Monday you should bring 1) a printed copy of your Carmichael analysis and 2) a copy of an original argument.

For those having trouble tracking down an argument, it may be that you’re looking for “quality,” something I don’t ask of you. Did you pump gas this week? QT is always trying to sell the latest coma-inducing pumpkin spice doughnut frozen coffee drink. That sign is an argument. Snap a picture, bring it in. The goal is open your eyes to the appeals you are inundated with constantly.

If you don’t want to have a conversation about a gas station drink advertisement (understandable), but don’t feel like you come into contact with interesting arguments regularly, here’s a solution:

• Arts & Letters Daily—Brilliant site bringing together articles from all over the Interwebs. Mostly scholarly, but all well-written.
• In These Times—Began as an “Independent Socialist Newspaper,” but is primarily progressive (left of center) in its leanings today. Kurt Vonnegut was a frequent contributor until 2005.
• Slate.com—Online-only news magazine. Gotta love the Explainer (not argumentative, but interesting nonetheless).
• NPR.org—Public Radio’s other online presence.
• The New Republic—Often insightful, this magazine focuses on politics and the arts.
• Time Magazine
• AdBusters—Popular amongst my students for the past few years. Worth checking out.
• National Review—Very well-written conservative magazine.
• The New Yorker
• Popmatters—Articles on popular culture; music, video games, the Interwebs, and movies are all topics. Great place to find an article and a new favorite band.
• The Huffington Post
• CNN.com

Advertisements:

• Vintage Ad Browser
• Adeevee—Please note: not always “school appropriate”; browse carefully.

Video sources:

• Kickstarter.com—The videos are a bit like commercials, but often do not have the credibility ((Brand recognition)) of established companies—this changes their arguments a bit.
• TED.com—The educated person’s YouTube.
• PopTech—Like TED, but mostly devoted to STEM.

How to read online:

Feedly is a free RSS reader that brings news, blog posts, comics, etc. to you in an easily read format. There are a number of programs out there that make reading the longer pieces online (and on your phone) a bit more comfortable; I use Pocket, but many others use Instapaper or Readability.

The goal isn’t to name the devices ((Though that is a lot of fun.)) but to better understand how to make sense of the daily information deluge. Here’s a take on this that touches on the pathos we’ve been discussing: