October 2014 archive
Krystal Gu
Dr. Jessica O’Hara
English 015
Oct.28, 2014
Global Warming: Exist Or Not?
Sometimes it could be found that people, who have some influence in one particular area of study, want to challenge the authority and change the public opinions just by implying his thoughts without providing proves and facts on the issue. In the case of global warming, this concept is well demonstrated by John Coleman, a weatherman, through his article “The Amazing Story Behind the Global Warming Scam,” and therefore is satirically rebutted by the Centrist Party to be misleading and no-fact based. John Coleman believes that global warming is “a hoax, bad science, a highjacking of public policy, and the greatest scam in history” without offering any ground for his saying. In the “Rebuttal to ‘The Amazing Story Behind the Global Warming Scam,’” the Centrist Party intends to reveal the nonsense of Coleman’s article by responding “If, for example, I am totally convinced that elephants can fly when my eyes are closed, does it make it true?” to Coleman’s statement “I am totally convinced there is no scientific basis for any of it.” By using a variety of rhetorical techniques, including sardonic humor, commonplaces, fallacies identification, focus on details, appeal to emotions, and concrete proofs, the Centrist Party is capable of testifying the existence of global warming, and rebutting John Coleman’s absurd standpoint.
Sarcasm and humor are being used quite frequently throughout the entire paper in order to keep the readers on track, and avoid them being drawn into the red herring or straw man fallacy. Looking at the paper written by Revelle and Suess, regarding to the greenhouse effect generated by carbon dioxide, Coleman points out that “It seems to be a plea for funding for more studies.” By using sarcasm, the Centrist Party compares the scientist’s need of funding for research to the weatherman’s need of money to do weather, and indicates that global warming is not wrong just because of the scientist’s need of funding. Sarcasm consents the writer of the Centrist Party to prove the point that Coleman’s standpoint is often misleading with no evidence back up. The writer continues to argue his point that global warming should not be considered as non-existing just because we don’t quite understand about it. “Just because we don’t understand everything about gravity does not mean we all just start floating off into space.” Instead of always using scientific based evidence to persuade the readers, the writer sometimes makes good use of sarcasm and humor to better convince people and induce them to participate in active thinking. Sarcasm and humor sometimes work better than overwhelming facts in the sense of persuading people.
In addition to using sarcasm and humor to convince the readers, the writer of the Centrist Party also emphasizes the rhetorical fallacies in John Coleman’s article to question the credibility of him. Coleman tries to appeal to the readers’ emotions by stating that the government should not “punish the citizens for living the good life that fossil fuels provide for us.” Using such classis strawman and non-sequiturs fallacies, Coleman moves to a topic that’s easier for him to argue about instead of focusing on the global warming. No science is present in this argument, but the readers could be easily distracted and pulled into the direction Coleman has set meticulously set up. Sometimes these rhetorical fallacies are hard to identify, and the readers have to take a step back and think about what direction of the argument the writer is trying to sway the readers into. Later in Coleman’s article, he also presents his opinion upon why global warming is gradually becoming a popular topic among the researchers, and he points out that “other researchers with environmental motivations and a hunger for funding saw this developing and climbed aboard as well.” At a moment, the readers may be fooled and start thinking whether this is indeed the ultimate reality behind the topic of global warming that’s gradually becoming epidemic. The write of the Centrist Party identifies that Coleman is using the red herrings fallacy to distract the readers from science here, and his emotional appeals actually work on some readers. The writer of the Centrist Party clearly recognizes the various rhetorical fallacies inside Coleman’s argument, and therefore effectively puts his credibility in doubt.
After pointing out the rhetorical fallacies in Coleman’s argument, the writer of the Centrist Party then identifies many mistakes in the details and words in his article that make Coleman seem even more absurd. The writer first of all cites Webster’s definition of pollutant as “man-made waste” to rebut Coleman’s saying that carbon dioxide is a pollutant. How could the key players officially label carbon dioxide as a pollutant when pollutant is referring to something man-made? The writer of the Centrist Party makes good use of the definition of pollutant to question the reliability of Coleman’s argument. Details are at times fairly important regarding to create a reliable image for the readers, and a small fallacy in detail at times could ruin the whole argument. Coleman considers carbon dioxide to be only “tiny fraction of the atmosphere,” the writer of the Centrist Party notices this, and states the “it is the only thing between us and a frozen planet that could not support life.” Coleman is trying to downplay the significance of global warming by including phrases like this that are quite misleading for the readers.
