One Concept.

Throughout this course, I've learned many concepts that I can use in everyday's argument. But one concept that I can definitely refer to even outside this class would be: appeals to emotion. I find this to be interesting and useful because I notice that a lot of people always argue over something based on what they feel. Before I even learned about this appeal, I never realize that many people does argue over something they feel strongly about. I believe that an argument is not even strong if someone says "because I believe so". Epstein's critical thinking book made me realize that premises are important too when it comes to arguments. Of course, people who never took this class will always think emotions play a role in our reasoning but really, premises is just as important too. Appeals to emotion made me realize that we can't make good decisions if we don't consider the significance in our emotional life and I think that's important to keep in mind.

Favorites/Least favorites.

Favorites: I honestly have so much to choose from, but the two things that stuck out to me the most and it's my favorite would be: blogging. I never thought I would actually like blogging! I always think it's kind of annoying writing down my thoughts and ideas.. but this class taught me that sometimes blogging is the easiest way to express ideas! Sure, it might be kind of annoying to write things down online but it actually also taught me how to phrase words and ideas in a much better way that everyone can understand. The second favorite thing is how I had to learn how to have time management. I thought it was a great idea that the professor enforced the rule that we must post something that's 12 hours apart. This is a great idea because it taught me how to spread my work apart so I don't overload myself.

Least favorite: I honestly can't think of anything that's least favorite. I've learned so much and everything I learned turned out to be a positive and useful tool for the rest of my college career.

What I learned.

This summer, I learned a lot in this class. First, I learned how to manage time. All the professors that I have taken never done a blog nor telling their students to post something that's 12 hours apart. At first, I found it to be annoying but as time went on, I got used to it and it's like a reflex! I didn't have to figure out when I should post my next blog. Second, I learned that online learning is just as effective as classroom learning. Sure, it might not be the same because the professor isn't there physically, but emailing about any question and concerns is the same as talking in person because the professor usually goes into detail when explaining things. Third, I learned that online group meetings can be quite difficult. I find it difficult because everyone has a different schedule whether it's work, family time, or hanging out. I learned how to work around people's schedule and to have patience whenever a group mate take a while to respond back. Overall, this summer course taught me things that are useful and I can use it in the future.

Discussion of group assignment #1

When I was with a group of friends yesterday, I had so much time to waste before the movie started so I started discussing about "gay marriages" to my friends. I briefly described to them what the article was about. It was about whether or not gay parents would be qualify to adopt or to even raise children based on their sexuality background. As I have found, my friends pointed out that it seemed like the article did not give a more in depth background research because the whole article that was being argued among to those who are lesbian, gay, transgender. It doesn't validate any arguments because we need reliable source such as: news and research. But everything that was being argued in the "gay marriages" article did not include much of it. However, my friends weren't able to pick up any flaws in reasoning in my group assignment paper since they believe my group mates and I described everything in good context and explanation.

Usefulness of the Mission Critical website.

In the mission critical website, I find "vagueness and ambiguity" most useful. Everyday, we always use it without acknowledging it. This section shows the differentiation between these two words.

Ambiguous: it has two specific meanings that makes sense in context
Vague: something that is not clear in the context

For example, my boyfriend tried to give me directions on where to meet him up. He told me to meet him by the fountain near the mall. This is vague AND also ambiguous because there are 3 fountains near the mall. It was vague in a sense because he didn't tell me how the surrounding looks like and it was ambiguous because there is more than one meaning to it.

After reading this "vagueness and ambiguity" section in the website, it was useful because I will be more aware of what to say to my friends and family so there won't be any confusion.

The usefulness of the Cause and Effect website.

In the cause and effect website, what I found useful was: Inductive reasoning. I find this interesting because when people are arguing over a situation, they tend to base on observed instances. Like the website mentioned, the accident between the biker and the driver occurred and if we need more observations in order to see if the argument is valid, we must interview witnesses, design a study of automobile and bicycle traffic on that street in order to verify if the premise is describing the normal condition pattern of traffic.

Casual arguments follows inductive argument when the argument itself carries as part of the second premises. Or else there won't be any significant difference. For example, when my friends and I argue, sometimes we don't judge our premise based on our observations. Instead, we jump right into the conclusion and of course in an argument, you want to win. However, after reading this website's cause and effect, it made me realize that inductive reasoning is important or else the argument itself would be weak and can be seen in many different ways.

Usefulness of the first major course assignment.

From the first major course assignment that I've done, it taught me a lot even though it was an online class assignment. First, it taught me how to work in a group environment through emails and chatting. I learned that online assignments can just be as effective as a in person assignment. Even though my group mates and I all have different schedule, I learned how to work around people's schedule and even sacrificing my hanging out time to adjust to my group mate's schedule. Second, it taught me that chatroom is just as useful as meeting in person. I find that chatroom helps a lot more because we can copy and paste websites to each other and share ideas and we get to discuss everything faster. Third, I learned that through the major assignments, it taught me to look over what I learned in the past and reapply it to make my arguments stronger. I find that the first and second major course assignment has taught me a lot in real life how to make arguments valid and strong.