blog 5

The idea of humanism is something I had never really thought about and hadn't ever really been introduced too. After our discussion in class, it still is a pretty vague idea in my mind. Having learned more about it, I think it would be great if we were all humanists; however, the idea that everyone is going to get along and be happy all the time, and work together is something that I cant even grasp my mind around. It just seems like there is to much controversey and negativity in our world. Dont get me wrong, there are definatly positive things that happen in our personal lives and in others lives everday, but alot of the time, it seems like there are way more negatives than positives. I think that composition gives the ability for writers, or whomever, to express their ideas openly- but there is no guarantee that the reader will agree/disagree with you.

Humanism is such a broad and difficult concept to grasp. I am interested to know what all it entails, but it just seems like there is ALOT of information about it and i dont even know if I can fully grasp just the simple, most lamen, defination of it.

Blog 4

I felt that the discussion we had on logos, ethos, and pathos was extremely clarifying to me. Before our discussion, I only had a vague idea of what each of these were and how they were used. After discussing it and seeing examples of how logos, ethos and pathos are used (especially in the youtubevideos) and how commonly it is used in our everyday lives, was really eye-opening to me. I think pathos is something that most people generally understand and get the basic gist of...I think it's also easier to point out and see. Dealing with ethos and logos is where I think alot of people, including myself, have a harder time identifying in everyday situations.

The Toulmin article was very interesting and definatly helped me get a clearer understanding of this topic. I really think its important for people to get an understading of the differences and how evident all of this is in our everyday lives, conversations, and things we hear on the tv, radio, internet, ect....

As for my future relationships, jobs, or any other endeavor, I think my new understanding of rhetoric and the idea of logos, ethos, and pathos will help lead me in good directions.