The most effective element in this satire piece is probably the various kinds of resources as evidence related to global warming that is being used in order to rebut Coleman’s nonsense argument. Although Coleman states, “they offered no proof that carbon dioxide was in fact a greenhouse gas,” contrastingly the Centrist Party clearly refers to the 1st paragraph on the second page of the 1957 paper that evidently establishes CO2 as the greenhouse gas. Knowing that statistics and facts work the best at times when appealing to emotions is not anymore effective, the writer of the Centrist Party backs up his/her opinions with evidence from the scientists and the authority. According to John Coleman, CO2 is going to be reduced from the tailpipes while using the catalytic converters, but from the 5 meticulously constructed chemical reactions formulas, it could been seen—even for those who are not under chemistry majors—that catalytic converters are indeed generating CO2. The writer of the Centrist Party combines rhetorical techniques together with the overwhelming facts to well persuade the readers that John Coleman’s statements are not at all scientifically backed up by proofs, and his saying should not be easily trusted without being verified.
It’s obvious that global warming is occurring and actions should be taken in order to control the situation after reading this satirical article of the Centrist Party. The writer of the Centrist Party fastidiously combines logic, proof, sarcasm, and identifies the rhetorical fallacies and the smallest mistakes in John Coleman’s argument to declare his/her viewpoint. Although the writer of the Centrist Party is not mentioned in the article written, his meticulous and sarcastic style of rebuttal wins over the audience and makes the American public aware of the growing concern for the greenhouse effect cause by CO2.
Works Cited
Coleman, John. “The Amazing Story Behind the Global Warming Scam.” – KUSI News.
N.p., 16 Sept. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://www.kusi.com/story/
13167480/the-amazing-story-behind-the-global-warming-scam>.
“Rebuttal to “The Amazing Story Behind the Global Warming Scam”” — The
CentristParty. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://uscentrist.org/platform/
positions/environment/context-environment/john_coleman/the-amazing-story-behind-the-global-warming-scam>.
Aden is a small village highly independent by itself, and it seems to be completely secluded from the outside world. It’s called the “the last bit of pure land on this water blue planet.” Everyone who has been there has been amazed by its beauty and spetacularity. Aden is specifically famous for its three sacred jokuls, and it has a altitude of 1900 meters (1.8 miles). This is also a wonderland for the photographers.
My first time hearing about Aden was from my dad, during the summer after my 10th grade in high school. I wanted to go to Sichuan, and Aden happened to be just right on the border of Sichuan. I didn’t feel like going to Aden at all at the beginning, since there were so many posts online complaining the harsh conditions of the road trips there. As a child, all I’ve wanted from travelling was something to cheer my mind up, and something different from my everyday life. I didn’t really understand that why would I suffer myself if travelling is about relaxing and enjoying youself. This was not exactly what I was looking for, but in the end, upon looking at all the pretty pictures taken there, I agreed to go on this trip.
From what I expected, the road trip to Aden was not relaxing at all. It took us around 23 hours driving from Chengdu to Aden, and the road condition was not really as good as you could see in the picture above. I was literally mentally scared of road trips ever since this time, and for the entire 23 hours, I didn’t fall asleep at all. The road condition was really dangerous, and there were frequent landslides, so we had to change routes sometimes. Many people describe their trips to Aden as “My soul is heaven, but my body is in hell.”
My mind has been finally enlightened after seeing this–a forest of poplars. The scene of wind blowing through the poplars was quite mind settling, and looking at many beautiful and sometimes weird views along the way actually made the whole trip way better.
One thing that embarrased me and induced me to really think about the point of travelling was the bicycle riders along the way from Chengdu to Aden. How could they ride the bicycle when I could not even stand riding in a car? How could they do that? I even saw a 9-year-old little girl riding the bike with her dad! This was when I started think whether travelling is all about having fun, and the answer is definitly a no. Travlling is more about finding yourself and learning the things that you could never learn from reading books and taking college courses.
After the 23 hours car ride, we finally got to our destination–Aden Daocheng. The landscape there was perfect to the point that you could not believe that it was actually real. And maybe Aden is not as pretty as everyone says, but it’s pretty only for those who have gone through the nightmare. Only could you see the sunshine after you’ve gone through the rainstorms.
Rebuttal on Global Warming
This article gives many opinions to Mr. Coleman’s statement that global warming is a hoax. The Centrist Patry writer pays great attention to the details in the article written by Mr. Coleman. Step by step, he points out his personal standing upon the evidence he finds contrasting from Mr. Coleman’s arguments without profound evidence as support. He analyzes Mr. Coleman’s arguments and points out the fallacies that are frequently occuring. I would write about how the Centrist Patry reporter’s rebuttal on Mr. Coleman’s arguments related to global warming efficiently argue against Mr. Coleman’s opinions through different strategies the writer uses.
http://uscentrist.org/platform/positions/environment/context-environment/john_coleman/the-amazing-story-behind-the-global-warming-scam
I have already taken you to many large modern cities in China, and I have absolutely no doubt that you’ve seen the prosperity and enthusiam of these large cities. Instead of showing you another one of these, I’m going to take you to a small island at Xiamen (Amoy) named Kulangsu. First of all, let me tell you a little bit about Xiamen. Xiamen is a central city in the Fujian province at southwestern China, and it’s an international tourist seaport famous for its important status in cross-strait finance and Southeast international trade. It’s the closest city to Taiwan, and you can see the Kinmen city of Taiwan right across from Xiamen. The map below could clearly show the exact location of Xiamen.
