Draft of Public Argument

Draft of Public Argument

In this blog post, I am going to provide the link to my YouTube of my advice column video on childhood obesity.

The video can be accessed here. I noticed that it is not playing for some reason. I tried reuploading it, and it still didn't work so please let me know if you have that issue as well. I also added the script further down so that you can at least see the content of my work. I also asked some questions about my personal appearance and background, which you can see if you open my video even if it doesn't play.

I would like to know if I did a good job explaining each of the questions thoroughly. I want to make sure that I give good answers to the questions that are posed, but I do not want to make it too long or too elaborate.

I want my audience of parents to feel at ease while watching my video. I do not want them to feel as if I am telling them that everything that they are doing is wrong. I want them to know the alternatives in their ways in order to help the cause of childhood obesity.

Sutherland, Zen. "graffiti under patton bridge obese." 4/5/09 via flickr.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

I was confused in how to introduce and conclude my video. I was not sure if my introduction might serve as a better conclusion or my conclusion might serve as a better introduction. I tend to have this issue a lot so I want to make sure that I do it.

In the video, I presented off of my computer with a green wall behind me. I also wore glasses and no makeup. Do I need to dress up fancier?

I also was unsure if I should add the questions on the screen? I think it would be best to add them, which I need to figure out how to add them on iMovie.

I also want to know about music. Was it too distracting to play during the entire video? Should I only play it in the beginning and have it fade in and then and the end and fade out.

Do I need to had an intro slide at the beginning? As in make a title/introduction slide?

I want to add more researched information, but I don't know how much that I can add because my video is already almost 3 minutes. Do I need to shorten my video? HELP PLEASE :)

These questions are common questions that seem to have appeared in the research that I have done. Should I maybe interview parents and get their insight instead of basing the questions off of my research? Also, is the order of my questions good?

My questions that that I will be addressing are listed below. Here is also a link to the script I used for my video.

1. If there are limited resources available to our community, how can I provide my family with healthier options?
2. How does what my husband and I eat impact my child’s diet?
3. How can I still cook ethnic cuisine, but make it healthier for my child?

Considering Visual Elements

Considering Visual Elements

In this blog post, I am going to utilize the book in order to help me consider the best visual elements for my genre of an advice column video on childhood obesity.

The background for my project be plain white wall because it is more important to hear the content that I am discussing. I do not think that I need to be anywhere specific because I think that it is more important for my audience to pay attention to me and not get distracted by the background. In an example that I watched of my genre, the woman talking was in a clothing store. She blurred the mannequin so that it would not be a distraction. However, I prefer the white wall because it will guarantee that the viewer is only looking at me. There is somewhat of a limitation with my visual choices because of the genre I'm writing in. I feel like it is important to hold the audience’s attention.

It will be useful to include graphs or even though they weren’t included in the examples that I watched. I think it would be useful to include graphs because it will be important to show how childhood obesity has skyrocketed. Also, I could use these graphs to show the correlations between childhood obesity and other instances/situations that I will address.

Watz, Marius. "Live visuals, Club Transmediale." 2/5/05 via flickr. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

Pauses in my voice will function as blocks of text because I am creating a video. The pauses in my voice will allow the reader to collect their thoughts and possibly form their own opinion based on the information that I provided prior to the pause. If I did not include a pause in my voice, then the audience might feel overwhelmed by the content that I am providing them.

The images will be in very close proximity to the argument because they are sources of evidence. For example, the graphs are evidence and support to my argument. Also, myself as an image provides the ethos to my argument. Lastly, the images that I create verbally will help appeal to the viewer’s pathos.

At this point, I have not totally thought about image sequencing, but I just plan on putting them right before, during, or after discussing the topic that the image relates to. I think that it would be very important to add images in the beginning and the end of my video because it will leave a mark on the viewer. In the beginning, it will draw the viewer’s attention. At the end, it will leave the reader an image to remember my argument and to keep them thinking about my argument.

The theme produced by the images could be relevant to the theme as a whole depending on what images I decide to use. If I use graphs, that would help appeal to logos because it is informational. If I use images of obese or ill children, then it will appeal to the pathos of the audience. If I just focus on myself, then I will appeal to the audience’s ethos. However, my main appeal is pathos because I think that my opinions on this will bring about emotions of change and urgency.

