For this argument analysis I chose to analyze “Is Creating a Fake Online Profile a Criminal Act” which is a transcript from a N.P.R. broadcast called Talk of the Nation.  The host Neal Conan invites two guests onto the show to help talk about the topic at hand.

The first guest was Kim Zetter, who Conan introduced as a “reporter who has covered this story for Wired.com” (pg. 700). Right at the beginning of the program, Kim establishes a sense of ethos because the audience finds out that she has been covering this story since it’s inception therefore she has a good sense of what se is talking about. The only question of her credibility that arises is how proficient or how reliable is Wired.com. I know that I have never heard of it before so I don’t know how honest this site is, but we have to assume it is candid because she was invited onto the N.P.R. broadcast. Even though she admits at a point that she doesn’t personally read all through the Terms of Service which allows the audience to relate because the majority do not I feel that Kim struggles to keep her ethos that was established early on. I had trouble understanding some of the language that she was using and felt that she was speaking down, expecting the audience to know everything that she knows. I felt that she would belong better in a room full of law experts. On page 702, there are 7 definitions that define words and terms that she used. She also got the story wrong on page 705 – she mixed up the persons involved. She realized her mistake within a few moments but that mistake alone warranted her loss of ethos.

The second guest is Andy Carvin, who Conan introduces as N.P.R.’s senior strategist. From the term “senior” the audience infers that he has experience. Now how much experience he has, we are unsure – it was never specified. Just as Kim admitted, so did Andy when he conceded that he lied about his birthdate on some sites that he did not trust. This helps the audience relate to him, or at least me, because I cannot count the times I have lied about my birthdate.

The host, Neal Conan, doesn’t have many chances to establish ethos but makes the most of it when the chance to arises. On page 708, Neal cracks a joke about people never really logging into Leavenworth.com, “Dot gov” he guesses. This is a small subtle joke that can loosen the audience up and he doesn’t overdo it. The only problem that I have is that when reading this I did not understand the joke until I read the side notes. Since the side notes were not available to the audience they did not have the luxury of reading the side notes ergo, they may not have gotten the joke which cold have made Neal look bad, made Neal lose whatever ethos he had.

For my argument analysis I analyzed “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship” by Danah M. Boyd and Nicole B. Ellison. The argument put forth in this excerpt is to show how the world has changed in terms of social networking sites. The argument in this article has extreme relevance because of the technology age that we live in. Overall, I think the writers are arguing to inform the reader on the effect that social media sites have on us. Right from the beginning the writers appeal to our logos by forming an argument around our cultural assumptions and values. As a culture we have become so accustomed to using social media sites, that we have young children creating Facebooks.  The structure of the argument is very “degree” based because we have also become accustomed to hearing individuals talk about social media sites. Although the writers don’t use a bunch of outside support such as statistics or surveys, they base their argument on reason and common sense. Specifically when they discuss how social networking sites have now shifted their focus to niche audiences. They site Facebook, which now appeals to high school students, and sites like MyChurch that have a very niche audience.  Ultimately, they look to showcase the growth of social media sites from the beginning to where we are today.

For my Argument Analysis, I will be analyzing Anne E. Becker’s “Television, Disordered Eating, and Young Women in Fiji: Negotiating Body Image during Rapid Social Change”. The purpose of Becker’s argument is to convince. An argument to convince, as Lunsford says, “would likely present evidence to demonstrate…that the issue merited their attention”(9). Thus, this is an argument of fact, as Becker is engaging in research pertaining to the ways in which television has affected young women in Fiji, and builds her argument on the results of that research. The context for this argument arose with the introduction of television to Fiji, and the publication of Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, which published a special issue to look only at global eating disorders. “Reading always takes place in a series of contexts that move outward like concentric circles from the most immediate situation to broader environments”(31). In the case of Becker’s argument, we can clearly see the context move from the immediate situation, young girls developing eating disorders in Fiji, to the broader environment, the existance of eating disorders across the globe.

The intended audience is that of academics, which we know because it was published in an academic medical journal. We can also infer the intended audience is academic’s from Becker’s word choice. Words such as qualitative data, multifactorial an multidetermined, words that imply the reader has prior knowledge of the subject matter and/or the research methods involved in the argument. Despite the argument’s existence as a scientific artifact, Becker still invokes the use of pathos. “Understanding vulnerability to images and values imported with media will be critical to preventing disordered eating, and potentially, other youth risk behaviors in this population, as well as other populations at risk”(612). This quote reveals to us Becker has not undertaken this study only for the sake of the Fiji women or her own research, but rather, to help better understand contributing factors to eating disorders, which could potentially prevent young women across the world from developing eating disorders. Thus, we the audience feel as though Becker has undertaken her research to help save our own daughters, sisters, an friends.