My Visual Argument
The image above creates a comedic scene playing off of an comedic idea. In this image, the two very manly men, Popeye and Bluto who are burly chested sailors, are paired together in as a couple which societally, playing off of the gay stereotype. The humor is furthered by the fact that the two are enemies and that the reasoning for this, is that there was some romantic friction. Again playing on the contrast of demeanor of these burly men, and that of the stereotypical gay couple. Then to add to this, they two men who got found their beginnings in the early 30's are in a contemporary social gathering. The purpose of this little comic may be to convey the idea that some unexpected people may be gay, and that in some instances there can be very unexpected partnerships. That may be reading into this light hearted comic too much, but it sounds about right.

Sad Puppie
This is a visual argument if used properly because in essence, it's a sad puppy. Its eyes are those big, pleading, wanting eyes that call for immediate adoption. The fact that it's a puppy makes it even more pity inviting because it makes it seem more innocent and helpless. Its stance contributes to the idea because it's pressing agianst the bars, almost pushing to get out of its little box. This image just calls for you to come and scoop it up in your arms and snuggle it up to your face until you finally feel that the moral wound inflicted upon you by this puppies eyes has been healed. Then this puppy is just an annoying pooping machine.

My quarter.
It was pretty long.

The Dumbest Generation.
Mark Bauerlein's "The Dumbest Generation"purposes the idea that we have the alarming problem that our youth, could be the dumbest generation so far, despite all of our advancement technologically. He describes that with all of the advances that ease day to day life, us youngsters have taken it too far and we are slipping intellectually.

Agreeable quotes
"brazen disregard of books and reading."
I have noticed that many of my peers are more likely to go and donate all of their worldly goods rather than sit down with a nice book for an afternoon. Many of my friends are relatively affluent as well which does seem to support Bauerlein's idea that this generation is definitely not the most well read of past generation who had nothing to do but chew on straw and read. I think that this is a problem because yes this generation still reads news articles on the internet maybe, but generally I feel that the reading level of my age group has decreased visibly. I have come across more than one instances where I will use a word that I think is maybe a little bit special and it will be received with a blank face. This problem is trivial and it may lead to nothing more than generally slightly less in depth vocabularies, but it could go further. Who knows. 

"Social life is a powerful temptation, and most teenagers feel the pain of missing out."
Once again, I have definitely noticed this very strongly in my peers. It can be seen in the boy checking facebook during class, or a girl who tweets eighteen times a day. I know if I no longer had a twitter, or a  facebook, or an account on reddit, I would have many, many more hours of usable and unobstructed free time. Bauerlein is also very correct in saying that teenagers feel the pain of missing out. I think this is the driving force behind pretty much all of teenagers risk taking. Whether it's sneaking out, in hopes of being a part of that once in a lifetime, badass excursion, or having some crucial piece of hilarity about some person's dog that you can obtain from the twitters. This want to be a part of everything new and popular drives teens to do anything social really. So, again with the progression of the digital age, where is it going to?

Disagreeable quotes
"America's youth know virtually nothing about history and politics."
This statement I think is dependent on different situations and areas, but I don't see this cultural deficiency as strongly as Bauerlein makes it seem. I know that Wayzata offers more in depth, and many more histories that it was even conceivable for my mom and dad, and I think that being as these classes are being taken, this statement isn't true. There are many things in history that I've described to my mom and dad that they have never heard before. Not just that they had forgotten, but they had never heard of the migration of African Americans after the civil war, and other little tid bits and ideas either. There are too many outlets for people to learn now that I can't get behind the validity of this statement. 

"going online habituates them to juvenile mental habits."
By juvenile habits, Bauerlein refers to  a want for instant entertainment, and I think that he is wrong with this statement. Not completely, but that instantaneousness about information and entertainment in the present technological age is what makes it so special. What would you do in 1953 to find an answer to a trivial question like who was the Queen of France in 1634. You'd go to the library, find an encyclapedia and search through through the book until you can obtain your answer. Now, it's type, enter, and be dazzled by all the options. That instantaneousness is whats special now in the academic realms and consequently the entertainment world too. Internet usage doesn't lead to juvenile mental habits, but new habits that are just different, and as the trend of this blog implies, it's not known where this change could lead to, but I don't think this is the right way to describe the effects of internet usage. 

