2 in 1 - What Not To Do: Hyperbole in Arguments

    I am not a huge fan of poetry, but it happens now and then that I actually take a minute to read a few verses. This one just randomly popped on my monitor on a home-page of a free e-books site. The only reason why it caught my attention is the first verse through which I completely identified with the author, a certain Carl F Maulbeck. "For the time being I'm doing nothing."
   There I was (only minutes ago, but now I'm doing homework, so "now" doesn't count ), at almost 2am, clicking and typing pointlessly in pursuit of entertainment. Metaphorically, and well, practically, I was doing nothing. Technically, I was breathing, watching, reading, clicking and so on and so forth. But, it's poetry, right? So exaggeration is not only fine, but sometimes key!
   Verse 2: "And I will never be the same" - is this exaggeration? Big words such as "never" and "always" are usually signs of exaggeration; and of weak arguments, of course, though that's out of the topic. However, this is one of the rare cases where "never" fits perfectly. Since we change with every millisecond that passes, out current state of body and mind can not be repeated in its entirety. So, no exaggeration here.
   Verse 3: I can barely move (emphasis added). Now that's how one makes their case believable and not easily crushed. I can say he moves, writing this poem. Otherwise the tense would be wrong. Or maybe he was just thinking about it! But then there would be signals rushing through his brain, so there is some movement. If he used "I can't move." I would most definitely say: "Ha! Or can you?" But he used "I can barely move", so he's safe! What a useful word "barely" is!
   Verse 5: "There is no remedy for how I feel" - Are you sure? Is there none or have you just not found it yet? Has it simply not been discovered?
   Further in the poem there are some philosophical points, some abstract ideas and what not. But, it's poetry, so it's kind of meant to be the complete opposite of down to Earth. The guy's a poet, thus.. no hard feelings. Blame this on my argument beating attempts I've unconsciously been practicing in every aspect of being in the past few days. Pardon my stray of focus off hyperbole. But then again, everything is connected, isn't it? If he used hyperbole, then his claim would have been easily destroyed. Isn't that absolutely true?

  Now go back and check the italicized stuff, both the green and the red colored words.What's easier to disprove? :)

  I almost forgot:

  Maulbeck, Carl F. Lost and Found?. Scribd. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/36820325/Lost-and-Found>.

 Except that I have no clue how to add the hanging indent in a blog post!

 Oh, and maybe I should change the title to 3 in 1...

Hyperbole in Advertising

     Few days ago we were given an assignment that involved finding ads, identifying their claims, support, warrants etc, so that we get more insight into how argumentation works.
     So, I figured I should finally provide an example of hyperbole in advertising, the existence of which I have claimed since I started this blog, but never really proved.
      Here's a picture:

     No, The high heels are most definitely that high, to make the girl wearing them have her head in the clouds. Well, my previous statement is true as far as we are referring to the term's literally, not in its idiomatic meaning. As a matter of fact, a girl with fancy shoes is highly expected to have her head in the clouds.

   Another example can be this picture:

    It implies that the binoculars are so good, that the lifeguard can monitor all that is happening on the beach even from the desert. We don't exactly know how is he going to get there in time to save somebody when needed, but the advertisement sure makes its point.

   And finally:

    This vacuum cleaner is so powerful, it took an air balloon down.


I believe my work here is done :)

The Future Big Bang of Truth

 The Big Bang Theory is a TV show I watch somewhat regularly. I used those words to describe the frequency because due to the amount of work I have throughout the working days of the week and the availability of the show solely online, I simply download few episodes at a time (when I find some) and watch them here and there during lunch or dinner.

I have noticed a long time ago that at the end of each episode there is a small font text on a white background, and every time I ignored it as a part of the credits or data regarding the episode.

It wasn’t until recently that I accidentally paused instead of closing the window, and was surprised to notice that the text wasn’t plain data. Apparently, the producer makes half page comments on issues unrelated to the episode, but rather on religious beliefs and science, social dilemmas and abstract questions, hot topics and esoteric concepts.

Intrigued and amused, I started looking for many of the video files, rushing to the end of each to read the entry. Here’s one that I found particularly interesting, especially after reading Jacques Ellul’s “Is It a Dream or a Nightmare” in AP Lang class.

In the near future, we will see brain scan technology that can determine, without fail, if someone is telling the truth. Shortly thereafter, we will be able to buy mobile devices that perform the same task on the fly. In other words, we are on the verge of having all of our conversations constantly and instantly monitored for veracity. This would then spawn a counter-technology comprised of personal mind shields that keep one from being scanned (the use of which would, of course, imply that one is keeping secrets). The end result? Universal honesty, initially as a result of the duress of surveillance, will become the norm. Then, over time, this mode of thinking, communicating and behaving will become second nature. This will usher in the dawn of a new civilization. After thousands of years of human suffering, world peace and the long-fabled “good will towards all men” will have finally arrived. The end of lying and cheating will also mark the end of scripted entertainment. So, you know, there will be a downside. (Chuck Lorre Productions #326)

This passage is obviously making the statements sound definite, as if they are inevitable and are going to happen for sure. Since this is all the product of somebody’s imagination, No certainty can be expressed when considering the issue. Chuck Lorre is simply stating hypothesis or predictions here. However, the style with which he has written this not only adds to the way in which the reader perceives the premise, but it presents it in a matter-of-fact way which puts it as taken for granted and not to be questioned. If one was to name the actual technique the author uses, one wouldn’t be wrong to declare exaggeration guilty of charge.