Reflection

I read Lia Ossanna's blog post. I also was unsure of some small detail. For example, I was not sure about the amount of images I should use or how I should be presented. I think that the visuals she chose work best for her because newspapers can be creative but they have a pretty standard format to follow. Overall, good job explaining what she intended to use her visuals for.

I read Jovanka Potkonjak's blog post. I think that she did a very thorough job explaining each visual element. I like how she mentioned about the blank space helping to break up your text. For instance, I used pauses between my sentences in order to space out my sentences. I like how there is a similar connection between our visuals so I know I am doing something right. I think her project is going to be hard to do on a computer. It would be so cool if she wrote out an actual letter and maybe made it look like a legit hand-written letter? That might give it some deeper depth. She could do this if you scanned it maybe?

Project 3 Outline

Project 3 Outline

In this blog post, I am going to create my outline for Project 3 with the guidance of Writing Public Lives.

Introduction

I think framing the consequences will be the best way to approach my introduction. I want my audience to feel a sense of urgency. I want my audience to not want their children to have to suffer with obesity. Therefore, framing the consequences will serve as an attention getter and influencer for the parents to tune into my argument!

Supporting Paragraphs

Major Supporting Arguments

• Child obesity leads to a variety of chronic disease
• Obese children are more likely to be bullied
• Obese children are more likely to remain obese at an older age
• Low-income families with less resources are more likely to have obese children
• Parents' eating habits influence their children's eating habits

Major Criticisms

• Many unhealthy foods are cultural and traditional
• Not all healthy food resources are available to everyone

Key Support & Rebuttal Points

• Child obesity leads to a variety of chronic diseases.
• Parents' eating habits influence their children's eating habits
• Many unhealthy foods are cultural and traditional
• Not all healthy food resources are available to everyone

Tentative Topic Sentences & Evidence

• Child obesity leads to a variety of chronic diseases, and I know parents do not want to jeopardize their own child's health.
• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes

Corps, Robin. "Mr America." 12/20/06 via flickr. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

• It is important to cook healthy meals because parents' eating habits influence their children's eating habits.
• Maternal representations of their children were associated with feeding beliefs; Balanced mothers were most likely to demonstrate high authority in child feeding; Distorted mothers were least likely to demonstrate confidence in child feeding; Disengaged mothers were least likely to demonstrate investment in child feeding; Balanced mothers were least likely to pressure their children to eat.
• Familial characteristics varied according to obesity status in the expected direction with a greater proportion of obese children in lower income/education households, and in households with 2 obese parents (defined using BMI or waist circumference). 

• Due to many unhealthy foods being cultural and traditional, it is hard to completely remove them from our diets. However, it is possible to eat them in moderation.
• Replacing sugary drinks with milk can help decrease the chance of children developing obesity


• "Hispanic children are disproportionately burdened with obesity and related risk factors by early childhood, with non-exclusive breastfeeding, early introduction to solid foods, insufficient sleep, increased screen time, and higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages contributing to racial/ethnic differences in childhood obesity prevalence."




• Some communities do not have all of the resources, such as, fresh produce convenient for them, but there are other methods and options that can be implemented.
• Obese children more often lived in neighborhoods characterised by high disadvantage and by the proximity to ≥1 convenience stores.

Map of My Argument

The map of my argument can be accessed in the link above or here.

Conclusion

For my conclusion, I will use a call to action because I want to explain to my reader how they can address this issue of childhood obesity. For example, I will give an image of a fat America. More specifically, I can use an example of Walle the movie where everyone was obese. Furthermore, I could make it more personal and create an image of their obese child. By appealing to pathos in my conclusion, I will bring the parents to action in order to prevent childhood obesity from increasing!

Analyzing My Genre

Analyzing My Genre

In this blog post, I am going to analyze my genre by addressing questions about social context, rhetorical patterns of the genre,  and then I will analyze these patterns and context. Below are five examples of my genre.

• Example 1
• Example 2
• Example 3
• Example 4
• Example 5

Social Context

My genre of an advice column video is typically set on Parents.com. The subject of the genre is parenting that revolves around childhood obesity. This genre is used when parents or people in general are in need of help. In this case, this genre would help parents that are unsure of how to properly rear their children. This genre is used because parents/people need advice sometimes in order to proceed with life. A lot of people want others' help in order to approach a situation because they are not sure if their method is the right method. The purpose of an advice column video is to inform, advise, and assist people in ways to approach a situation.

