Friday, October 26, 2012

Have fun watching the big bang theory

First paragraph: includes brief introduction to the show and why I think it is worth watching it. I will also include my thesis in this paragraph.                         
  Second paragraph: I will lay down supporting points; I might also give a plot to introduce the characters and the story. Also how I got hooked with it.             
Third & Fourth paragraphs: These paragraphs will continue the work of backing up my point few details of the show and it’s relation to reality. In other words I would like to show how true and informative the content of the show is.           
Fifth & Sixth paragraphs: I will mention some other shows of its kind to compare and contrast. This will show the advantages and disadvantages of the show over the others. I will also talk about the producers and their reputation
 Seventh paragraph: Finally I will summarize my points and restate my thesis to finish the evaluation essay.

Pros                                                            Cons  
·                    Entertaining show (very funny)
·        Sometimes it takes long before new episode gets released
·                    Often it is educational and realistic topics are covered
·                    Too much commercial takes great deal of the time
·                    The show brings distinguished guests/scientists and discuss hot topics to make it up to date
·                    Limited characters and stage of action.
·                    Can be watched online for free
·                    There were few episodes with little story other than being funny
·                    Ongoing show (new episodes coming out)
·                     

WATCH IT RIGHT QUICK SO YOU CAN GET TO THE EPISODES WITH RIVER SONG!!!!/ You need to watch it because your feels depend on it!

Pros:
Cons
The idea is great
It’s just GREAT
It blows your mind
The writer, Steven Moffat, know how to make you laugh, cry, want to hide and crap your pants in one episode
Humans, Time Lords, Aliens (Characters)
After you watch it you can go on Tumblr and laugh about it
THE SOONER YOU WATCH IT THE SOONER YOU CAN MEET RIVER SONG!
It is perfect
The intensity and passion and all feelings of the     characters
Acting is impeccable
Acting, Characters, Story, Plot
THE FEELS!
You may have nightmares
You will NEVER look at a statue the same way again
There is a possibility you will get as obsessed as I am
 Some people think it's dumb and improbable those people are dumb 
Maybe a little too scary for younger viewers
THE FEELS!

Evaluation essay of Doctor Who Season 3, Episode 10, Blink
How am I going to make this into an actual essay without exploding feels and spoilers all over it? I’m so bad at this klduthlskdfgj

Outline
P1-Intro. Description of Doctor Who in all it's beautifulness
     Who is the Doctor? What is the Doctor? Why Doctor Who? The Fandom! 
                                                or
     Brief intro to Who to catch people. Talk a little about The Doctor and his Companions.
P2- He's saved the world more times than you can count and you didn't even know it.
     Thesis- Something about Blink being a worth while episode? and also why? Generic Plot of Episodes, plot of this episode.
P3- A sad man with both his hearts broken
     Story of the Doctor and his companions. Story of Revived series. Story of Blink.  Pick some Pros and include them.
P4- Spoilers!
     Characters past, present and future. Pick more Pros and include them
P5- Opposing?
     Why some people don't like Who and Whovians and  why they are WRONG
P6- Description of Doctor Who in all it's beautifulness
     Who is the Doctor? What is the Doctor? Why Doctor Who? The Fandom! River!!!!
                                            or
     Whatever else one would need to know about the Doctor and his life./ The feels
P7- Conclusion. 
     It's just wonderful and you need to watch it. River Song is my favorite. Go to Tumblr and laugh about it. Restate of thesis. 

Avatar Visuals

When looking at the poster Berardinelli displays for his review about Avatar, it definately add it's own dimensions to the review. The poster itself displays planets in the background and an overlapping of Jake's face over Neytiri's face whith the setting of the planet pandora in front of them. This poster has perception which indicates that this image represents a possible 3D movie.

The story itself is also somewhat summarized in this image. The resemblance of a setting with tons of planets in the sky, floating pieces of earth with vegetation and prehistoric-like flying creatures with futuristic helicopters indicates that a new world is going to be explored by mankind in the future. Jake's and Neytiri's face's being above all of the things in this world indicates that their relationship is going to be the focal point in the conflict. Also in the image, they are both looking in the same direction with an angry stare. Maybe they are going to be on the same side against an opposition.




I agree with Berardinelli.

The wording in the instructions of Reading Like A Writer is confusing to me, so I will do my best.
Comparisons that Berardinelli used in the second paragraph:
Avatar vs. Dances with Wolves- narrative and scifi
Avatar vs. Aliens- Space/military
Avatar vs. Titanic- Romance
Berardinelli  classifies Avatar as all of the above. It is not just a single one of them because it has aspects from the scifi in the fancy new Na'vi world and the space/military because Jake Sully is a military man and the bad guys are all working for the military, but there is romance with Jake and Neytiri. All of that packed into one wonderful movie means that it could not possibly fall into a single category. Even the poster would suggest that.

