1. Nan Somasundaram
November 16, 2009
English 111/DL06
Journal Report
Journal Response 1:
1. Effective arguments combine claims (clear and arguable positions) with claim-supporting
premises (good reasons) and specific relevant facts (evidence). They use sound reasoning to
travel from the premises to the conclusion. Writers of effective arguments understand that
readers are not persuaded by reason alone, and so combine rationality with emotional appeals.
An effective argument is not one-sided. The writer understands that in order to gain credence, he
must acknowledge that there is at least one opposing side to the argument and should, if possible,
refute those other claims.
Anna Quindlen, in “Still Needing the F Word”, argues that the feminist revolution of the
1960s did not achieve its stated aims of social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. She
backs up this claim with a number of supporting premises, even though they are not explicitly
stated but implied throughout the essay. She manages to craft a convincing argument by using
both inductive and deductive reasoning as well as evidence culled from various sources. It is a
thought-provoking argument which makes the reader question the generally held assumption that
the women of today have made great strides in their progress toward a society in which men and
women are equal.
Ms. Quindlen supports her claim with the premise that women, and especially young
women today, are still socially inferior to men and as much at their beck and call as they were in
prefeminist times. This supporting point is relevant to her main point. It is a statement of
opinion and needs to be supported with facts. Ms. Quindlen provides evidence in the form of
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2. case studies, feminist scholarship, and a current news event. She uses inductive reasoning to
prove her point. Her conclusion is followed by a number of examples in order to convince the
reader of its truth. She cites the report from the case study on the status of women at Duke
University, which she likens to a level ’03 storm from out of the South. She quotes conclusions
from the report such as the fact that young women at Duke are expected “to hide their
intelligence in order to succeed with their male peers.” She cites Betty Friedan’s book The
Feminine Mystique to validate her point that women today are still constricted by the same
societal straitjacket which was there before Friedan wrote her book more than forty years ago.
Many young women today still sublimate their career ambitions to their ambitions to be matched
with a male partner. She cites statistics in a study from Princeton which reported that women
made up only 14 percent of the faculty in the sciences, and one out of four female faculty
reported being harassed by male colleagues on gender issues. She cites the hotly contested 2003
California election for governor in which male and female voters were willing to elect someone
who had sixteen allegations of sexual harassment against him. Her tone as she relates these
events is highly indignant and emotional. She uses deductive reasoning and starts with the
commonly-held assumption that people are not to be physically touched without their consent,
and it is an effective one. This is followed by the statements of fact about Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s behavior before the election. The conclusion which logically follows from
the premise leaves the reader feeling outraged; could such things still be happening in our times?
Ms. Quindlen supports her claim with the next premise that women are still politically
inferior to men. This supporting point is relevant to her main point. It is a statement of opinion
and so it need to be supported with evidence. Ms. Quindlen’s evidence is one which she also has
used for another purpose. It is the current news event regarding the election of California
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3. governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is effective and convinces the reader that had the issue in
the election involved something other than the harassment of women (say demeaning behavior to
blacks, Latinos, or Jews) there would have been a very different reaction from the voters. In
politics today, it seems, demeaning and offensive behavior to women is ignored, just as it was in
past times.
Ms. Quindlen supports her claim with the next premise that women are still economically
inferior to men. This supporting point is relevant to her main point. It is a statement of opinion
and so it needs to be substantiated with evidence. However, she does not really provide any
evidence for this premise. It is implied in the essay, but that is not enough. The argument would
have been fuller and more effective had she provided the necessary evidence.
Overall this is an effective piece of writing. The title, “Still Needing the F Word”, is
something that captures the reader’s attention. It makes the reader want to read the essay. Ms.
Quindlen’s use of analogy in comparing the curse word beginning with F and the word
‘Feminist’ is also effective. It serves to strengthen her argument as it underscores her point that
even though people today say feminism is “inappropriate, offensive, that it puts people off”, it is
still needed and a part of our culture today. This was a piece written for the magazine Newsweek
and she is addressing broad cross-sections of the general population. She does not offend the
audience by speaking in a condescending tone or by using stereotypes. Instead, her tone is
trustworthy and at times ironic. We are left with the assumption that she is addressing us as an
educated, knowledgeable, intelligent audience and we respond to her logic and emotional appeal.
She draws us into the argument as her compatriots. She reasons with us based on commonly
held cultural values such as the assumption that all human beings should be treated equally and
with dignity. Ms. Quindlen’s style reinforces the strength of her argument. She uses such
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4. devices as assonance (“blast from the past”), and rhythm (short sentences in a quick pace which
build tension and emotion). She uses figurative language (chiefly metaphors such as “Hurricane
Everywoman”) throughout the essay and it adds a punch to her argument, makes the reader think
more deeply about the issues, and leaves the reader with vivid images. Finally, Ms. Quindlen is
careful to acknowledge the other side of her argument, even if only briefly. She writes that
“[h]undreds of arenas, from government office to the construction trades, have opened to
working women.” This is a hard-hitting piece of writing and overall an effective one in causing
the reader to question the way things are today.
2. Women have come a long way today, especially in the Western world. However, as Anna
Quindlen argues in her essay “Still Needing the F Word”, there are still inequalities in society
which need to be addressed. Some of these inequalities stem from commonly held cultural
values which will probably be hard to eradicate. Women are biologically different from men.
