Riddle
It’s evening and I need a slice of cheesecake for my wife’s birthday, which is tomorrow. I haven’t survived 90+ years of marriage by waiting until the night before to buy a birthday gift for my wife; the pastry is just to supplement the diamond necklace and the trip to Paris. But I digress. When I arrive at my favorite cheesecake bakery, I see this sign:
That’s not the riddle.
The meaning of the sign is clear, and its style is economical, but, despite the brevity and clarity of the writing, the sheer wastefulness of those three words is breathtaking. How can any argument—of 3 words, or 300 words, or 3,000 words—fail so completely to deliver a useful or persuasive message to its intended audience?
That’s the riddle. How can we write so well that we deliver just the right message to the reader at just the right time?
For sure, it tells me I won’t be doing business here at this hour, but I could figure that out from the locked door, the dark interior, the lack of customers and staff. And besides, that’s not what I want to know now.
Write a Better Sign.
In your Notes for today, suggest a sign that could deliver me the information I need in five words or fewer. Bonus points if your sign can include a claim about the store being closed now.
Beautiful Arguments 2
It’s Worse Than You Think
Claims Work
The sales pitch version of the LASIK story designed to be soothing while acknowledging the slightly barbaric-looking process of carving a flap into a patient’s cornea.
.
Below, though, is the hilarious result of grabbing whatever graphic is available for inclusion in your sales material, taken last semester from a legitimate eyecare practice in Australia. [The link has since been disabled.]
The Australian practice finally removed this graphic from their website after I and several students made appointments for surgical consults in several Australian cities and mentioned, in our requests, that we were interested in being their “victims.”
But it’s still being used by the India MediTourism website. [The link has since been disabled.]
And by a Discount website in Sydney, where your healthy virgin corneal wall can be given “irreversible damage” for 67% OFF (about $6.80 with free delivery!) [The link has since been disabled.]
Help with Definitions
If I know enough about your developing Research Hypothesis to be of assistance, I’ll offer recommendations of terms and concepts that seem likely candidates for a Definition/Categorical argument. Follow the link to a prior semester’s interactions. Request my help for your own Definition arguments by leaving a Reply at THAT PAGE.
The Bobblehead Strategy
I think we’ll get to this one together.
The References List link leads to a page of helpful advice for building your References list for the short arguments, like the Definition/Categorical argument due before class WED FEB 28.
The Gamer 2.0
SleepyCat
Coffee Lover 03
doglover7025
Snowman10
excellentstudent27
Gymrat
hockeyfan
holistic25
ilovebeesss
ilovemydog
The Gamer
Naturechild101
BreakingBad45
ravensfan8
temporal111
thatpersonoverthere
toetio
username1132005
Calm&Patient
webbwrestler135
Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
How do we create an argument that delivers a useful piece of information
-sorry out of cheesecake indefinitely
-we can include graphics in our paper if they may be more effective than our words ever could
The professor highlighted the importance of defining the core of your argument before moving to other definitions. I have done that with my definition of art, but not art therapy. I have a personal connection to the definition of art and so I felt that that would be more beneficial to talk about for one thousand words.
The bobblehead strategy, where you litter your argument with smaller easier arguments, then your larger argument is easier to prove. It reminds me of one of my old jobs where I called alumni of my former university in order to donate money to the previous institution. The script I used encouraged me to first ask them how their time at the university was. Then when I would ask for money, I would give them various reasons for them to give to the university. If they are the parent of a student and their student is in a particular club or sports team, then their money can go to their child. Other times people would just offer to make a donation which would make my job a lot easier. Though most times the phone didn’t pick up. Though sometimes I’d get people who had no intention of donating but wanted to talk to me about the school and their decisions, or a crazed antivaxxer.
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I didn’t get the information I wanted from the sign you posted, but I certainly did get useful information, which was the assignment!
I like your rundown of the bobblehead process. By the way, out of curiosity, are anti-vaxxers more or less likely to donate to their alma mater?
4/3
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The hard part is knowing what to say at the right time. The intersection of these two facets compromises an effective argument, proposed to your ideal reader.
Writing a better sign: Closed
The point of the wealth inequality video is that the wealth dispersion among our population is more disproportionate than the average person may think. The top 1% runs the world relative to their wealth. The graph displayed the top 1% being so dominant of the wealth in this country, that the bar was cut off at the top of the screen. Vice versa, the bottom proportion of wealth in this country was hard to even see.
