ENG 112
13 March 2019
Midterm Exam - Spring 2019
Part A
A1:
To argue the quoted statement, the best argument style to use would be Rogerian. The reason this
style would function better is for a few reasons, one being that the statement you are trying to
defend is quite obviously very controversial since it is suggesting a radical and substantial
change to the current norm and standard layout of the US roadway system. A Rogerian argument
style would use more time building up to this statement and considering the alternate viewpoint,
as well as finding common ground, before introducing the main claim and support backing it up.
A4:
“What’s next? Will we ban potato chips and Cokes on campus? Will we force-feed broccoli and
carrots to first-year students?”
This quote is an example of a slippery slope emotional fallacy. This statement is intended to
produce an emotional response from the reader, specifically a sense of fear and apprehension
regarding the ban on smoking on campus, since it suggests that the ban will lead to even worse
consequences. The intended audience for this would be people that are either on the fence about
the issue, or people who support the ban but with weak convictions that could easily be swayed
by the fallacies the author puts forth in his paragraph.
A6:
Ranasinghe, Abigail Nirandhi. "Awareness of Effects of Sleep Deprivation among College
Students." Drug Invention Today, vol. 10, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pp. 1-5. Academic Search
Complete,
login.proxy.nmc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a
9h&AN=131123668&site=ehost-live. Accessed 11 Mar. 2019.
A7:
This source is somewhat credible, since it’s an article published in a relatively sized online news
website and quotes numerous other sources and studies, but it is not necessarily scholarly. The
intended audience of this source is intentionally very broad and is meant to be geared toward a
wide variety of people from just regular folk, to environmental activists, as well as government
regulatory agencies. If I were writing a college-level paper I would probably try to avoid using
this article as a source if I could find another scholarly article that touched on the same subject. It
is written for a low reading level, and the author is by no means an expert on light pollution and
the wide-ranging effects it has on society and the environment. If I were to use this source in a
paper it would be for a lower level class and for a paper that is not heavily research oriented
where it would have to rely on the sources themselves as evidence for any claim.
Part B
B1:
The image provided is a cartoon created by Nick Anderson, an award winning political
cartoonist that generally favors left-leaning topics and point of views. This easily gives a strong
indication that his intended audience is going to be split along ideological lines. He may be
aiming for this cartoon to resonate with like-minded left thinking citizens, as well as with rightleaning people, but the purpose of the cartoon will be seen differently by both audiences.
Because of this, his purpose is both to comically insinuate that Michigan elected leadership is
woefully incompetent with regards to the water crisis in Flint (which isn’t stated directly but
undeniably the issue in question) as well as hint at the notion that they don’t have the public’s
interests in mind. By using rhetorical strategies such as Kairos, pathos, and ethos, Anderson
argues that the Republican leadership in Michigan is not prioritized on helping to solve the
ongoing issues with Flint’s water system, and that they hold little regard for the scale of the
problem.
Of the rhetorical strategies he uses, Kairos is the most important with regards to the issue
Anderson is addressing. Anderson chose to publish this cartoon when the water crisis was a
common political topic in the news. This helps provide key background information about what
the cartoon is subliminally referring to. This is important because if the cartoon were published
today, not as many people would understand he is talking specifically about the Flint water crisis
since it has long been out of the central public eye. Now that he’s got the audience’s attention by
utilizing Kairos, Anderson then employs pathos in the form of how the characters are portrayed
in the cartoon. He draws the politicians looking lazy, tired, and borderline asleep. This aids in
evoking an emotional response of anger and frustration from the reader, which solidifies
Anderson’s point of showing that Michigan’s government doesn’t see the Flint water crisis as
much of an issue as it truly is. Finally, Anderson quotes one of the politicians in cartoon saying
“We’re running low on Perrier…” as well as showing all four of them drinking the carbonated
water beverage. Here he attacks the ethos of the current leadership in the Michigan government
by exaggerating their lack of action by show them completely disregarding the problem and only
caring about how much soda water they have left to drink themselves. This exaggeration helps to
show the viewer Anderson’s point that these officials are clearly unconcerned with what matters.
B3:
In the modern day, getting a good paying job is something that is becoming increasingly more
difficult to acquire, and finding one where you actually enjoy the work you’re doing adds
another element that many are forced to ignore for the sake of just paying the bills on time. So
how do you get a good paying job that you enjoy doing? One straightforward answer that gives
you the best chance of this happening is by simply going to college and getting a degree. Getting
a college degree has obvious financial benefits because it can earn you a fatter paycheck,
increase your chances of attaining a job, and can help you maintain a stable credit score.
Money may not be the key to happiness, but it can bring you financially stability, which is one
less roadblock in finding what truly brings you lifelong contentment. Earning a college degree
statistically shows you will trend towards higher earnings. It doesn’t necessarily matter what
level of degree you get, “Even those with an associate's degree tend to earn 25 percent more than
those with high school diplomas” (Lucier). Along with earning more, statistics from the United
States Department of Labor show that people with a Bachelor’s Degree and higher experience
the lowest unemployment rates when compared to people with an associate’s degree, a high
school diploma, or no degree at all. A common counterargument against getting a degree is that
it puts you in a worse financial position than before since many take on thousands in debt to get
their education, but that isn’t necessarily true, since “Earning more money means you're more
likely to be able to meet your financial obligations, like regular bills and loan payments. That can
help you avoid paying bills late or having a debt go to collections, which can hurt your credit. On
top of that, increasing your earning potential can also improve your ability to save money, which
can help you avoid debt” (Lucier). Even though many will take out loans to go to college, the
increased earning potential and financial opportunity it opens up far outweighs the cons for the
majority of people.
We all want a better life for ourselves, our family, and our community. In the modern world, the
most tried and true method is to obtain a college degree due to its proven effects of causing
financial benefit and gain in the long term. The positive benefits of getting a degree go even
farther than just causing better standards of living, and for many that collective boost forward is
what will set them up for a life of success and fulfillment.
Sources:
https://www.thoughtco.com/financial-benefits-of-a-college-degree-793189
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/unemployment-rate-2-1-percent-for-college-grads-3-9percent-for-high-school-grads-in-august-2018.htm?view_full
B5:
It appears as though this student didn’t necessarily intentionally plagiarize MLK’s statements but
merely failed to properly quote information that was directly pulled from the original source. If
the student were to revise this paragraph, he or she should think more about how they are using
the information from the original source in their paragraph and whether or not they should
directly cite the source or paraphrase and leave an author’s citation name at the end of the
sentence to indicate this. I would rewrite the paragraph in the following way.
Martin Luther King wrote about the demonstrations in Birmingham to help explain the
protestors’ motivations. He was adamant that “none of you would want to rest content with the
superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with
underlying causes” (King). Therefore, Martin Luther King explained that the city of
Birmingham’s “white power structure” left African-Americans there “no alternative” but to
demonstrate (King). As it so happens, because his audience was specifically fellow clergymen,
he had very strong ethos to speak about the events that took place. In the “Letter from the
Birmingham Jail,” King writes to them to try to get them to see the need for protests. He boldly
told them that their statement “fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought
about the demonstrations.” (King).
Argument: The purpose of education in our country is to provide individuals for the opportunity
to find their purpose, and to create men and women who are capable of taking the knowledge
gained and using it better themselves, their family, and their society.
“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every
society, in every family.” Kofi Annan
“The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities
for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things.” Jean
Piaget
“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” Abigail
Adams