Rhetorical Patterns of the Genre

The content included in this genre is typically questions from the parents, researched information, and personal advice, opinions, and approaches to the questions that are posed. The content that is excluded is a lot of research information. I have noticed that a lot of people who have created these videos do not only state typically only information. Most include opinions too. Therefore, I need to make sure I do not only write about researched information.

Pathos is used most often because the person speaking is trying to appeal to the parents' emotions in order to draw them to take action for their children. Also, ethos is used because by presenting myself in the video as knowledgable and well-dressed person comfortably talking about the topic will build my ethos. Lastly, I will use logos by stating some doctors' claims or some shocking statistics in order to convince the reader that there is researched information in order to support my opinions.

Giannuzzi, Stefania. "CIA DE FOTO" 10/31/08 via flickr. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Most of the videos introduce the speaker, address questions, give their voice on theses questions and utilize scientific information to support it. They all conclude by giving the parents some motivation and confidence to help their children.

I do not think the sentences in this genre share a certain style. However, I feel like they are active because they want to advise the audience to DO something. Also, there is an abundance of questions because the parents pose the questions, and the questions are later addressed.

The word choice is casual and informal. The word choice should not make any parent feel dumb or uneducated because they might feel that they just do not want to listen to it in effect to that. I think that it is important to address everyone and make everyone feel comfortable. I do not want to sound too formal or academic because I might bore others.

Analyze What those Patterns Reveal about the Social Context of the Genre

The genre includes parents and children. The genre excludes people that do not associate with children or people that will not be looking to have children. This advice column video encourages people to take action and to address their child-raising strategies. I think this genre is looking to help people that are struggling in their current situation. It is assumed that they are parents that are concerned about their children. This genre is looking to address the issues that parents are having with their children nutrition. It is assumed that these parents care about their children's health. Lastly, the genre treats experiences as the most valuable because people can learn from what other people have gone through. If people can share their experiences, it makes it easier for others to follow it because they know that it has worked for someone. I think that it least values scientific information because scientists can provide that almost everything we do is unhealthy. However, it is important to address this genre while appealing to the interests of the audience and not only science.

Reflection

I read Jovanka Potkonjak's blog post. Even though hers seemed very simple and straightforward, she seems to have it put together how she is going to set it up rhetorically. I like how she broke apart the letter into separate components and described how and why. I never looked into a letter so thoroughly prior to reading her blog post. However, I noticed that she accomplishes a very successful method and genre in creating her argument. My own post seems to be detailed in the same sense as hers because we both are choosing simple genres, but we are both going to effective description.

I read Austin See's blog post. His genre is a little different than I expected only because a lot of people are doing videos or different creative things. However, I think that his genre suits his topic best! He is taking this project in a very direct approach which I think could be easier for him because like he said in his reflection that the creative ideas were "rather hard". I agree with him there because I actually have to dress up and look nice. Whereas, he could be writing his genre while in your pj's. Overall, I think his genre will be effective for his political topic! 

Considering Types

Considering Types

In this blog post, I am going to explain which types of argument from my reading that I'm considering for my Public Argument project by addressing the information "Five Basic Types of Public Argument" in Writing Public Lives.

Which types of arguments are you considering for your Public Argument Project?

I am considering position argument the most because I want to develop my own defenses on my position. I think this is important because I feel passionate about childhood obesity. I once was obese. Therefore, I want people to be aware of how to stop it and prevent it. I also am considering a casual argument because I do not want to be too formal. This issue also occurs in society which is what this type addressed. I think it would be good to show my audience the potential solutions as well because I do not want childhood obesity to continue!

Which argument types would best fit your project? Why?

I basically mentioned this above, but I think that position and casual argument would be best for my project because it helps develop and idea for my audience. The casual argument will give my readers some advice in order to fix childhood obesity. Whereas, position argument will allow me to develop my own ideas further. I need to look more closely to what these two arguments have to offer before I make my final decision. As of now, I am leaning more toward position argument because I think it would benefit my audience if they were to know a developed explanation for the data and information I provide to them.

McGuire, Ryan. "Argument Conflict Controversy Dispute Contention." 10/20/14 via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain License.

Why wouldn’t some of them work?

