Use El Camino Database for research such as the A-Z List.
More Related Readings:
Chapters 11 and 12
One. What imprint was left on American culture by having our leader called “Mr. President” as opposed to King?
We didn’t want to replace the old King with a new one. We wanted a “rebel-in-chief.”
The rebel played well with a newborn country and continues to play well in a country that remains at its core adolescent.
Youth and health mean movement. We are a culture that is constantly moving, constantly on the go.
We don’t take vacations. We work long hours. We tinker with new ways to achieve things.
We are inventors.
Like the teenager, we are know-it-alls, arrogant, snotty adolescents who think the world is ours. We've got it all figured out. No one tells us what to do. "We're Americans, dammit!"
Two. From a reptilian point of view, what kind of Presidents do Americans want?
Americans want a President “who doesn’t think too much but acts from the gut.”
He has to be like an action hero or a cowboy with a warm heart, but he's willing to take on the town bully.
George W. Bush was more reptilian than “the very cortex” Al Gore in 2000 so Bush won.
The American President has to be a symbol of courage, power, and assurance, even if these things are not true.
We want our President to be a meat-eating cowboy, not a peace-loving vegetarian Star Wars Ewok because the latter is too passive to be on code.
Or in the words of Rapaille, “The Culture Code for the American presidency is Moses.”
March us toward the Land of Milk and Honey and keep interest rates down.
In contrast, the Culture Code for the Canadian presidency is to keep culture, or TOO KEEP. Long winters have compelled Canadians to value conservation of energy.
Three. How do Americans see America?
We see ourselves as new. To stay new and young and fresh, we have this almost demonic compulsion to always be building and renewing.
But what about our infrastructure? Our infrastructure is in a state of dilapidation. What about our attitudes towards race, especially in the realm of law enforcement?
Perhaps our perception of our newness is not based on reality.
Perhaps Rapaille doesn’t know America as much as he says he does.
Rapaille says, accurately, that we see ourselves as needing lots of space and abundance. We like everything big.
We are the creators of “Supersized” snacks and “big and tall” clothing stores.
We are enthusiastic and optimistic.
“The American Culture Code for America is DREAM.”
Pessimism and self-loathing are off code in America. As an aside, my favorite people are comedians and they tend to be pessimistic and self-loathing such as Louis C.K., Richard Lewis, and Larry David.
Louis C.K. is a hugely popular comedian, so while he may be "off code," according to Rapaille, he resonates with millions of Americans. Perhaps Louis C.K. knows more about the American code than does Rapaille.
Sample Thesis Statements Both For and Against Rapaille
Rapaille is a seductive writer whose keen psychological insights draw us into the world of codes. However, his eagerness to share these codes with us does not compensate for his main agenda, to manipulate us through our unconscious desires, flimsy cultural stereotypes, oversimplifications, and a thinly veiled contempt for American culture.
Rapaille’s popularity among the advertising elite is comical, the way he plays like the Pied Piper and manipulates Fortune 500 executives to drink the Rapaille Kool-Aid, which consists of _________________, ________________, _______________, and _______________________.
While I concede that Rapaille's motives are tinged with self-interest and that he is prone to philosophical excesses that can be annoying and unfairly anti-American, his book is chock-full of helpful insights about human psychology that gain me a keener understanding of ______________, ______________, _______________, and _________________.
Identifying Claims and Analyzing Arguments from Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky’s From Inquiry to Academic Writing, Third Edition
We’ve learned in this class that we can call a thesis a claim, an assertion that must be supported with evidence and refuting counterarguments.
There are 3 different types of claims: fact, value, and policy.
Claims of Fact
According to Greene and Lidinsky, “Claims of fact are assertions (or arguments) that seek to define or classify something or establish that a problem or condition has existed, exists, or will exist.
For example, Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow argues that Jim Crow practices that notoriously oppressed people of color still exist in an insidious form, especially in the manner in which we incarcerate black and brown men.
In The Culture Code Rapaille argues that different cultures have unconscious codes and that a brand’s codes must not be disconnected with the culture that brand needs to appeal to. This is the problem or struggle that all companies have: being “on code” with their product. The crisis that is argued is the disconnection between people’s unconscious codes and the contrary codes that a brand may represent.
Many economists, such as Paul Krugman, argue that there is major problem facing America, a shrinking middle class, that is destroying democracy and human freedom as this country knows it. Krugman and others will point to a growing disparity between the haves and have-nots, a growing class of temporary workers that surpasses all other categories of workers (warehouse jobs for online companies, for example), and de-investment in the American labor force as jobs are outsourced in a world of global competition.
All three examples above are claims of fact. As Greene and Lidinsky write, “This is an assertion that a condition exists. A careful reader must examine the basis for this kind of claim: Are we truly facing a crisis?”
We further read, “Our point is that most claims of fact are debatable and challenge us to provide evidence to verify our arguments. They may be based on factual information, but they are not necessarily true. Most claims of fact present interpretations of evidence derived from inferences.”
A Claim of Fact That Seeks to Define Or Classify
Greene and Lidinsky point out that autism is a controversial topic because experts cannot agree on a definition. The behaviors attributed to autism “actually resist simple definition.”
There is also disagreement on a definition of obesity. For example, some argue that the current BMI standards are not accurate.
Another example that is difficult to define or classify is the notion of genius.
In all the cases above, the claim of fact is to assert a definition that must be supported with evidence and refutations of counterarguments.
