Journal 6

Clearly, the claim, warrant, and evidence are crucial parts to any argument. The claim is the statement – essentially, a person’s argument, which can be debatable. The warrant is the connection between the argument and its support (i.e. the evidence). The evidence is vital to the argument (as well as its connection to the claim and warrant) because it is what proves that a person’s argument has any grounds or proof on which it can stand.

For my topic, the claim is that the use of bibliotherapy via fiction (that is both appropriate and meaningful) is beneficial for adolescents and young adults. This topic can be debated because there are a variety of factors involved in this form of therapy (and in any form of therapy) – whether or not the person is willing to read, whether or not the therapist is able to find literature that can “get through” to the individual, and whether or not the individual is “open” to being reached through the literature. These are just some of the variables of bibliotherapy; I am sure that there are many more.
Connected to the claim is the warrant for the topic – that books can have a healing and therapeutic “power.” While attempting to not confuse warrant with evidence, a warrant brings to mind an emotional and relatable appeal. For everyone who has read a book and felt as though it helped him/her through a situation, this “claim” will make sense. They will be able to call to mind a time where they were able to connect to a character/plot/theme in literature and it had an impact on their lives. As Toulmin says, a warrant is “the connection (often unstated)” between an individual’s claim and evidence. In this way, my argument does not have to come out and state the warrant – rather, the reader will (perhaps subconsciously) make the connection by him or herself.
Lastly, the evidence is what proves an individual’s claim and allows the warrant to be the “bridge” between the two. For my topic, I want my evidence to be clear, concise, and persuasive. Great examples of evidence are case studies, graphs, and charts about the effectiveness of bibliotherapy on adolescents and young adults. While it has been difficult to find much evidence in this form, I know that I will be able to have quotes/ explanations from individuals about how/why this form of therapy worked for them. That evidence will be invaluable in my final presentation, as I believe that it will complete my argument and make it convincing.

Summary #2

When I thought about the idea of a “visual argument” the first thing that came to my mind were ads. As I was flipping through Cosmo magazine the other day (yes, I do indulge in the mindlessness of Cosmo occasionally, don’t judge me), I noticed the sheer multitude of fragrance ads. This got me thinking about how difficult it is to communicate fragrance on print, despite the random samples within the pages that make the magazine smell like Macy’s. So I looked up some fragrance ads, especially the catchphrase that went along with them. I then stumbled on this gem…Kim Kardashian’s True Reflection fragrance, which was just made available this month.

True Reflection Ad

First off, the name of the fragrance makes me laugh, especially when seen in context with the picture. This is Kim Kardashian’s “true reflection”? Hair perfectly styled, face completely covered in makeup and airbrushed to perfection, lacy lingerie on, admiring herself in the mirror? Is this ad trying to tell people that the fragrance perfectly reflects who you (the consumer) are? I think that, with any celebrity as the “face” of a product, the ultimate goal is to convince the consumer that if you buy said product, you can feel like him/her. In this case, if you spray on some True Reflection, your reflection will be every bit as beautiful as hers.

What is presented in this ad is the epitome of femininity: it bleeds soft lighting, curves, tones, and colors. And, as far as fragrance ads go, it is significantly less sexualized…compare it with the ads for her fragrance “Gold” (LINK: Gold) or “Kim Kardashian” (LINK: Kim Kardashian). I believe that this ad is targeting a different consumer type than the other two fragrances, which explains why everything is so different visually. Rather than in-your-face sexuality, this ad is attempting to convey a sense of femininity and classiness; it looks almost retro, a throwback to Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. I believe that the message this ad is conveying is that this perfume will evoke the consumer’s true reflection as a woman who is feminine, ladylike, and classy, while still able to be sexy (the line underneath the title says it is the sultry new fragrance”).

Perhaps I am reading a little too much into this, but I see it as Kim Kardashian attempting to clean up her image a little bit (although I am not saying that it is effective), as she is not really Hollywood’s classiest act. I think this ad makes the claim that by wearing this perfume, the consumer will be able to be completely who he/she genuinely is. What the ad fails to make me believe is that anyone’s true reflection is quite as “perfect” as the one shown. Shouldn’t a true reflection emphasize natural beauty and not the power of airbrushes?

Journal #5

This journal is, like Angela said in hers, kind of difficult for me. I had to type things into Google like “Why bibliotherapy does not work” and “Negative effects of bibliotherapy” and scan a couple pages of results to find specific arguments against it. In the end, the one that I think is the biggest issue (which Alissa has actually discussed with me in class and via the blogs) is the act of reading itself. Obviously, if the child/adolescent does not like to read, this type of therapy will probably not be effective.
However, I think it is important to identify that assuming that all of these adolescents being placed into this therapy do not enjoy reading is a fallacy – a hasty generalization. This generalization seems pretty easy to make – it seems as though many children/adolescents are so focused on the technological world that the literary world is lost to them, while others simply, from a very early age, dislike reading. It may be even easier to make if the person looking at the act of bibliotherapy disliked “required” reading as a child/adolescent (sorry, Alissa, for picking on you!) However, I doubt (although I may be wrong) that many people who know that their child does not like to read would see bibliotherapy as a useful tool. Therefore, this hasty generalization could be that a majority (or all) of these children/adolescents do not like to read or would not receive any benefit from it, or even the opposite idea, that bibliotherapy will work for everyone. This, too, can especially be a fallacy – that it can work for everyone, regardless of his/her inclination to read.
This, then, ties into the idea of a false dilemma – that bibliotherapy either has to work for everyone or it does not work at all. As Rottenberg explains, “the false dilemma reflects the simplification of a complex problem.” Bibliotherapy, like any other form of therapy, is a complex and multifaceted process. To say that it either works for everyone or no one is to simplify this process to an extreme. Because people are unique and learn in different ways, understand certain things more than others, and experience/handle their emotions differently, any kind of therapy must be prepared to be complex in order to serve a wide range of people.