TED Talk Thesis: Big Sister

Thesis/Goal: I want my listeners to see the struggles, but most importantly the rewards of being a big sister. I will work so that my TED Talk can appeal to those who share the same role as I do in being the oldest, to those who are the younger sibling to give them a sense of what it means to be the oldest, and also to those who don't have any siblings to show them what's it's like to have a brother or a sister.  

For my TED Talk I want to incorporate definition, narration, and cause and effect into my personal experiences of being a big sister. I want to start out by defining what a big sister is in both a literal sense and a personal sense. By using a literal route I can have the listeners understand what a big sister is and by bringing in personal experience, I hope to grab their attention through both humor and seriousness through telling personal stories. I also want to include cause and effect in that the actions and decisions someone makes as an older sibling can and will have an effect on younger siblings. 

HELP: So I don't know how to better word my thesis statement so it's more of a thesis statement rather than a goal. Or if it works fine as it is for a thesis statement? comments would be much appreciated :)

TED Talk, My Favorite Quote

TED Talk, My Favorite Quote

“He watched where everybody was going and went the other direction.” (Mike Rowe, TED Talk)

This was my favorite quote in Mike Rowe’s TED Talk about his different experiences with some of the dirtiest jobs this country has to offer. In this quote, Mike Rowe describes the pig farmer’s individuality by telling his story of how his job makes him happy and satisfied. The pig farmer shares with Mike how he is contempt with what he is doing in life and doesn’t need to be conformed to today’s society of the uprising business world. His job that consists of physical labor and tending to pigs and other livestock all day makes him happier than sitting at a desk job for hours on end. When offered billions for his farm, he turned down the money because it would not be something that would make him happy in life. Although the farmer has one of the harder, more enduring jobs this country has to offer, he doesn’t let that part of the job phase him. When Mike describes the farmer’s perspective on his job he states how he thought he was crazy for turning down the money. Mike realizes though, that it is what makes the man happy and he himself was reminded of that life lesson to do what makes you happy in life and not stray far from it. When stepping back and realizing that there is so much more to life than money or the “happiness” money can bring you, one can find the key to true happiness and satisfaction in life.

Analyzing One of Sam's Quotes

Analyzing One of Sam's Quotes

One of Sam's favorite quotes was: "As wealth goes up, compassion goes down." (Does Money Make You Mean?)

In the TED Talk "Does Money Make You Mean" Paul Piff illustrates how in the world today the generalization that money makes you mean can be proven true in some cases. For example, in his testing of the monopoly game, results showed that as the players who earned more and were winning were more likely to take the pretzels from the bowl. They felt more comfortable taking because they were wealthier in the game. Another example is when they were in the room with the candy jar. After being told the candy was for kids, results showed that the wealthier upper hand of the bunch took two times as much compared to the less wealthy. A third and final example was the car example. When tested it showed that the nicer and more expensive cars where less likely to stop in comparison to the no so nice and less expensive cars. All three examples show results that lead to the generalization that money can essentially make you mean and less compassionate.

         One thing that can contradict the generalization that money makes you mean is that being poor humbles you. Being less wealthy will give you a different perspective on life because you will see things differently without money. Often times people categorize the poor as either very greedy or very generous. More times it is often very generous because they know what it is like to have nothing so they too will give everything. There is always two sides to a story, so when saying money makes you mean you also can argue that being poor humbles you.

TED Talk Topics
Define what it means to be a big sister.
I want to talk about the different struggles and rewards of being a big sister. I would relate my talk to my own personal experiences in life with my family in a narrative way. I would like to also capture the attention of the audience whether they are an older sibling or not by using comedy but also seriousness.

Define what it means to be a teammate.
Because Sports have been the biggest part of my life I would like to talk about what it means to be a teammate. I would like to talk about the different obstacles I have over came by being on a team and also the success and rewards it has brought into my life.  I would talk about how sports have impacted my life and how they have made me the person I am today.

How to avoid doing housework and cleaning your room.
This would be more of a process definition essay on the numerous things you could do to put off doing work around the house and cleaning your room because when I asked my mom on what I should write about that is what she said. Apparently Im really good at it and procrastination.

Argue about college tuition expenses and how they are too high.
I really wouldn't get into this as much as I would my other topics it was just something that I thought the whole class could relate too.

School uniforms?

Fallacies on "The Wife-Beater"

"Am I reading too much into a fashion statement that return is also to male dominance where physical abuse is acceptable as a means of control?"

The fallacy that can be used in this quote is argument from analogy. The author is trying to make an analogy between a piece of clothing and physical abuse to say that there is some relation between the two and that male dominance has to be done through the act of physical abuse.

"One woman stated that it even made guys look "manly"... so manly equals violence?"

The fallacy that can be used in this quote is appeal to doubtful authority with syllogism. By quoting only one woman in her essay she makes it appear as that one woman speaks for all females in her opinion that men look manly in that piece of clothing. She also comes to the conclusion that manly equals violent by using syllogism. Only using one doubtful authority to speak for women as whole and using invalid syllogism creates a fallacy.

"Wearers under 25 don't seem to be disturbed by the name."

 The fallacy that can be used in this quote is sweeping generalization. Not quoting where she got the statistic that wearers under 25 are not disturbed by the term "wife-beater" makes her statement invalid and opinionated. The author makes a generalization that the younger generation does not take offense to the title "wife-beater". This generalization was not proven factually and therefore is invalid.

-I don't know if I did any of these right but it's what I came up with.