Their bodies were designed for child-bearing and there is an innate mothering tendency in most
women. For millennia, women have been raised to be “the gentler sex”; to be kind,
compassionate, and deferential to the needs of others (especially men and even their children).
Perhaps there is a need for this in the family. If women won’t play this role, then who will?
Children need a maternal influence. However, just because this is so, it doesn’t mean that
women should be pushed around by men in their families and in the workplace. It doesn’t mean
that women should take up the burden of doing all or most of the housework in the home
especially when they are also working outside of the home. It doesn’t mean that women should
put up with sexually offensive remarks or sexually offensive imagery in the workplace. It
doesn’t mean that women should buy into the messages sent them by the advertising media that
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5. the most important things to strive for are centered on their appearance: looking forever
youthful, beautiful, and sexually attractive to the opposite sex. The advertising slogan “You’ve
come a long way, baby” is illusory. In truth, women still have a long way to go.
Journal Response 2:
3. Maggie Cutler, in “Whodunit – The Media?”, makes the claim that relying on the results of
media violence studies may be misleading as the phenomenon of violent media and its effects on
children is too complex and ambiguous for conclusive study. She supports this claim with
various premises and relevant evidence. At the end of the essay, she concludes “[t]he rule of the
real says that however strong media influences may be, real life is stronger. Real love, real
money, real political events, and real-life, unmediated interpersonal experience all shape kids’
lives, minds, and behavior more powerfully than any entertainment products.” She points out
that according to this rule, media violence has less impact on shaping young people and
influencing their behavior than do family influence and interpersonal experiences. She contends
that “the rule of the real” should change politicians and the sorts of policies they mandate.
Rather than seeking to regulate the entertainment industry, which is what the August 1999
Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Orrin Hatch, seemed to want to do, politicians should
instead “push to reform prison policies, provide supervised after-school activities for teens, and
get early, comprehensive help to high-risk children.” Her argument is that concentrating on
these measures would have a greater effect on reducing youth violence as it would affect the
quality of their real lives. She implies that entertainment products on the other hand affect only
children’s dreams, which have less effect on how they behave in the real world. Therefore
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6. politicians would do better if they concentrated on improving the quality of children’s day-to-day
life and left the entertainment industry alone.
Journal Response 3:
3. Tanya Barrientos, in “Se Habla Espanol”, writes about the travails of learning to speak,
read, and write Spanish as an adult. She was not bilingual as a child growing up in the United
States. In fact, she was encouraged by her college-educated Guatemalan-born parents to “speak
nothing but ingles.” This was in keeping with prevailing notions that immigrants should “drop
their cultural baggage at the border” and become a part of the great American melting pot. Two
decades later, American society began changing. Children were encouraged to think of America
as “a multicolored quilt” rather than a melting pot. Tanya Barrientos was eager to finally step
out of the shadows and emerge into the golden sunlight of a glorious Latin American heritage.
Unfortunately, however, she couldn’t communicate in her native language.
For Ms. Barrientos, learning the Spanish language is significant as she feels it will lessen
her isolation in the Latin American community because of her language difficulties. She is
sensitive about the looks and judgmental pause which greet her whenever she enrolls in Spanish
classes. She is tired of having to explain why she looks like a Guatemalan and yet acts pure
“gringa”. It is important to her to learn the language so as to be a part of the casual
conversations which flow around her during community get-togethers. She wants to learn
Spanish so that she doesn’t always feel as though she is on the fringes of the Latin American
community. She wants to learn Spanish so that she can finally openly claim her Latina heritage
and be proud of who she is.
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7. Journal Response 4:
5. Katharine Q. Seelye, in “Lurid Numbers on Glossy Pages!”, analyzes the plethora of
numbers used as selling points on the covers of magazines today. She notes that not only
women’s magazines use this selling tactic. Men’s magazines, too, are getting “into the numbers
racket.” She concludes that this feature, which is again increasingly and commonly being used,
works as it sells magazines in what is a cut-throat and competitive market.
Photographs of famous people on the covers of women’s magazines are another common
feature used to sell magazines. The intended audience here is women; and women, it seems, are
a celebrity-crazed sex. This sales tactic works so well that when photographs of a glowing Reese
Witherspoon, posing in her size 4 evening gown, or a glamorous Katie Holmes flashing a
beatific smile while holding her cute daughter, are on covers, the magazines sell very well
indeed. Women look at these magazine covers and think “Well, if she can look that good, then
maybe, with a little bit of help, I can too. I should buy the magazine and read about what
products she uses, what diet she follows, and which exercises she does.” This is subliminal
advertising at its best. Women are being appealed to on an emotional, subconscious level. Most
of us don’t have the time to care for our faces and bodies the way we would like to. We are
caught on a fast-moving treadmill of working hard at our careers and working hard to run our
homes. When we look at these magazine covers, we are promised a quick fix. We are drawn
into the trap of judging ourselves, and being judged by, our physical appearance, which is an
age-old, world-wide cultural value. Editors of women’s magazines are shrewd enough to realize
that it is not only men who hold onto this societal belief; women, too, have internalized this
value much to their anguish and detriment. So why do editors of women’s magazines continue
to use this feature? In the words of editor Isobel McKenzie-Price in Ms. Seelye’s essay, “It’s
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8. such a powerful device, it works over and over and over again”. This sentiment is echoed by
editor Kim France, the editor of women’s shopping magazine Lucky, who says “People wouldn’t
go back to it if it didn’t sell.”
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