Exercise 4.2: Where Sweatshops Are A Dream

Kristof begins his essay by trying to persuade Obama and the people who favor labor standards using his past experiences. The problem he identifies is sweatshops that are in poor abroad countries are not considered a bad thing by most people. Especially those that live in those areas. Kristof assumes his readers are people who favor the labor standards movement. His purpose in this essay is to persuade his audience that fighting off the sweatshops is bad for the poor people who see it as a way to move forward. In order to accomplish this purpose, he appeals mainly to those who follow the labor standards act. In his essay, Kristof addresses the main argument against his thesis, the idea that a job at a sweatshop is a great thing to those who find themselves lucky enough to land one. He refutes the argument by saying "by improving wages and working conditions without affecting the eventual retail cost of goods." Finally, he concludes by making the point that it is hard to believe sweatshops can help people and mentioning a little girl who whose covered in filth making $1 a day by scavenging. Overall, the argument Kristof makes is effective because he uses live sources and pathos to appeal to his audience. Although, it was ineffective because he did very little to refute his argument. 

Response to Excercise 3.5

Not actual image but a close representation of it.

A visual posted on the site mediaviolence.org shows a young boy playing video games with a list of the most played violent games of 2011. This visual makes a powerful statement about how most of the games children play are those violent games. The central image shows just how into the game he is. The background enhances the central image since there are no parents to supervise him as he plays the game he can relax. The visual includes words as well as images. These words suggest that he is playing one the games list in the upper left hand corner. The goal of the organization that posted the visual seems to be to show kids are playing violent video games. The visual is not effective because it does not state an argument it just shows that kids play violent games.

First Post

Hi, I'm Dewrance Matthew. This is the first blog spot, let alone, blog that I have ever done. So, yeah this is a completely new experience for me.