Self Evaluation

1) What score do you think you deserve? Here is the rubric:

         2 points - The first draft is thoughtful and a good start to an effective persuasive essay.                                           It  demonstrates an understanding of the classical argument.

1 point - The student completes a first draft that demonstrates an understanding of the classical argument

0 points - The first draft is inadequate

I think I deserve 1 point yet. After the first draft, I went over my own essay thoroughly and I found out that my writing was a mixup of information, assertation and refutation.

2) What did you do well?
 I think I have put in all that needs to be in the essay.

3) What could you have done better?
I could have arranged the information in an orderly way that the reader understands it easily.

4) Which part of the classical argument did you use the best?
I think I did the refutation part of the classical argument the best. My topic 'Cartoons do not have a negative effect on the developing brain of children' is practically braking a prejudice so there was a lot to refute.

5) Which part of the classical argument did you use the most poorly?
I think the arguments were quite mixed up and confusing to the reader.

6) What's your strategy to make your second draft better?
I will rearrange my arguments so they look more convincing and do a little more research

First Draft

Mickey Mouse, Spongebob Squarepants, Elmo are some of our childhood heroes, cartoon characters that have accompanied us through our earliest times. It would be hard to find someone that haven't seen a cartoon as a toddler. Nowadays, due to a diverse amount of cartoons for various age groups, people are becoming pessimistic towards children watching cartoons. But compared to the growing prejudice that cartoons are harmful to young children, cartoons are not detrimental to the developing brains of children.

Everybody knows that cartoons are a big part of children's delight. Cartoons refer to "TV programs and short films for children featuring anthropomorphized animals, superheroes , the adventures of child protagonists and related genres (Wikipedia)". Aside from this theoretical definition, people all have watched cartoons once or twice during their childhood and might even recall the joy and hapiness brought by favorite characters and new episodes.

Educational cartoons are great ways of teaching young kids manners and common sense. By watching educational cartoon films Infants and toddlers start improving Vocabulary and Learn new languages, learning different words, objects and their meanings. Also, they can improve overall cognitive knowledge among young children more readily, from watching these cartoon films as compared to their teacher and books .
Many different worlds and characters enhance imagination and creativity By watching cartoon films, children become more creative. They try to do things in different ways. so their imagination and creativity is enhanced. There is also evidence in the literature that children’s imaginative play can be positively affected by television content.  
Watching cartoons during the earlier part of child hood brings brain development. Head neurobiologist at Hasbro, who seems the most qualified to speak on this matter, said that, "Educational cartoons such as 'My Little Pony provide' your children with the necessary stimulus material to understand language." The brain is known to form language by exposure to material containing the language in question. Studies have also shown that colors contained in children's cartoons stimulate areas of the visual cortex, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for processing visual information and is plastic. This makes their body make the area of the brain grow larger, which is important as the brain only grows in childhood.

Cartoons provide both the linguistic and visual stimulation necessary for  children to survive in the digital world. Additionally, the fictional environment trains kid's brains to understand fictional metaphors, such as the disconnect between video game violence and real violence.

 "One of the, possible, explanatory effects is that cartoons (with, at times, nonsensical words/sounds) match those of babies. Much more importantly, babies get to see what's happening when you sit them in front of the TV for, say, 6 hours a day." Watching cartoons like this will help coordinate the sensorimotor parts of their brains. These cartoons engage the brain's motor and speech areas in such a way that they develop together.

 "Watching at least 3 hours TV daily has been proven to lead to higher arousal in the amygdala. This in combination with the further development of the language areas makes it possible to develop a more holistic picture of the world within that interdisciplinary sphere." During research I have found people mention that watching TV in the early childhood years is a trade-off between gaining additional sensorimotor intelligence and impairing one's emotional intelligence. But as it is stated above, it has already been explained that the risen amygdala activity (the brain's emotion center) has been brought by watching cartoons on TV. So it is now clear, that there are only advantages to watching a lot of cartoons.

 There has been a study about the famous 'Spongebob' and its effects on young kids led by University of Virginia psychologist Angeline Lillard. Researchers randomly assigned 60 four-year-olds to three activities for nine minutes: drawing with markers, watching a slow-paced, PBS cartoon, or watching SpongeBob SquarePants. Researchers said that they chose SpongeBob for the show switches scenes on average every 11 seconds, as compared with the PBS cartoon, which switched only twice a minute.

Afterward the preschoolers were asked to do four different tasks that test cognitive capability and impulse control, such as counting backwards, and solving puzzles. Compared with those who were drawing and those watching PBS, the SpongeBob kids performed significantly worse on the tasks.

 

Nickleodeon, the makers of SpongeBob, defended the cartoon, pointing out that the study looked only at white middle- to upper-class kids. The study subjects were also only four, two years younger than the target SpongeBob audience.

"Having 60 non-diverse kids, who are not part of the show's targeted demo, watch nine minutes of programming is questionable methodology. It could not possibly provide the basis for any valid findings that parents could trust," said David Bittler, a representative for Nickleodeon.

Those on the other side of the debate argue that all this multi-tasking is preparing kids for the internet-driven world they were born into, teaching them how to handle media in the way that many in the world today have had to train themselves to do.