Don't Watch Sports Center

Sports Center

Pros

Cons

Shows Highlights
Can be very repetitive
Covers Major American Sports
East-Coast and Large Market Bias
In depth analysis of teams/players
Minor Sports Receive Minimal Coverage
New Show Daily
Ability to increase a Sport’s Popularity
Most popular Sports Show in US

Great Coverage of Major Sports




Outline

1st Paragraph- Description of Sports Center.
  • What is Sports Center about? Who watches Sports Center? Why is it so popular?
2nd Paragraph- My thesis.
  • My position about Sports Center.
3rd Paragraph- Support Point 1 and 2 for Thesis
  • East Coast and Large market bias. LA, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, other east coast cities.
  • Ability to Increse a team's/sport's popularity.
4th Paragraph- Support Point 2 for Thesis
  • Can be very repetetive. Certain topics will be the headlining of the show for days even weeks.
5th Paragraph- Opposing argument.
  • Great coverage of NFL, MLB, and NBA. My response- Shows way to much of these sports while NHL (Hockey) and MLS (Soccer) are hardly ever shown.
  • What else is there to watch? My response- New networks have been emerging.
6th paragraph- Conclusion
  • Restate, but dont actually restate, my thesis.

Questions in Margins of Avatar Review

        
   It seems that James Berardinelli is indeed professional movie reviewer. Berardinelli started the review of Avatar with superlatives such as most. I think by doing so he is laying down his credentials as a reviewer. He mentioned that the filmmaker of Avatar James Cameron is also known for other popular movies. Moving on to the second paragraph he talks about traditional film elements of Avatar. These elements such as story, character, editing, theme, and emotional resonance are decisive in reviewing 2D movies. Avatar even though it’s 3D property is what makes it so special, the reviewer thinks considering those elements the movie would still be good experience even if it were 2D. He also mentioned and compared previous productions of the filmmaker of Avatar to this movie. That might be helpful in introducing the filmmaker as someone who had a very good reputation. Berardinelli then continued with introducing a plot in the movie. I don’t think this was too much detail because that only gives brief experience of the movie. Berardinelli has discussed the assumption that 3D movies are gimmick, I think he is right because I happen to be one of those who think they are gimmick. But the reviewer witnessed this was not the case in the Avatar. In Paragraph six the review points out that the movie resonates with audience because it includes some of the hot topics of our time such as humanity and environment. I found it interesting how Berardinelli went over to talk about the expectation amid describing and introducing some characters. By evaluating the genre conventions the reviewer has shown that he is not mixing and comparing irrelevant films. Following the expectation of audience with this kind of films some critiques were discussed, this makes the review broad in terms of ideas and opinions. I think not only a film review but any kind of review needs to include both positive and negative reflection in order to be complete and that is exactly what he does in the last paragraph before conclusion. Finally Berardinelli concludes his review by summarizing his active experience of the film Avatar, again the reputation of James Cameron and that it was worth waiting long time since his last product Titanic. I thought it was great review in general and it was effective way of conclusion because he mentioned how engaging the film was, he describes details of his experience watching the movie, he also talks about the producer’s credentials. In doing so he is showing how much of experience he has as a reviewer. It was entertaining and if I ever decide to watch the movie Avatar it is probably because of this review.


Friday, October 19, 2012

Writing Matters Section 11f: Logical Fallacies


 Writing Matters Section 11f details many of the logical fallacies often encountered in inductive and deductive reasoning, so that we may recognize them when analyzing and avoid them when creating arguments. The book describes and gives examples for each fallacy, so I'll just give an overview of the fallacies they list.

The book first lists fallacies often encountered in inductive arguments. In inductive arguments the conclusion (the point you are trying to make) is drawn from and supported by the premises (evidence) you provide to support your conclusion. Fallacies in inductive reasoning occur when one draws a conclusion that is not supported by the premises. Examples of these fallacies are: hasty generalization (jumping to conclusions), sweeping generalization, and false analogy. Another common fallacy often encountered in inductive and deductive arguments is bandwagon appeal (a.k.a. appeal to majority) one of many fallacies that--though they seem to provide evidence for the conclusion--are not actually valid evidence.

Next, the book details many fallacies often found encountered in deductive arguments. In deductive arguments a specific conclusion is derived from generally accepted and known premises; fallacies in deductive reasoning often take the form of misleading, wrong, or missing premises, or errors in form and logical strength of the argument. Fallacies in deductive reasoning include: begging the question (circular reasoning), post hoc, ergo propter hoc (false cause), and either-or (false dilemma or false alternative). Other fallacies often found in deductive (as well as inductive) reasoning include non sequiters (irrelevant arguments), ad hominems (personal attacks).

 The list of fallacies in the book is by no means exhaustive, but there are plenty of great resources online should you want to learn more!
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