1-28-09 Homework

After a long thought process, the public space that I chose to analyze is Billy Bob's Texas. I feel like I have a very strong connection to this honky tonk. I go to the stockyards very frequently because country dancing is one of my favorite hobbies. I can usually be found there on the weekends but I am excited to observe what all goes on during the weekdays. I want to analyze Billy Bob's to see the things that I have been overlooking, I want to see the minut details that have just always passed me by. I plan to observe Billy Bob's on Friday at about 1:00pm. I wish I could be there when it opens (which is at 11:00am) but I have class. I also am going to observe Billy Bob's early Saturday (to see if weekends differ from weekdays) and then again that night when Cross Canadian Ragweed is playing. Hopefully I can make one more observation Sunday afternoon following church. I have a pretty good idea of this space, but its the observation of the nightlife. This space is full of cowboy boots, pearl snap shirts, starched jeans, and cowboy hats. The atmosphere is very loud with a majority of the music being texas country with a bit of line dancing songs on the side. Many sounds that I hear are clinks from glasses and bottles, spurs spinning against the hardwood floors, and boots sliding as people dance to their favorite songs. This space is very large, but always crowded. To me, one can always tell tourist from the locals which I believe is an interesting observation. I am not really sure what I will expect to discover. I am pretty familiar with the place but since I will be observing I know there will be many things that will catch my eye that, otherwise, I would have never discovered. I think I will discover the spaces in Billy Bob's itself in more detail, such as the pool table area or the small barbeque restaurant off to the side or maybe the wall of fame. I cannot wait to see whats in store for me to learn about this place I believe I am so familiar with!

1-26-09 Homework

As I think of the communities of which I am a member of, I cannot narrow it down to just one. I believe that I am a member of my hometown: Jacksboro, TX. When Jacksboro comes to mind I think of spaces such as the Tiger Stadium. This is by far one of the favorite local spaces in the community. Everyone in this small town waits for Friday nights to come around during football season, mostly due to the fact that there is not much to do in this community. Also, another favorite space is City Drug. This place is an old-fashioned soda fountain where several gather for lunch. Herd's Hamburgers is another local space where people love to gather and is known around the US for the great taste. When I think of the TCU community a few local spaces seem to ring a bell. Places such as Fuzzy's Tacos, Snookies, and the Aardvark are the hot places for TCU students to come together. When many think of TCU, they think of these three places almost automatically. As a member of the city of Fort Worth my mind turns to the historic stockyards. Places such as Billy Bobs, The White Elephant, PR's, The Longhorn saloon, and Lonesome Dove are places people do not want to miss out on. These places also remind me of home, especially since my heart is in the country. These are a few communities that I am a member of and the local spaces that I connect with.

1-21-09 homework

The sample argument that I chose for this week is a youtube video of President Obama joking how McCain called him "that one" during a debate. The rhetorical appeal that drew me towards this argument was an emotional appeal or "appeals to pathos." Pathos include powerful tools for influencing what people think and believe, it has a lot to do with emotion. A subtopic that I chose to connect to my argument was :Humor. This youtube video was from the Alfred E. Smith memorial dinner and it took an argument and turned it into humor even though it was a very controversial subject. Many were mad about McCain calling President Obama, "That One," but President Obama used the term in a form of humor to deal with a sensitive issue. This quote was aimed at a particular target at first but was then turned into well humor. Many people get by with saying hurtful things but it seems that as long as they turn them into humor that everything is ok. An example of this is a Tv show called King of Queens where everything is a joke, and usually insulting but people avoid it due to the fact its humor. Out of all of the rhetorical appeals I connected with the emotional or pathos appeal due to the fact that emotion always pulls me to one side or the other.

Chapter 1 (1-14-09)

As I read through the pages of chapter one I found myself very confused. I did not realize that everything was an argument! There were many different categories and subcategories of arguments which I could not differentiate. This chapter was very overpowering to my eyes, it did not waste anytime getting into the materials. I loved the pictures and examples throughout the chapter due to the fact that they were, indeed, helpful. Persuasion versus argument is a topic I have yet to distinguish but I did like the connection in the forensic argument (past) and how it related things to the present. This chapter is very updated which made it more easy to relate to the hot topics in society.
For some reason, I do not see everything as an argument. The book was thorough about explaining each individual argument but the reason I believe that I didnt understand the difference is due to me not seeing an argument in every single item in this world. Alot of the information about all the individual arguments I saw as rather facts or stories. I know deep down that one can make up an argument over everything but is it really worth it? Im the kind of person where I would rather accept a fact and move on instead of sit and think of an argument that could be made of a situation. Also, I didnt agree with the stasis or categorizing arguments.

Post 1 (1-12-08)

My name is Lacy Pankey and I am from the small town of Jacksboro, TX. I am currently a senior at TCU and will graduate this May with a major in Biology and minor in chemistry and nutrition. I plan to attend medical school and pursue a career in medicine. I am taking english 20803 as a requirement but I hope to better myself in this subject considering it is my weakness when it comes to school. I believe english is very important in everyday life and plan to take myself to the next level to help me in my later career. I believe communication and understanding others is a huge quality to have and hopefully taking this class will better my knowledge in these areas. I love emailing, texting, and facebooking. I also take time before bed to write about my thoughts and the current day in a journal. My strongest area is not writing (nor english in itself) but hopefully that will change after this class. I was doubted before about my writing and have yet to overcome that which I believe is a huge problem in why I am not confident in my work. I believe that I am a member of my hometown: Jacksboro, TX. This is a very special place to me due to the fact that it is where I spent 18 years of my life before moving to Fort Worth to attend college. Also, my entire family is from Jacksboro which places emphasis on why this town is so important to me. Everyone knows everyone in my hometown which places importance on the person I am and the connection I have with the town. I also see myself as a member of Texas Christian University. Now that I am a senior I have much more of a connection to this school then I did one year ago due to the fact that I have made this MY school and MY home. The first argument I believe I am addressing is that of an invitationa argument. I am not trying to win someone over another person but am inviting others to explore who I am. This includes exploring how I introduce myself, introduces others to what taste I have by the choice of my background, and shows other my writing style. I am informing my peers of the person I am. These choices enables people to see that I am a blog author with a bit of strong but reserve style. This shows that I am willing to participate in class and express to others my thoughts and experiences. I also envision an argument of the past (forensic arguments) because I expressed actions in the past that may influence my present times. I grew up in a small town and will that leave me to turn to live in a small town when I begin my career?
I, Lacy Pankey, have read and understood the content of the syllabus of 20803.