A graph is one way a reader cannot ignore your argument. Professor Hodges recommends implementing one in your paper.
You need parameters to establish a clear argument. For instance, one needs to define rock only to then make an argument about its golden age. Parameters require criteria.
A causal argument is cause and effect.
A definition/categorical argument is setting your parameters and criteria.
The argument doesn’t change, just how you phrase it.
Never jump to the big ask too soon. However, a provocative question layered in small propositions lays the groundwork to the ensuing ‘big ask.’
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Brilliant Notes throughout, Holistic.
However, your sign does not tell me what I needed to know, which is when the store would be open so I could get cheesecake.
Store Reopens at 9am.
4/3
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-The meaning of the sign is pretty clear. It is just the fact that it is a waste of three words.
-Riddle of Day: Sign=Closed
-Graphic form can have a huge impact on the research that is being done.
-You can add a graph to your writing to show your readers something very important. Just make sure to check with the professor.
-You are allowed to use visuals in your paper
-Make sure to research the whole website because you can end up on a website that is actually the opposite of your argument.
-You need to compare it to an ideal and be the judge of whether it’s “close enough” to the ideal to belong to the category.
-You can ask your readers throughout the paper and the reader might say yes by the end of it. It makes it so the reader can be convinced. You are trying to get your readers to slowly get to nod to your argument. Then you got them to the BIG YES at the end of the paper.
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This is a good description of how to go about writing categorically:
However, your sign does not tell me what I needed to know, which is when the store would be open so I could get cheesecake.
Store Reopens at 7am.
4/3
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The ideal reader is someone who would need to know if they will be able to buy cheesecake before it is needed. Just because they are closed doesn’t mean that
the reader will know if they can get the cheesecake tomorrow. The sign is irrelevant.
Open every day except Thursdays, 7 am -1 pm
Having graphics in our work is one of the things that we can do to make it effective.
The graphic could also be something that the reader cannot avoid.
Visuals are our friends.
The difference between a good and bad graphic is that one could cause the reader to disagree with what you are saying.
The earlier we start sharing, the faster we can start editing, and then we can produce content we care about and approve of.
Limitations are useful in writing because there is a focus on what we are writing about.
The requirement to research information can create better reasoning in our writing.
If you ask enough little questions your reader will recognize that they are committed to the bigger question at the end.
The Bobblehead Strategy is the name for this method. You get little yeses throughout until the big proposal.
To avoid the “mob mentality” reaction of things getting the audience to agree to smaller propositions that don’t raise big objections is the way to go.
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Beautifully described summaries, ILMD.
Also, your Cheesecake sign hits it right on the head.
5/3
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-Riddle: The sign sorry we’re closed does nothing for the person.They just want to know if there is cheesecake they can buy. The store doesn’t tell if the place has cheesecake to sell or not. A person can make inferences based on surroundings while entering the store to be able to tell if the store is closed so the sign is useless. The solution would be to make a better sign. The sign could instead read: Closed, no cheesecake for sale.
-Beautiful arguments 2: The creator of the video used multiple highly effective graphics. The way the graphs were used struck some intimidation and really showed what the wealth situation is in America. The top 1% controlling almost half of the wealth in the country is scary. The middle class who most people think is average or just being able to get by comfortably is even extremely small in the graph. It is a scary sight to view those graphs. The top 1% controlled so much of the wealth it couldn’t fit on the graph unless the money was split up into multiple rows.
-Claims work:Always look at the picture if a picture is used in a argument or when writing something. The Australians website did not realize that the picture they used was not a advocate for Lasik eye surgery and the picture talked about all the damage done to eyes. If a office wanted to do a surgery they would most likely not talk about all the damage done to eyes. Always check sources and make sure it isn’t something bad. Read throughly or look over the picture multiple times to understand what is being said or shown.
-Help with definitions: If help is needed for a student’s definition argument, request help for the argument by leaving a reply at the page used from following a link to a previous semester’s interactions.