Xiamen
Xiamen is definitely a huge modern city, but today the island that I’m taking you to is not as much impacted by the outside world. It alone stands out as an unique “secluded” place in the middle of this crowded world.
I’ve gone to Kulangsu three times, and during the first two times that I went, I had never thought that I would one day wanted to go for the third time. During the first two times, I went with my parents as a child, and it felt quite boring just because that I didn’t feel like there was anything in particular that interested me. But the truth is–I was too young to find the beauty of Kulangsu, and I didn’t really spend time delving into its meandering alleys.
Kulangsu has been praised by the United States former president Richard Nixon to be the Eastern Hawaii. It has well preserved buildings with the Chinese and foreign combined features, and therefore it’s given the name “the Universal Expo of Architectures”. This is also the fertile ground for music, and it has the nicknames of “the hometown of music” and “the island of piano”. There is indeed a Kulangsu Piano Museum on the island, and there displayed antiquated pianos that were used by the famous.
If you are a fan of photography, you should definitely come to this island. Years ago, this island was not as famous as it is today. It’s becoming more and more popular because many great photographers came here and took many cool shots that caught the tourists’ eyes.
There are many shops on this island, but each one of them takes long time to find. They seem to always hide in the corners, and you could easily miss them. These shops are usually not clothing shops, and they each have something unique to talk about.
This is tea shop famous for its unique designs of the caddies and the interior arrangement.
The shop mainly is designed in British style, and the bold contrasting colors it uses create a strong visual impact for the customers.
Chen’s Tea Shop is one unique store out of hundreds on the island, and if you are interested, I would recommend you to spend some time to find out more about them!
This Rick Scott video is filled with different kinds of satire. The republicans has created a political advertisement with wedding dress after their opponents’ names. She tried on the “Rick Scott” dress and she thought it was perfect. Then, she tried on the “Charlie Christ” dress and thought it was too expansive and outdated. I don’t quite understand this advertisement, but I feel like that it’s something related to the gender issue in the republican’s perspective.
conservative values/traditional wedding
This time I’m taking you to a place right beside Sichuan–Yunnan province. Yunnan is one of the prettiest places in China, and it’s definitely the most culturally diversified province in China with almost 30 different ethnic groups around. Here also lived the earliest found human beings in not only China, but also in Asia. On the graph below, I will show you where Yunnan is exactly at in China.
The right spot is where Yunnan is located, and this provinve also has extensive connections with some other foreign countries because of its location right on the boundary.
Old Town of Lijiang
First of all, I’m going to take you to the Old Town of Lijiang. It’s a famous World Cultural Heritage and National 5A Tourist Attraction. When I went there as a 7 year old, it felt quite different from the last time I went there, which was 2 years ago. It was quiet and secluded back then, but now it has fully developed into a commercial and bar district. I’ve heard a saying goes, you should never travel to the same place because it’s never going to offer you the same feeling as you traveled there last time. I’ve been to Lijiang 3 times, and I have to say that it’s true that everytime I went there, I felt a little bit different from the past time. If you truly love a place that you’ve been to, don’t ever go for the second time thinking that you could find the familiar feeling, because in the end you would only disappoint yourself. It’s kind of the same thing for our life that we shouldn’t live in our memory, but instead we should store our best memory and lock it up in our head. We can’t always live in the past, and life is far more than chewing on our memories.
Lugu Lake
This is the most beautiful lake that I’ve ever seen in China. The water is for the most, 93 meters in depth, but you could clearly see through the water and it feels as if you can reach right to the bottom. Around the lake are many local families, and for the most part they are from a ethinic group called Mosuo. At the time when I went there there wasn’t a bridge connecting the land on two sides, and it took us a long time using the boat travelling to the other side.
This is definitely the place that I highly recommend you to go to. It’s kind of far away from the city, and it takes a long to travel to, but it does in the end worth all the hardship.
Yunnan is somewhere that you might need to spend some time to look at. If you are really interested in different ethnic groups in China, for sure go to Yunnan. You might find out something that you’ve never seen or heard of.
