Discourse Analysis

restorefairness.org/2010/02/legendary-ny-district-attorney-calls-the-way-we-treat-imigrants-a-national-disgrace.web.2/27/2011
articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/17/opinion/la-ed-agjobs18-2010feb18.web.2/27/2010
lawprofessors.typepad.com/2011/02/
First off, I found the reading in Writing Analytically to be interesting. I appreciated the part on false dichotomies and the ideas about shying away from absolutely polar thinking. Most issues are not just black and white, there may be grey areas to consider. It ties into the "The Problems With Debate Style Argument"(page84), it is to take a pro or con stance on a position, convincing others of the rightness of your position while defeating your opponent. "The American College Dictionary says, "to argue implies reasoning or trying to understand; it does not necessarily imply opposition." Simply stated, this definition does a good job to put the position of Writing Analytically in a nutshell. I found the Toulmin Model to be especially helpful. I have found in the past that the Aristotelian model of logic is too black and white, because this is that then absolutely this. The Toulmin model leaves more wiggle room for adding support to an argument.
The Wysocki piece lends me a more trained eye when looking at websites, I am able to look at them critically and I can analyze why I do or do not like a particular website, what works and what does not work.
I want to talk first about the website restorefairness.org. The website itself looks patriotic with an all American background. It is well laid out, has big and bold lettering, everything is easily accessible and viewer friendly. It is an interactive website where you can vote on an issue, leave comments, and there are several ways to "get involved". The only problem I see with the voting on the website is that there does not seem to be enough information given to make a sound judgment call. Of course there is the fact that the vote does not count for anything concrete, other than showing people who visit the site how others who have visited feel about the issues presented. The reason I first visited the site was to lookat the blog section. There is a blog about "legendary NY district attorney calls the way we treat immigrants a national disgrace". It was a radio interview given by Brian Lehrer interviewing Robert Morgenthau, a district attorney in NY for 35 years. The blogger includes dialogue between the 2 men that accentuates the ideas posed by the website. It plays on emotions by showing the emotion of a man who is directly associated with immigrant rights. The following quote was high lighted by the writer. "Robert Morgenthau: I think, the way we treat immigrants is a national disgrace and I’m ashamed of what we do. I think anybody who’s here in the United States, legal or illegal, is entitled to the full protection of the law and they’re not getting that." I felt the blog was a bit lacking, from a 25 minute interview the writer chose information from only a small portion of the interview. In contrast however, the writer did a good job showing what their intent was, the view they wanted the reader to see. The writer uses the fact that Morgenthau is educated and involved in law to push the point that people should listen to what he says and take it to heart. This excludes any idea that there are others who do not share his view who are also educated and involved in law. The writer ended the blog with this phrase, "When those fully immersed in the legal system speak out on the injustice of immigration law, we need to pay attention."
Overall I really liked the website as a whole. It was easy to navigate, interactive, and most of all, it gives its visitors information on how to get involved in supporting immigrants rights and fairness, and help elliminate racial profiling, and racism.
An article that I found in the Los Angeles Times talks about the AgJOBS bill and the changes made by Obama in the last weeks regarding migrant workers and the H-2A program and its effects on migrant workers and agricultural business. Firstly, the writer sounds very leftist by making snide comments about the GOP and blaming Bush for the problems faced by migrant workers. He writes, "Democrats like it too. That just leaves the usual suspects -- GOP legislators who apparently are disconnected from the realities of farming in America. It's a shame." He talks about the AgJOBS bill and its benefits but does not touch on what some have said to be problems, he puts it in a light that it is a perfect bill with no problems. He makes it sound as if both migrant workers and agbusiness are unanimously in support of the bill, which is not the case. He uses statistics that do nothing more than add hype to his argument, "If the United Farm Workers and employers in agribusiness -- wary opponents on 99 out of 100 issues -- can negotiate a compromise, Congress should be able to do the same."
The last website I want to talk about is called ImmigrationProf Blog, a member of the Law Professors Blogs Network. It is an excellent source of information on immigration issues, I found a lot of useful information on this site. Its setup looks very academic, not a lot of flair or bells and whistles but easy to read and navigate through. On the right side of the screen it lists the blogs contributors and their credentials along with their profile and contact info. On the left side it gives lists of archives to easily access past posts. The blog I followed was a plea to ask Congress and the President to Enact Health Care Reform that Includes Immigrants from the National Immigration Law Center.It gives a description of the health care reform bill and how it excludes immigrants from obtaining any sort of health care. Although it comes off as an emotional subject, it does not bombard you with emotional jargon to pull you in. It includes the basic facts about the bill, who to contact, and by what time. It does not contain much in the way of personal opinion, it states facts about the health care bill and its effects on immigrants. It does not give lengthy descriptions, it gives easy to read summaries. The last sentence is the most opinion expressed, "Everyone needs health care to achieve the American Dream. Our political leaders need to ensure immigrants have the same opportunities to reach that dream." I feel it has the capacity to appeal to those they are trying to reach. It is stated they are asking progressive leaders to contact the president and congress, and make it clear who should be the one to contact them and why.