-The Bobblehead Strategy: A question can be asked but it has to be good enough that a reader is invested. The reader can’t just say no and move on they have to say no but be able to read more into it. If the reader ends up reading the first paragraph the question worked. The reader might now read the rest and come back to the question and say yes. The goal is to get the audience to agree with the argument. Little yeses can help to get a reader to agree. If they say yes a lot of times through there will be a better chance they will agree with the big question.
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These are beautiful, EaglesFan. You effectively described the essential takeaways. Your analysis of the Sign Riddle is certainly accurate as you describe it, and it’s probably my fault that you didn’t know that the store is one I know sells cheesecake, so that information was not needed.
4/3
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-The cheesecake example taught us to not waste words, and to just get to the point. If this cheesecake argument was good, it would only be the three words, “Sorry, We’re Closed.”
-”Sorry, this building is closed.” This is for the riddle for creating a sign in five words or less.
-Graphics are alright to add into the essay, so that the reader can recognize visually what the argument is. For example, you can add a graphic like a chart so show statistics and numbers if that applies to your argument. But, make sure to not add in unnecessary visual that can direct the reader away from your claim.
-There is help for the definition/categorical argument assignment with numerous examples. We could ask for feedback so Professor Hodges can help direct us in the right direction.
-You need to identify an ideal for the definition argument. We can do this by acquiring a set of criteria to apply to the ideal.
-The Bobblehead Strategy is to get you reader to really see your argument, and hopefully start agreeing with it. If you can get head nods while the reader is reading your argument, you are going in the right direction.
-Smaller propositions could be better so that they do not raise the big objections or “mob mentality” as a reaction to the Big Proposal. If the reader is agreeing on the smaller propositions, and is persuaded, then you are on track.
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This is a fine summary of Definition strategy, Username
However, your sign does not tell me what I needed to know, which is when the store would be open so I could get cheesecake.
Store Reopens at 7am.</strong.
4/3
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1. Timing Matters:
– Effective argumentation requires strategic timing and audience targeting.
– Speak when the timing is right and to the appropriate audience for maximum impact.
2. Concise Signage:
– Effective signs are clear and brief, avoiding unnecessary words.
– Keep signage concise to convey messages efficiently and effectively.
3. Wealth Inequality:
– Use visual representations like graphs to illustrate the severity of wealth inequality.
– Graphs provide a tangible way to demonstrate wealth disparities to audiences.
4. Establish Parameters:
– Clearly define criteria to support your argument, whether it’s causal or categorical.
– Setting clear parameters helps focus your argument and provide structure.
5. Gradual Argumentation:
– Build your argument gradually, starting with small propositions that lead to your main point.
– This approach helps guide readers through your argument step by step.
6. Consider the Ideal Reader:
– Address the needs and perspectives of your target audience in your argument.
– Tailoring your argument to your ideal reader ensures relevance and engagement.
7. Utilize Graphics:
– Enhance your writing with graphics that support and strengthen your argument.
– Graphics provide visual reinforcement and help clarify complex concepts.
8. Early Sharing:
– Share your work early to facilitate editing and improve content quality.
– Early feedback allows for revisions and enhancements to your argument.
9. Focus with Limitations:
– Use limitations to focus your writing and maintain clarity.
– Clearly defined limitations help narrow the scope of your argument and prevent confusion.
10. Small Questions Lead to Agreement:
– Pose small questions throughout your paper to lead readers to agree with your main argument.
– Incremental agreement builds towards acceptance of your overall thesis.
11. The “Bobblehead Strategy”:
– Secure agreement on smaller points to pave the way for acceptance of your main proposal.
– Gradually gaining agreement primes readers to accept your central argument.
12. Avoiding Mob Mentality:
– Gain agreement on smaller points without triggering significant objections to prevent a “mob mentality” reaction.
– Incremental agreement fosters individual understanding and prevents group bias.
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Brilliant Notes, Snowman.
This one is ALMOST complete, but doesn’t clearly indicate that signs need to provide the essential information, not just briefly, but as completely as possible in a small space. The bakery sign doesn’t say when the store will re-open, which is what I needed to know. It wouldn’t be hard to indicate BOTH that that store is closed and that it will re-open at 7am.
Bakery Reopens at 7am.
5/3
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Closed. Cheesecake on 123 lane
The visual aid of the graph of inequality in america really puts it in perspective, visual aids can greatly support your argument
1000 word 3 times breakdown is artificial
Bobble head strat: Dont ask the big question right away, ask a bunch of smaller more agreeable questions so that they are more open to the big question
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Yep.