During recent years, plastic surgery has grown more and more popular among people, especially Korean females as a way of redefining and improving their external looks. The Atlantics and RYOT view this subject of matter drastically differently; the Atlantics took it more temperately, while RYOT consumingly alarmed the extremism plastic surgery had been taken to. To achieve this distinction, two articles pay great attention to their titles, word selections, and quotes that are used to appeal to the readers’ different emotions.
Title is the first thing one looks at and takes in while reading an article. Before delving into the article, it’s the thing that genuinely creates the “first impression” at the top of readers’ minds. The Atlantics relates the plastic surgery more with the K pop culture than with the individuals’ voracity of beauty within the country. The word choices of “inspired” and “encouraged” instantly set a more positive view on the subject than those in RYOT’s title do. People do plastic surgeries because they are driven by this culture that “ equates success with physical beauty”. Under this kind of circumstance and pressure, who has a choice not to do so? RYOT makes good use of word, such as “so”, in the title to express the intensity of plastic surgery occurring in South Korea. Also, the title defines the reason that the author considers the plastic surgery has become a real issue—people even need to create new IDs just because that they are too different from how they look before doing the surgery. Only from looking at the titles of both articles, there could be extremely dissimilar feelings generated in readers.
By utilizing also the words and sentences within the article, the Atlantics and RYOT also create strong contrasts upon the subject of matter. Born within the pop culture and with her mother and aunts all gone through the plastic surgery, the California-born Korean girl Hailey Kim also wants to achieve the zenith of her own beauty by choosing plastic surgery—“and why shouldn’t she?” Using a rhetorical question like this, the author asks the readers to reflect on the cultural influence induce Hailey to pursue beauty in such way, and at the mean time the author implies her opinion that Hailey has the freedom to do so. The author interprets that there is no other choice given for the Korean women in order to become accepted by this culture, by using the word “juggle”—“women need to juggle the cultural expectations” to become more productive. This word “juggle” explains the situation perfectly without any need of further explanation. The Korean women are “demanded” to perfect themselves within a society like this, and the ultimate beauty has truly become one of what was called the survival skills back in the old days. In Korea, there are two extremely popular surgeries—the eyes and nose surgeries; in the article, the author argues that these two surgeries are so common that they are not even considered as the so called “surgery”, and instead they are given the name, “operations”. “Operations” make the actual surgeries seem even more accepting for the readers because it evokes milder sentiment within the readers. In this manner, the author makes good use of words with positive connotations, and therefore effectively appeals to the readers’ feelings—sometimes their decisions are also being driven by the society.
In the other article written by RYOT, it’s not hard, even through limited use of word, to find that the author reserves a more reluctant acceptance, or even somewhat a decline towards the rampant plastic surgery in South Korea. In this article, the author includes word like “hard” to reflect on the severity of the situation—those who have performed plastic surgery always need “hard proof” of surgery certifications in order to go back to their homeland. Although this article uses bare words, words like “hard” not only describe the situation clearly to the readers, but also state the author’s negative attitude towards the subject.
In addition to the titles and word choice, both articles also elaborate their standings through the use of quotations. Dr.Kang expressed his opinion while offering Miss Lee the non-surgical V-line procedure, “I’m a surgeon, I can’t help but view the face that way.” This personal standing not only denotes the South Korean cultural perspective of beauty, but also obscurely conveys the author’s own opinion. “There’s a small backlash against it now, but they still only hire pretty people.” Under certain social pressure, people aren’t given the option of choosing, and instead they have to obey to the cultural trend in order to survive. Hailey also expressed her wish of doing plastic surgery and explained, “There is nothing wrong with accepting yourself or changing yourself to be happy. Whatever you decide to do, people will always judge you, but they can only bring you down if you let them.”
The author availably cites quotes and imparts her own opinions through the others’ words. In contrast, RYOT uses quotes connoted negatively, such as “that’s no excuse,” and offers readers insights into the author’s own viewpoint. The author of this article also calls for “pumping the brakes” at the end and clearly declared his standpoint.
The same topic can have drastically different effects on the readers through the distinct ways the authors write about the topic. Both authors effectively state their own viewpoints through the good use of connotation of the articles’ titles, word choice, and quotations.
Works Cited
Roffee, Ben. “PHOTOS: Plastic Surgery Is So Extreme in South Korea That People
Need New IDs – RYOT News.” RYOT News. N.p., 07 Apr. 2014. Web. 07 Oct.
- <http://www.ryot.org/photos-plastic-surgery-is-so-extreme-in-south-korea-that-people-need-new-ids/652457>.
Stone, Zara. “The K-Pop Plastic Surgery Obsession.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 24 May 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://www.theatlantic.com
/health/archive/2013/05/the-k-pop-plasticsurgeryobsession/276215/>.
