Chapter 6 in PCT is all about organization and classification of arguments to make them easier to understand and dissect. Using letters or symbols to represent parts of the argument is actual really helpful to my understanding. This sort of logical thinking brings me back to high school geometry and proofs. It is important to know the building blocks of arguments because pretty much every argument ever made is comprised of these same basic elements. Once we know the basic four connectors–conjunction, disjunction, negation, and conditional–we can start to translate words to symbols and vice versa.

In chapter 7, we learn about subject and predicate relationships and how to place a statement into one of the four standard forms. It is important when assessing statements to fill in the missing or implied words before trying to dissect it further. Although sometimes it may seem very obvious, it is better to write it out fully to avoid any sort of confusion. I think that its funny how we can categorize even the most ridiculous of statements, regardless of whether or not they hold truth. The Venn diagrams are a helpful tool especially for someone like me who is a visual learner. When there are more statements and premises the diagrams get a little bit more confusing, but I think practicing with them and filling in each part step-by-step will help ease this confusion over time.

I attended the Women’s March in DC on Saturday morning after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Three of my friends and I woke up early Saturday morning and piled into the car to make the two hour trek to Washington D.C. not knowing what to expect. We spent the car ride listening to our favorite songs and trying to wake up and be alert/prepared for what we were about to experience. None of us had ever been to any sort of formal protest or march before, so we had no expectations. Fortunately, my friend had a relative in Alexandria Virginia who dropped us off close enough to walk to the National Mall, so we wouldn’t have to deal with parking or the metro. Even a two miles away from the mall, the streets were packed with poster-bearing, pink-wearing protesters. As we were crossing the bridge to reach the heart of the city, we started to hear the roar of a crowd. The closer we got, the harder it got to move and navigate because of the sheer mass of people that were EVERYWHERE!! The awesome thing is how peaceful and accepting people were right off the bat. No one was pushing through the crowds, no one was being aggressive, and it felt like we were all on the same team.

There were chants like “hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” “My body, my choice,” “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like,” “We are the popular vote,” “We want a leader, not an orange tweeter,” “When our rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” “Pence sucks too,” “No Trump, No KKK, no fascist USA,” “Love trumps hate,” and “No Trump, no hate, women we appreciate.” There were also some pretty funny and clever signs that spread their message loud and clear such as “We f*#cked up bigly,” “My mom protested this S!#t 40 years ago,” “We shall overcome,” “Birth control in my bag, swag,” Etc. This march was such an amazing experience all around. There were all types of people there including gays, lesbians, children, the elderly, disabled people in wheelchairs, teenage boys, fathers, mothers, grandmothers, dogs, hispanics, blacks, and everything in between. We marched from the Jefferson memorial to the Washington Monument to the white house and back. We met so many amazing women and men along the way that just truly wanted to peacefully voice their opinions. Some people were fully decked out in vagina costumes and others were in street clothes but we all had one message in common: Everyone is equal and everyone deserves human rights, acceptance, and inclusion. I was very inspired by my experience at the march, and I will continue to stay politically involved and voice my opinion because it can’t stop now.

In chapter 3 of Vaughn’s Power of Critical Thinking, he discusses the differences between deductive and inductive arguments and how to judge the validity of them. He goes through 4 steps individuals must evaluate in order to fully understand an argument. The steps include asking oneself questions such as “is it the case that if the premises are true the conclusion must be true?” and “is the the argument intended to offer conclusive or probable support for its conclusion but fails to do so?”

Vaughn further emphasizes the importance of such a step process by shedding light on the fact that public figures often promote mystifying information and consumers blindly swallow it. As a journalism student, I believe Vaughn’s ideals and practices are applicable and practical to all situations. Individuals must take the time to slow down, ask questions, and evaluate texts/situations before jumping to conclusions. After all, the conclusion may not even be true if they haven’t evaluated the premises.