3/3
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Riddle: The sign adds no value to what information needs to be known. It should tell you what is needed in a few words. The ideal reader is someone who needs to know exactly what is trying to be said at the moment. Writing a better sign can not only describe what readers need to understand but also how they are supposed to interpret it. Newly created sign: “Sorry, we’re closed, opening again at 9 am”.
Effective visual representation can be one way readers can’t avoid what you have to say. It improves clarity on the subject being discussed, it increases engagement of the reader, and it also presents visual data that most people find hard to dispute.
Never too late to get help with the definition arguments. The professor provides one-on-one meetings to further help craft the best version of your argument.
When writing arguments, clarify the main point of what the paper is going to be about. When your hypothesis is clear, the reader is prepared to get into whatever you present. By setting criteria, you establish a definition/categorical argument.
If you ask questions in a way that makes your readers stand-offish, you can start to get them on your side with little yesses. Once you get the little yeses, it prepares them for the big yeses (most important). Get your audience to start nodding in agreement with the little proposals you provide. It would become difficult to take back all the pre-conditions they’ve already agreed upon. To avoid the mob mentality, break down the big proposal and start with small suggestions that don’t trigger negative responses.
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This is particularly cogent, NatureChild:
Plus, you nailed the Sign Riddle.
4/3
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The sign has a clear meaning of what it is trying to say, but it does not answer what we are looking for, “Can I still get my cheesecake”.
The hard part is figuring out what 3 words can be used to get to the reader and have their question answered
No cheesecake until we open
Some images helps a reader understand what you have to say better; for example: the american money distributed among the people in a graph.
Using charts or images helps the reader also see the real point you are trying to make
It’s worse than you think video: 92% of Americans believe that there is unequal distributed wealth but it is not that bad, false it is worse than we think. I think that is a video that should be played for the whole world.
Sometimes people grab whatever graphic is available for their sales. Sometimes arguments with the graphic are simply outrageous and do not make sense.
If help is needed with the definition argument ask, it is not to late to always ask
Have parameters for what you are trying to write to get closer to the understanding of what you are speaking on.
Having parameters is also closer to the definition that you are trying to get to.
If you can keep the reader engaged during the beginning of the paragraph it will have a big effect on the proposal because the reader is now easier to convince
The trick is to get the reader to start agreeing
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I’m with you most of the way, Gymrat, but this bit is particularly confusing:
About your Sign: I still don’t know when you’ll open.
4/3
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Riddle- the riddle is not actually a riddle is an example of how to make an argument that will persuade someone.
Better Sign- Closed, Open Tomorrow At 9:30am.
Beautiful Arguments- The graph soon surprised me because I didn’t even realize how diverse the distribution of wealth is from what they want us to see but what is actually true.
LASIK Procedure-It is something scary to do but the outcome is very enjoyable. The example of the Australian Practice of laser eye surgery using random sources that would not help the company. This is to explain the message to people to look at what you’re using and see if it will help whatever you’re doing.
Little Yeses- Little victories of someone saying yes is a great way to know that you’re getting somewhere leading into the right direction. You are persuading in the right way by being a talented arguer or getting to the right claims in what you’re saying.
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Your Notes are good, but your Sign is excellent, TheGamer.
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Riddle – The “Sorry, We Are Closed” riddle, teaches us that the purpose of an argument is to be able to make the reader understand what they need to know with as few words as possible. This means that the use of “empty” words or waste words is not allowed.
Effective visual – In our 3,000-word paper, visuals can be used that are effective in helping the reader understand something specific.
Categorical essays – When we write a categorical essay, we must be able to identify which different elements we are comparing using an ideal element and judge whether it is “close enough” to the ideal to belong to the category using a specific set of criteria.”
Little yeses- Expose small yeses to small prepositions until the reader recognizes that they are already quite committed to the big yes of your argument. Avoid the moh mentality, the reaction of being influenced to immediately say no when our opinions are being contradicted. A good tip can be to present information that is difficult to say no to at the beginning so that it is easier for our reader to end up agreeing with our argument in the end.
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This says it perfectly, ILoveBees:
What’s your answer to the Sign Riddle?
