WATCO: Professional athletes on American society?
Claim: Professional athletes help the American society because professional athletes work hard and serve as role models for others.
Implicit Assumption: Whatever provides society with role models also helps society.
In his essay "Sports Heroes and American Culture," Steven A. Riess tries to convince his audience that sports players are larger than life and serve a greater purpose than just playing games in front of spectators. He claims that they are heroes that people can look up to and emulate, not just in how they play their respective games, but in how they lead their lives. This may have been true during the early part of the 20th century, but definitely is not true today. Riess is correct that athletes served a great purpose in the past. He cited the fact that athletic heroes such as Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Bobby Jones helped many Americans define their own personal sense of identity. They also helped people escape from the rigors of daily life. His information to back up his claims is substantial and historically accurate, and it is doubtful that many, if any, other historians would disagree with him. One glaring omission from his essay, however, is how commercialization and technology have changed how Americans view athletes. Athletes are no longer heroes, people who symbolize the American working man and lead moral and ethical lives. Rather, sports stars of today are paid outrageous amounts of money and generally show complete disregard for the mantle of role model. People cannot relate to athletes as they could a hundred years ago. The premise behind Riess’s essay is interesting, but his point that athletes are heroes in society represents and ideal that is far in the past.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Technique Analysis – Enthymeme & Introduction
WATCO: Involving your kids in team sports when they are young on their overall well being?
Enthymeme: Involving your kids in team sports when they are young increases their overall well being because working with others their age helps them emotionally, socially and physically.
Audience: Parents with children ages 8 and younger
Implicit Assumption: Whatever helps kids emotionally, socially and physically also increases their overall well-being.
Parents have a natural concern for their children, whether they want it or not. They want them to learn and grow and develop solid relationships with others their age, and these things can be accomplished in many different ways. Some experts claim that parents should push their children in their studies to help them get ahead, while others argue that wholesome physical recreation is more beneficial. What exactly are the best ways to help your kids grow without being overbearing or intrusive?
Enthymeme: Involving your kids in team sports when they are young increases their overall well being because working with others their age helps them emotionally, socially and physically.
Audience: Parents with children ages 8 and younger
Implicit Assumption: Whatever helps kids emotionally, socially and physically also increases their overall well-being.
Parents have a natural concern for their children, whether they want it or not. They want them to learn and grow and develop solid relationships with others their age, and these things can be accomplished in many different ways. Some experts claim that parents should push their children in their studies to help them get ahead, while others argue that wholesome physical recreation is more beneficial. What exactly are the best ways to help your kids grow without being overbearing or intrusive?
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Free Writing – Commercialization of Sports
This photo was taken recently at the Super Bowl Media Day in Phoenix. The woman pictured is Inez Sainz, a reporter for TV Azteca in Mexico. Instead of reporting about football she circulated herself around in a wedding dress and proposed to a number of players from both teams. Would anyone consider what she does reporting? Better yet, does anybody even care? Each year the Super Bowl becomes less about the actual game and more about the marketing and attention for everyone involved. This attitude is a microcosm of how our modern society treats sports, and miles away from where sports started.
Professional sports should not matter so much to so many people. Fans are somehow considered to be stakeholders in sports despite the fact that they don’t get anything in return besides a constant wave of commercials and whining from overpaid athletes. Sports used to be a way people defined themselves, but it is difficult for that to be the case anymore. While many people can relate to sports and be entertained by sports, these superficial rewards are the extent to which most people can be involved with sports in our society.
Professional sports should not matter so much to so many people. Fans are somehow considered to be stakeholders in sports despite the fact that they don’t get anything in return besides a constant wave of commercials and whining from overpaid athletes. Sports used to be a way people defined themselves, but it is difficult for that to be the case anymore. While many people can relate to sports and be entertained by sports, these superficial rewards are the extent to which most people can be involved with sports in our society.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Rhetorical Analysis – Elder Oaks
WATCO: Young adults’ dating rather than “hanging out” on their relationships with the opposite gender?
Claim: Young adults’ dating rather than “hanging out” helps build healthy relationships with members of the opposite gender because spending quality time getting to know each other helps people respect and appreciate each other.
Implicit Assumption: Whatever helps people respect and appreciate each other also helps build healthy relationships.
