I wanted to go to Bali Club Med. At the beginning, she wanted me to use my own money if I really wanted to go. She changed her mind that I could decide how much I wanted to pay by myself. The total fee for graduation trip was almost NT50000. I pay NT15000 by myself. My family didn’t want me to go because they wanted to have a family trip during spring break. For this situation, I used both logic and emotion appeals. I told her that this year was my real high school graduation trip and I really wanted to cherish the rest of time to spend with my friends. On the other hand, I reacted sad and unhappy when my mother said that she didn’t want me to go.