4/3
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Riddle
-The professor argues that the sign doesn’t tell you anything relevant to what he wants to know, the sign just says we’re closed. The Ideal reader wants to know if he can get cheese cake now. We are asked to write a better sign
-Write a better sign. The word cheesecake with the letters x over it
Beautiful Arguments 2
-The video is about wealth inequality in the USA. specifically it is about how it is perceived versus how it actually is. One of the most effective tools the video makes use of is a graphic which visualizes the wealth inequality in the US. In our papers we are allowed and actively encouraged to make use of graphics to support our argument.
Claims work
-The Professor showed us graphics which were used to sell LASIK eye surgery. The first one was more effective because it did not use graphic language to describe the surgery. The second one was clearly never intended to sell people LASIK, but somehow it ended up on the website of an eyecare practice. The first graphic is a good example on how to use language to make something sound more pleasant. The story behind the second graphic is a cautionary tale in vetting your sources.
Help with definition
Help with definitions
-Here the professor provides us with examples of how students from previous semesters handled the definition assignment, along with his criticisms of their assignments. We can use these examples to guide us as we revise our definitions.
The Bobblehead Strategy
-The Bobblehead Strategy is a useful way to convince an audience to accept a claim that they otherwise would not agree to. The strategy revolves around asking small questions that are easy to say yes to. Once your audience has said yes to the questions, you can spring the trap on them. The strategy is a good one, although you could argue it is dishonest.
-My question to the professor is how would you go about countering this strategy if someone tries to use it against you?
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I love your Notes, Toetio. This is particularly tasty:
I also like your analysis of the Bobblehead Strategy, which I merely named but did not invent. I first experienced it reading Plato, who details countless examples of Socrates patiently guiding his acolytes through the fundamental questions until they realize, too late, that they’ve already agreed to the surprising conclusions they would never have assented to at the get-go. I guess you could call it dishonest, but I wouldn’t. I’d call it helpful. 🙂
The defense against being guided to distasteful conclusions is to more carefully resist the overly broad preliminary propositions.
Q: Would you like to drive out of here in a new car today?
A: Not as much as I’d like to drive out of here in my old car with a full bank account.
4/3
Come back and re-engage for a 5/3 if you’d like. 🙂
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Sign: The sign does not communicate what needs to be said. It is a wasted opportunity to use words. A suggestion could be the times the store opens.
American wealth: It is a good idea to include a graphic in your essay. It may be the one way that your audience cannot avoid what you are saying. If you find a chart that demonstrates the actual efficiency than one could argue it provides us with everything we need.
Lasik surgery: If you use the wrong photo example it can mislead your readers, or make them feel a different way than which you are trying to make them feel.
Categorical arguments: You need to identify the ideal. You can find the ideal with a set of criteria. You can put a categorical argument in a causal argument.
Little Yeses: ask little questions that would provoke a yes, then ask your question in anticipation that your audience will say yes to this as well. You have to get your audience to agree to smaller propositions that don’t raise those big objections.
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Beautiful (unfinished) work on the Store Riddle, HockeyFan:
Very fine Notes throughout, in fact.
4/3
(There’s a 5/3 available if you come back to explain your description of Categorical arguments. There’s something good there, but I don’t quite get it.)
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Riddle: How can we write effectively to deliver the right message at the right time?
“Cheesecake unavailable until opening”
Claims are important in making persuasive claims.
Help with Definitions: help available for developing research hypotheses.
•Recommendations provided for terms and concepts in definition arguments.
•Request help by leaving a reply on the relevant page.
•A page for Lasik Procedure has been added. The link has since been removed, but the establishment initially had posted an alarming visual on their website.
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The sign doesnt say much info. It says that theyre closed, but it doesnt say if you can still get cheesecake. In a good argument you should be able to communicate the problem in 3 words.
SIGN- Because were closed,no cheesecake
Watched a wealth inequality in america video
We can include a graph/chart in our research essay.
Definitions- you an request help for the arguments
“You need to compare it to an ideal and be the judge of weather it’s “close enough” to the ideal to belong to the category”
Bobble head strategy- asking a strong direct question, you might not get the anser you’re looking for
The trick to bobble head strategy is to get your audience to agree with you to a series of smalls questions. Your audience might not like being persuaded. You have to give smaller propositions that dont raise those big objections.
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