As a short clarification, the hyperbole is seen because the writer takes the small possibility and blows it out of proportion, trying to persuade the reader of the likeliness of the events described to occur. With little sureness can one say either that such apparatus will be invented, or that it will influence and shape society in such a manner. The conversion of the habit of being truthful into second nature is overstated, and so is the generalization regarding the new civilization and the world peace.

Overall, the impression the passage leaves is due to the use of hyperbole and overstatement, the determination and confidence with which the author states his theories and the level of straightforwardness and doubtlessness of the text itself.

Pants On Fire, or Maybe an Apartment

     1 Nov 2011
     While I was getting ready for school this morning, an hour later than I usually do, thanks to today's lack of first class, an unusual clamor stopped the complete silence. Strange scraping could be heard from somewhere in the bathroom, from a pipe inside the wall I couldn't identify, and the weird intermittent sound was too loud to be simply the water going through the heating system.
     I have rarely been home and awake at that time of day. During workdays I am at school then, and I am sleeping during weekends. For a second I thought it was some kind of a refill, some regular normal procedure going on in the old heating installation. The hoarse "melody" continued for a while. After checking that everything is fine in the bathroom, i.e. there's no wall leakage or broken pipe, the water is running smoothly and the water boiler is off, I just acquiesced that the situation is such, I made sure all electric stuff is off, opened the door, walked out of the empty apartment, locked from the outside, and started climbing down the stairs.
     Revelation was supplied on the third floor, where the radiator had apparently started not only leaking, but literally shooting out gallons of hot steaming water. The hall was flooded, the water was running down the other floors, making the old lady's apartment on the second floor, (right beneath the one where the accident happened) a giant mess. To add up to this, the neighbor was helplessly banging on the door where the leaking initiated, trying to call on the owners who were either absent or asleep. Yet, when I think about it, they couldn't have been asleep, the noise was too loud, was supported by banging, and many people were out on their thresholds in their pajamas, all trying to get the water out of their doors, and prevent more from coming in.
     "Hey girl, do you have these people's phone number?"-the man who was banging on the door said.
     "No, I'm sorry. What happened?" - I asked, pausing, even though I had to hurry, and I was already aware of the answer.
     "Heating system is leaking from their apartment. A vent was broken or something."
I noticed the water dripping in the middle of the stairs, and the tiny lake that was formed around where it was splashing. Vapor was emerging. It was definitely hot!."Can one pass?" -I asked.
     "Of course! That's no big deal!" I started walking as close to the wall and as far from the water as I could, the second I heard the slightest reassurance that it will "not be a big deal".
     "Thing is, if we don't get in there to stop that, this whole building can burst in flames." His voice reached me though I was a floor and a half down.
     I stopped for a second.
     Was he exaggerating? - I thought. Can it get so hot for the wood and cement to just light up?
     I couldn't tell.
     The basic stuff I needed the most was with me. I was off to school. I was in no danger. The apartment's not mine, and I have little stuff of big material value in there. I could do nothing at the time, and I wasn't intending to go back and pass around the steaming waterfalls to get the laptop or something just because I was slightly paranoid.
     I left the building with that question stuck in my head. It kept me thinking for a while.
     Weird scenarios appeared in my mind for the whole duration of my walk to school.
     Having the lucky coincidence of AP Chemistry being my first class. I consulted with my professor about temperatures and spontaneous combustion. In few minutes, I was completely reassured that the building was in no danger of fire.
     But if I didn't, that question would've - no doubt - haunted me all day.
     The thing I wonder now is: Did that man know he was exaggerating, was he doing it on purpose, to sort of show me how big of a deal the leakage was? Or was he simply panicking and not thinking too much about the conditions and the possibility of the outcome he presented.
     And thanks to this, I see that sometimes exaggeration can have a whole wider impact than just overstating something for the sake of it.
     Sometimes we can't control it.
     Sometimes it seems right to put something in such manner.
     Sometimes we don't even believe it's an exaggeration.
     After all, with us being persuaded that "everything is possible" by motivation books, advertisements, billboards, professors and advisers, can we really tell when we've taken things too far?
     When I returned home, I was happy to find out that nothing happened, all was settled, the water was pumped out.
     All went well.
     But thanks to that guy who was slamming his fists at the neighbors' door, trying to figure out a way to save his own place from the water, some tiny voice in my head still kept saying: what if it didn't?