Evaluative argument would not work because it talks about the successfulness of something specific that had been proposed. It could work, but I am not trying to prove that child obesity exists. I am trying to give explanations for why it exists and not how successful it is. By no means is childhood obesity successful. Additionally, the proposal argument wouldn't work either because to me it seems to be a very instructional format. I am not telling people how to save the environment or to eliminate some small thing. Childhood obesity is too complex for that type. Lastly, the refutation argument will not work because it is refuting an argument. I am not going against the existence of childhood obesity because it exists.

Reflection

In Lia Ossanna's "Considering Types" post, I think it made sense for her not to use the proposal argument because like she said she does not have enough experience or knowledge on the manner. I agree with her that a refutation argument would be the best because she is going against the current drought plan. It seems as if she has everything pretty well thought out. In her "My Rhetorical Action Plan" post, I honestly really liked her idea of a genre of creating a letter to the city council! I think that it is so creative, and it made me rethink my own genres. I think I personally could do something more creative as well. I think the letter would be very successful in carrying out her argument because she said in your "Considering Types" post that she wanted to do a refutational argument. I think a letter would be the best way to express this. I really really like the creativity on her part for that. I learned that I was thinking way too narrow-minded on this argumentation genre decision. However, the letter goes outside the box. Therefore, I want to research more creative possible genres for myself.

After reading Olivia Wann's "Considering Types" post, I really feel as if I am lacking creativity in this project. I have read hers and Lia's and so far mine seems SO boring. I love her idea of a cooking show! I love to cook so I don't know why I didn't think of that. I feel like I might create kind of like a campaign video or shocking news video on childhood obesity, but I am unsure still. I think your proposal argument is that best way to help people with diabetes because you would give them a proper solution to deal with their disease. After reading her "My Rhetorical Action Plan" post, I realized that I love her idea and this argument of hers will be so easy for her to carry out. It will be almost as if it was natural because cooking shows are fun. It seems to me as if I am creating something that is not creative, and I envy your ability to think so creatively on this. I lacked that. I need to rethink this because I think I am creating a harder project than it needs to be. I need to let my creative juices flow more!! Her plan of action seems to be well thought out. However, I think it would be good for her to consider the harms of artificial sweeteners because there are some important harms. I think it would be good to let her audience know this or have it be in a caption or something.

My Rhetorical Action Plan

My Rhetorical Action Plan

In this blog post, I am going to provide concise and specific details to answer the questions from "Developing a Rhetorical Action Plan" in Writing Public Lives.

Audience

The audience already knows that childhood obesity is becoming a huge issue in America due to fast food. They know this because the news emphasizes it. Michelle Obama even created a plan to reduce it. I think that my audience might believe that every child goes through a chubby stage before puberty. However, this is not the case for everyone. Therefore, they need to be informed more on the topic.

I believe that a lot of Americans teach their children to clean their plates and leave no food. This value was created because back in the Great Depression, food was scarce. Therefore, whenever food was available, people during that time period were told to finish whatever they had. Now that food is more readily available, they teach their younger generations to eat up because you never know when there won't be food available. This notion leads to childhood obesity because every child has a different energy need, and if their plate has too much food on it, they will gain weight.

I think research of statistics, personal stories, obesity rates, and pictures will help my argument's persuasiveness. In order to do this, I plan to create a QRG because this mean has some opinion, but it is mostly information. It also makes use of the spacing of the paper with subtitles and images which will keep the audience engaged.

As I mentioned above, I think subtitles and images of graphs and obese children would work best in this public argument. The subtitles will break apart the text and allow the reader to be guided more easily. Images of graphs will provide statistics and trends that will hopefully shock my audience. The images of obese children will open their eyes because a lot of people do not realize the comparison of an obese child to a healthy-weight child.

I want my audience to feel compelled to reduce childhood obesity. By providing an argument that will connect to my audience on a personal level, I think that I will be able to motivate them to change the rates of childhood obesity. I think this because their children and grandchildren are at risk. Childhood obesity brings along many struggles in life socially, mentally, and physically. Therefore, my audience will feel compelled to make a difference.

Genre

I will use a QRG as my form of writing. The QRG functions to inform, persuade, and to give some bias on an issue. I chose it because I want to express my sentiments toward the topic. However, I also want to inform my readers, too. Examples of QRGs that are about nutrition can be found here and here.

The setting of my genre could be in a newspaper, journal, blog post, or video. I think this would be the best setting because it will appeal to my audience. Also, these settings could allow it to be more widespread and not only for my selected audience. A huge variety of people skim through these settings. I think that they might be drawn in if I use enough visuals.