Audience: LDS Young Adults who for various reasons are not inclined to date
Elder Oaks’ talk, “The Dedication of a Lifetime” has become quite famous in the LDS community since he gave it nearly two years ago. In this address he expresses his concern over the growing trend of young adults to stay single for longer periods of time, then encourages them to go on meaningful dates with members of the opposite gender. His argument is well-founded and well-stated. He uses academic articles and statistics to show that the average age of marriage in the United States is increasing, and that young adults fit into a new and strange demographic. His many years of experience as a church leader and as President of BYU add to his credibility. I’m sure many of our church leaders would give the same advice, and likely contributed to his talk in various ways. He just acted as the mouthpiece with this address. Elder Oaks was not overbearing in giving advice and counsel to the young adults of the church. Rather, he used humor and wit to confront a potentially sensitive subject. This helped many young adults accept and internalize his message.
I was single when he gave the address but have since married, so I guess dating worked for me. Really, though, Elder Oaks’ talk was very motivational and tactful, which are things the young adults of church needed in a message meant to drive them to action.
Claim: Young adults’ dating rather than “hanging out” helps build healthy relationships with members of the opposite gender because spending quality time getting to know each other helps people respect and appreciate each other.
Implicit Assumption: Whatever helps people respect and appreciate each other also helps build healthy relationships.
Audience: LDS Young Adults who for various reasons are not inclined to date
Elder Oaks’ talk, “The Dedication of a Lifetime” has become quite famous in the LDS community since he gave it nearly two years ago. In this address he expresses his concern over the growing trend of young adults to stay single for longer periods of time, then encourages them to go on meaningful dates with members of the opposite gender. His argument is well-founded and well-stated. He uses academic articles and statistics to show that the average age of marriage in the United States is increasing, and that young adults fit into a new and strange demographic. His many years of experience as a church leader and as President of BYU add to his credibility. I’m sure many of our church leaders would give the same advice, and likely contributed to his talk in various ways. He just acted as the mouthpiece with this address. Elder Oaks was not overbearing in giving advice and counsel to the young adults of the church. Rather, he used humor and wit to confront a potentially sensitive subject. This helped many young adults accept and internalize his message.
I was single when he gave the address but have since married, so I guess dating worked for me. Really, though, Elder Oaks’ talk was very motivational and tactful, which are things the young adults of church needed in a message meant to drive them to action.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Free Writing – Thoughts on TA’s
I understand the value of a good Teaching Assistant (TA) for college professors. Professors are busy people. They have class to prepare for, meetings to attend, research to perform, books to write, and, usually last on their list, papers to grade. TA’s serve as a liaison to students for many professors, especially since classes are usually large and learning the name of each student is not a high priority for many educators. TA’s help teachers run the class by being present (for moral support?) as well as collecting and grading papers. Many TA’s also teach a lab session on the side. They are very convenient for professors.
They are not, however, convenient for students.
Many TA’s are nice people, but it seems that at least one class each semester assigns to me a TA who thinks he/she is better than everyone else. Why is this? Is it because they took the class the previous semester and got a decent grade so they think they know more than us? Is it because they don’t have to do the homework and look down on those that do? Or is it because a large part of students’ grades rest on their judgment? Whatever the reason, I have a hard time supporting the fact that a TA who may or may not know more about the subject matter than I do is determining my grade. I respect professors, and I am willing to accept whatever feedback they give to me. In fact, I enjoy getting feedback from my professors. They are trained and paid professionals who (for the most part) do a fine job. They should be in charge of the class and what grades the students get, but this responsibility too often falls to the TA’s. Personally, I think it is ridiculous that I pay money for an education only to have my success or failure determined by a fellow student.
They are not, however, convenient for students.
Many TA’s are nice people, but it seems that at least one class each semester assigns to me a TA who thinks he/she is better than everyone else. Why is this? Is it because they took the class the previous semester and got a decent grade so they think they know more than us? Is it because they don’t have to do the homework and look down on those that do? Or is it because a large part of students’ grades rest on their judgment? Whatever the reason, I have a hard time supporting the fact that a TA who may or may not know more about the subject matter than I do is determining my grade. I respect professors, and I am willing to accept whatever feedback they give to me. In fact, I enjoy getting feedback from my professors. They are trained and paid professionals who (for the most part) do a fine job. They should be in charge of the class and what grades the students get, but this responsibility too often falls to the TA’s. Personally, I think it is ridiculous that I pay money for an education only to have my success or failure determined by a fellow student.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Technique Analysis – Paper B Issue Analysis
WATCO: Young adults choosing to get married over staying single on society?