Effectiveness 
Through Bauerlein's utilization of countless statistics, he does make a point about parts of the general trend of us youths. But I think he goes about it incorrectly. As we have discussed in class multiple times, Bauerlein fails to address those competitive, striving students for the rest of the book. He just throws them out, and he doesn't seem factor them into much else. Not only that, Bauerlein seems to only choose negative statistics. He tosses out the IQ progression, and the fact that standardized tests have been showing progression in difficulty and success from the 70's. He only cites statistics that contribute to his idea and it makes the argument very one sided. I'm not saying that he doesn't have a point, this moving away from novels and growing concern with social status is a problem, but Bauerlein fails to show really any positives, or solutions to the situation. He just states all of the negative, then says "Yes. That'll do." And fails to really make a round, whole argument. I got a lot from the book, but (it may partly be my want to defy his idea) I didn't think Bauerlein was correct in his assessment, and conclusions in this book. 

When I think of halloween as a boy in high school, the average things that really come to mind for costumes, are of course as an adolescent boy, girls with costumes that push moral and social acceptance, boys in banana costumes or a sports jersey with a headband, and then golden costumes. These golden costumes, are as the name implies, golden. To me, these have no definite criteria, no black or white definition as to what they are, they are just awesome costumes that always say something. Costumes that aren't necessarily the most showy, or attractive, but the ones that make you think at-least a little bit. Since this is suppose to be about rhetoric, I'd say that these golden costumes are the costume that best champion rhetoric. For instance, I would find someone dressed a burger with a sign that says "Stop childhood obesity" is much more funny and interesting than say, a scandalously clad girl dressed as a tele-tubby. The burger person's message is one of irony, and makes you thing, the judgement bringing tele-tubby girl's outfit is pretty direct in it's message, but lacks in any real meaning. So on this halloween, I'm going to dress like myself, and work on my analysis paper, which is ironic because on halloween you are suppose to have fun and dress up. Yes that is directed at you Ms. Prokott. That is directed at you. :(

"Why don't you love me Jenny? I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is."
-Forest Gump
Looking at Pathos

The statement it's self is pretty simple. it's a serious subject with a very sad setting and scenario. But the fact that it's so simple is what's so special because like the statement, Forest is simple. I don't mean that negatively, but it's true. He's a man of simple taste and a genuine heart that is absolutely unfathomable. As I hope everyone knows, he constantly gives of him self for the benefit of others and he doesn't even think of seeking repayment or equality of giving so to speak. Except here. Here in this dramatic scene where Forest is standing in the door way, looking up at Jenny, with the rain pouring in the background and the sound of thunder. His statement of "Why don't you love me Jenny?" with his unquestionably serious, and concerned face just kicks your soul in the places that it hurts because all you want for this hero, this incorruptible man. It's so simply put, and the setting so sad, that it's actually raining pathos outside. Then he follows with the equally simple "I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is." Now his words found a gang of friends to beat your crying soul, it is such a sad moment. You can't help hate   Jenny a little. Jenny then walks up the stairs, with a somber smile, hopefully going upstairs to cry and be dumb. Forest's audience with this statement is unquestionably Jenny, his childhood friend and only love with this sort of rhetorical question. He knows she's not going to answer, and this shows when he leaves before she can answer, but again it just hits so close to home.

In the summer of 2007, I think mother nature was just fed up with my neighborhood for some reason because she sent down a storm of the ages. I can still feel that sickly feeling of looking outside, and everything is more green than it should be, and there is absolutely no sound in the pre-storm quiet. Then, out of no where it came. There were rain drops falling that could fill a table spoon with one drop, hail the size of golf balls, and worst of all wind that I will never forget. We have two big oak trees in my back yard and in this storm, you could see the whole tree bending from the strain the wind was pressing on it. So, as you may have guessed from this storm, the power of course went out and it was later at night. Since I was a young, little boy then, of course sleep was not even an option in all of this excitement so my whole family sat up that night together. Just reading by candle light, or telling stories, taking in the smell of the scented candles, basking in the rhythm of mother nature's parade of power. That is one of my most fond memories of the four of us together. It didn't happen all that often where we were all together, without anything we could do except just be together without the distractions that our worlds put between us. This blog is suppose to be about darkness, but there in the glow of candles, there was nothing dark about it.