Claims of Value
Greene and Lidinsky write, “A claim of fact is different from a claim of value, which expresses an evaluation of a problem or condition that has existed, exists, or will exist. Is a condition good or bad? Is it important or inconsequential?
In other words, the claim isn’t whether or not a crisis or problem exists: The emphasis is on HOW serious the problem is.
How serious is global warming?
How serious is gender discrimination in schools?
How serious is racism in law enforcement and incarceration?
How serious is the threat of injury for people who engage in Cross-Fit training?
How serious are the health threats rendered from providing sodas in public schools?
How serious are Brand codes and their connection or disconnection with the consumer’s unconscious codes?
Claims of Policy
Greene and Lidinsky write, “A claim of policy is an argument for what should be the case, that a condition should exist. It is a call for change or a solution to a problem.
Examples
We must decriminalize drugs.
We must increase the minimum wage to X per hour.
We must have stricter laws that defend worker rights for temporary and migrant workers.
We must integrate more autistic children in mainstream classes.
We must implement universal health care.
If we are to keep capital punishment, then we must air it on TV.
We must implement stricter laws for texting while driving.
The Importance of Using Concession with Claims
Greene and Lidinsky write, “Part of the strategy of developing a main claim supported with good reasons is to offer a concession, an acknowledgment that readers may not agree with every point the writer is making. A concession is a writer’s way of saying, ‘Okay, I can see that there may be another way of looking at the issue or another way to interpret the evidence used to support the argument I am making.’”
“Often a writer will signal a concession with phrases like the following:”
“It is true that . . .”
“I agree with X that Y is an important factor to consider.”
“Some studies have convincingly shown that . . .”
Identify Counterarguments
Greene and Lidinsky write, “Anticipating readers’ objections demonstrates that you understand the complexity of the issue and are willing at least to entertain different and conflicting opinions.”
Developing a Thesis
Greene and Lidinsky write that a thesis is “an assertion that academic writers make at the beginning of what they write and then support with evidence throughout their essay.” They then give the thesis these attributes:
Makes an assertion that is clearly defined, focused, and supported.
Reflects an awareness of the conversation from which the writer has take up the issue.
Is placed at the beginning of the essay.
Penetrates every paragraph like the skewer in a shish kebab.
Acknowledges points of view that differ from the writer’s own, reflecting the complexity of the issue.
Demonstrates an awareness of the readers’ assumptions and anticipates possible counterarguments.
Conveys a significant fresh perspective.
Working and Definitive Thesis
In the beginning, you develop a working or tentative thesis that gets more and more revised and refined as you struggle with the evidence and become more knowledgeable of the subject.
A writer who comes up with a thesis that remains unchanged is not elevating his or thinking to a sophisticated level.
Only a rare genius could spit out a meaningful thesis that defies revision.
Not just theses, but all writing is subject to multiple revisions. For example, the brilliant TV writers for 30 Rock, The Americans, and The Simpsons make hundreds of revisions for just one scene and even then they’re still not happy in some cases.
Four Models for Developing a Working Thesis
The Correcting-Misinterpretations Model
According to Greene and Lidinsky, “This model is used to correct writers whose arguments you believe have been misconstrued one or more important aspects of an issue. This thesis typically takes the form of a factual claim.
Examples of Correcting-Misinterpretation Model
Although LAUSD teachers are under fire for poor teaching performance, even the best teachers have been thrown into abysmal circumstances that defy strong teaching performance evidenced by __________________, ___________________, ________________, and _____________________.
Even though Clotaire Rapaille is venerated as some sort of branding god, a close scrutiny exposes him as a shrewd self-promoter who relies on several gimmicks including _______________________, _______________________, _________________, and ___________________.
The Filling-the-Gap Model
Greene and Lidinsky write, “The gap model points to what other writers may have overlooked or ignored in discussing a given issue. The gap model typically makes a claim of value.”
Example
Many psychology experts discuss happiness in terms of economic wellbeing, strong education, and strong family bonds as the essential foundational pillars of happiness, but these so-called experts fail to see that these pillars are worthless in the absence of morality, as Eric Weiners’s study of Qatar shows, evidenced by __________________, __________________, ___________________, and _____________________.
The Modifying-What-Others-Have-Said Model
Greene and Lidinsky write, “The modification model of thesis writing assumes that mutual understanding is possible.” In other words, we want to modify what many already agree upon.
Example
While most scholars agree that food stamps are essential for hungry children, the elderly, and the disabled, we need to put restrictions on EBT cards so that they cannot be used to buy alcohol, gasoline, lottery tickets, and other non-food items.
The Hypothesis-Testing Model
The authors write, “The hypothesis-testing model begins with the assumption that writers may have good reasons for supporting their arguments, but that there are also a number of legitimate reasons that explain why something is, or is not, the case. . . . That is, the evidence is based on a hypothesis that researchers will continue to test by examining individual cases through an inductive method until the evidence refutes that hypothesis.”
For example, some researchers have found a link between the cholesterol drugs, called statins, and lower testosterone levels in men. Some say the link is causal; others say the link is correlative, which is to say these men who need to lower their cholesterol already have risk factors for low T levels.
As the authors continue, “The hypothesis-testing model assumes that the questions you raise will likely lead you to multiple answers that compete for your attention.”
The authors then give this model for such a thesis:
Some people explain this by suggesting that, but a close analysis of the problem reveals several compelling, but competing explanations.
Class Exercise: Work on a working thesis for your essay.
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