Claim: Young adults’ choosing to get married over staying single has a positive effect on society because establishing a home promotes healthy morals and strengthens the community.
Audience: LDS Young Adults who would rather “hang-out” than date with the goal of getting married.
About the Audience
-interested in having fun and meeting new people
-have testimonies of the gospel
-typically between 20-25 years old
-interested in the opposite gender, but not willing to commit to anything serious
-many are college students or recent graduates
-financial and material things are often important
-desire security (financial, emotional, etc.)
-knowing the eternal nature of marriage, they want to be very careful about entering into serious relationships
-often wish to delay adult responsibilities
-understand the importance of marriage and family, but are passive about setting goals in those areas
-desire to do good and help those around them
Marriage (+)
Family builds emotional stability
Husband and wife strengthen each other
Strong families add to local community
True happiness is found within family life
Marriage teaches people to sacrifice for others and develop unselfish motives and habits
Marriage (-)
Newlyweds are often poor
Marriage carries with it many large and intimidating responsibilities
“Hanging Out” is within many people’s comfort zone, while marriage is challenging on many different levels
Eternity is a long time, so finding the right person can sometimes be stressful and difficult
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Free Writing – Ballet vs. Cougarettes
My wife is a dancer, and she likes to watch other people dance. I like to make my wife happy. Put these together and sometimes I have the privilege of going to events such as ballets and dance concerts. Two weeks ago BYU’s ballet department put on their winter show, and last week the Cougarettes were performing their annual concert. Lucky me, I had the chance to go to both of them. After watching both of these concerts I thought I would take a minute and make note of some of my observations from each – a comparison if you will.
Ballet Concert
The ballet was okay. I thought it was cool how they could stand on their toes for so long and spin so much without getting dizzy. One girl spun around 36 times in a row without showing any type of disorientation. My brothers and I used to have competitions to see who could spin the most and I don’t think we ever reached 36 times before we fell over. Some of the dances were very beautiful, and my favorite was a dance to Pachelbell. One thing that is normal in the dance world but that I thought funny was the pants that the guys were wearing. Let’s just say that they didn’t leave much to the imagination. This made me laugh every time they were out on the stage, and my wife had to shush me a few times. Besides these things, the show wasn’t all that compelling. Their timing wasn’t very good and I thought most of the music they used was boring.
Cougarettes Concert
This was a different story. I loved just about every minute of the Cougarettes’ performance. Their timing was right on (which you would expect given that they have won seven out of the last eleven national championships) and their music covered the spectrum of cool and funky to soothing and beautiful. They also used cool props to dance to, such as a ladder and chairs, as well as a cube made out of pipes. One of the things I noticed about the Cougarettes is that the girls are not as skinny as the ballet dancers. None of them were fat, but they were strong enough to do their own lifts and use all the props with ease. I liked that about them. I left the Cougarettes concert feeling like I would gladly pay another $10 to see it again, which is a tribute to them. My wife liked it much better too, so it turned out to be a much better date than the ballet concert the previous week.
Ballet Concert
The ballet was okay. I thought it was cool how they could stand on their toes for so long and spin so much without getting dizzy. One girl spun around 36 times in a row without showing any type of disorientation. My brothers and I used to have competitions to see who could spin the most and I don’t think we ever reached 36 times before we fell over. Some of the dances were very beautiful, and my favorite was a dance to Pachelbell. One thing that is normal in the dance world but that I thought funny was the pants that the guys were wearing. Let’s just say that they didn’t leave much to the imagination. This made me laugh every time they were out on the stage, and my wife had to shush me a few times. Besides these things, the show wasn’t all that compelling. Their timing wasn’t very good and I thought most of the music they used was boring.
Cougarettes Concert
This was a different story. I loved just about every minute of the Cougarettes’ performance. Their timing was right on (which you would expect given that they have won seven out of the last eleven national championships) and their music covered the spectrum of cool and funky to soothing and beautiful. They also used cool props to dance to, such as a ladder and chairs, as well as a cube made out of pipes. One of the things I noticed about the Cougarettes is that the girls are not as skinny as the ballet dancers. None of them were fat, but they were strong enough to do their own lifts and use all the props with ease. I liked that about them. I left the Cougarettes concert feeling like I would gladly pay another $10 to see it again, which is a tribute to them. My wife liked it much better too, so it turned out to be a much better date than the ballet concert the previous week.
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