I will definitely use ethos, pathos, and logos to appeal to my readers. I will use ethos because I am a Nutritional Science major. I have been passionate about nutrition for about ten years now. I once was an obese child, but I taught myself the proper ways to lose weight and keep it off. Therefore, I can provide insight into being an obese child. I will use pathos because I want my reader to feel bad for these obese kids because they do not always have the upper-hand in deciding whether or not they want to be obese. Sometimes it is the parents at fault. Lastly, I will use logos by providing a lot of information and statistics about childhood obesity.

Altman, Gerd. "Business Idea Planning Business Plan Business." 3/29/15 via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain License.

I will use pictures of obese children to startle my audience, and images of graphs that have giant spikes. These images will shock my audience. Not only will it capture their attention, but it will make them understand my topic better.

I want to write something informal and conversational. I want my audience to feel comfortable in listening to what I have to say because I think they need to be comfortable with this topic. This could be classified as a sensitive topic for many people because many people do not want to admit that their child is obese. The word "obese" has been made into a negative word, an insult, because many people use it to make fun of people. I want the audience to know that I was also uninformed once, but I want to help them understand the severity of this topic!

I could also use a Research Paper as my genre for writing. A research paper functions to inform and persuade the audience. Examples of research papers can be found here and here.

I could see this second genre being used in schools, journals, or databases. I think I could see children learning the most from it and utilizing it in order to help them with their own writing.

I will mostly use logos because I think that research papers mostly contain information and facts. However, I will use real life examples that will hopefully appeal a bit to pathos. Lastly, I will use some ethos while I discuss certain studies and credible sources.

On my cover page, I will find a picture that relates to childhood obesity. Research papers do not contain images within them typically.

I would use a formal style because that's how research papers tend to be written. However, I would like to be casual in how I write because I do not want the audience to be intimidated by me. Therefore, I will find a middle ground for that.

Positive Reactions

• Decline in Childhood Obesity
• Decrease in Happy Meal purchases
• Increase in homecooked meals

Negative Rebuttals

• Continue to feed Child Unhealthy Foods because part of culture
• Inform parents/grandparents that culturally unhealthy food can still be eaten in moderation
• Reject modifications about culture cuisine
• Even though people have been around for a long time
• Ignore my entire public argument
• It is their own children's lives at risk. It would do anyone good just to listen.

Analyzing Purpose

Analyzing Purpose

In this blog post, I am going to brainstorm using the instructions provided from Writing Public Lives.

What do you want your readers to do, feel, think believe etc. as a result of reading it?

I want my readers to be healthier after reading my public argument. I want them to feel compelled to end childhood obesity. I want them to think about all of the risks of child obesity. I want them to think about the actions people are taking or their beliefs that are causing childhood obesity. I want the reader to believe that the future of childhood obesity remains in our hands, and we have the power to change it for future generations to come. I want my reader to feel as if childhood obesity really is a disease. Childhood obesity is considered a disease. Therefore, I want my reader to understand what makes it a disease and how and why it is so contagious today.

Plausible Actions/Reactions

I think that people are likely to feel motivated to end childhood obesity because it is a very unhealthy lifestyle for someone to live. I also think that people will reject what I say to them because they are so set on their own beliefs and ways of life that they are unwilling to listen or to change. People will be able to relate and see the reality of my writing because childhood obesity is all around us in our world.

Lamb, Kieran. "The Purpose of Life is a Life Full of Purpose." 10/08/12 via flickr.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

Not Plausible

People will not think that my writing is pointless because I will give a lot of support. People will not completely disagree with me because I will give insight on why things are the way they are. I will provide statistics and personal stories that will allow people to relate to it. Therefore, it will be impossible to totally refuse my argument.

Desire to End Childhood Obesity

It will enable the public to act and develop a healthier lifestyle. They will feel compelled to raise awareness and spread the word. They will be more likely to impose a healthier lifestyle upon their children because they would not want to contribute to the rate of childhood obesity. They will help those who are unable to pay for healthier food options.

Advancing My Cause

Parents are very likely to help my cause because they will feel the need to prevent their child and many other children from suffering from obesity. I think that these parents might assist others the most that are unable to provide healthier options to their children. Maybe parents will provide healthier options to food pantries because people tend to give a lot of processed snack foods as opposed to fresh produce