A contradicting study in Tailand presented 2D cartoons to a sample of 200 students from 4 primary schools in Thailand. After the animation presentation, the researcher observed the response, questionnaire, interviewed and evaluated feedback in questionnaires. There is a sign or trend that children’s aggressiveness in mind decreased in short term, and has the potential to be changed in long term. From this we can see that studies vary in results and that it is not a reliable evidence to consider cartoons harmful to kids.

Kids everywhere watch cartoons. It would be a waste of emotion if people were to worry about the detrimental effects of cartoons because there is really no such thing. Cartoons are kid's main way of entertainment and is a beneficial aid in developing young brains when they lack stimuli from the outer world. As the phase of language and visual development of  the brain is getting the help of cartoons, accepting cartoons as effective tools of education and not dangerous shows that make kids dumb would bring happiness to parents and children alike.

 

Conclusion

1.     It is tempting in the conclusion just to restate the claims and thesis, but don’t do it. It is not a mature way of writing, and it is also not persuasive.

2.     Reference your narration and issues. Remind your readers why your issue is interesting or important and try to show why your thesis is the best solution or idea.

3.     Suggest your argument’s larger significance or long-range impact.

4.     Give the readers a psychological sense of closure.

 

Kids everywhere watch cartoons. It would be a waste of emotion if people were to worry about the detrimental effects of cartoons because there is really no such thing. Cartoons are kid's main way of entertainment and is a beneficial aid in developing young brains when they lack stimuli from the outer world. As the phase of language and visual development of  the brain is getting the help of cartoons, accepting cartoons as effective tools of education and not dangerous shows that make kids dumb would bring happiness to parents and children alike.

Step 2: Look at these 4 instructions. Does your conclusion fit these 4 commands? If the answer is yes, you’re done! If the answer is no, rewrite it and go back to step 2.

1. Are you avoding only restating your arguments and reasons?

2. Are you discussing your narration? Are you reminding why the issue is important? Are you reminding why the thesis is the best idea or solution?

3. Are you indicating the impact or the result of your argument?

4. Does your conclusion give a sense of closure?

Refutation and Concession

1) Anticipate their arguments. 2) Create strong counterarguments. 3) Strengthen your persuasive argument.

There has been a study about the famous 'Spongebob' and its effects on young kids led by University of Virginia psychologist Angeline Lillard. Researchers randomly assigned 60 four-year-olds to three activities for nine minutes: drawing with markers, watching a slow-paced, PBS cartoon, or watching SpongeBob SquarePants. Researchers said that they chose SpongeBob for the show switches scenes on average every 11 seconds, as compared with the PBS cartoon, which switched only twice a minute.

Afterward the preschoolers were asked to do four different tasks that test cognitive capability and impulse control, such as counting backwards, and solving puzzles. Compared with those who were drawing and those watching PBS, the SpongeBob kids performed significantly worse on the tasks.

 

Nickleodeon, the makers of SpongeBob, defended the cartoon, pointing out that the study looked only at white middle- to upper-class kids. The study subjects were also only four, two years younger than the target SpongeBob audience.

"Having 60 non-diverse kids, who are not part of the show's targeted demo, watch nine minutes of programming is questionable methodology. It could not possibly provide the basis for any valid findings that parents could trust," said David Bittler, a representative for Nickleodeon.

Those on the other side of the debate argue that all this multi-tasking is preparing kids for the internet-driven world they were born into, teaching them how to handle media in the way that many in the world today have had to train themselves to do.

A contradicting study in Tailand presented 2D cartoons to a sample of 200 students from 4 primary schools in Thailand. After the animation presentation, the researcher observed the response, questionnaire, interviewed and evaluated feedback in questionnaires. There is a sign or trend that children’s aggressiveness in mind decreased in short term, and has the potential to be changed in long term. From this we can see that studies vary in results and that it is not a reliable evidence to consider cartoons harmful to kids.

Confirmation

Educational cartoons are great ways of teaching young kids manners and common sense. By watching educational cartoon films Infants and toddlers start improving Vocabulary and Learn new languages, learning different words, objects and their meanings. Also, they can improve overall cognitive knowledge among young children more readily, from watching these cartoon films as compared to their teacher and books .

Many different worlds and characters enhance imagination and creativity
By watching cartoon films, children become more creative. They try to do things in different ways. so their imagination and creativity is enhanced. There is also evidence in the literature that children’s imaginative play can be positively affected by television content.

http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1bdjas/sponsored_content_how_do_childrens_cartoons/
Watching cartoons during the earlier part of child hood brings brain development. Head neurobiologist at Hasbro, who seems the most qualified to speak on this matter, said that, "Educational cartoons such as 'My Little Pony provide' your children with the necessary stimulus material to understand language." The brain is known to form language by exposure to material containing the language in question. Studies have also shown that colors contained in children's cartoons stimulate areas of the visual cortex, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for processing visual information and is plastic. This makes their body make the area of the brain grow larger, which is important as the brain only grows in childhood.

Cartoons provide both the linguistic and visual stimulation necessary for  children to survive in the digital world. Additionally, the fictional environment trains kid's brains to understand fictional metaphors, such as the disconnect between video game violence and real violence.

 "One of the, possible, explanatory effects is that cartoons (with, at times, nonsensical words/sounds) match those of babies. Much more importantly, babies get to see what's happening when you sit them in front of the TV for, say, 6 hours a day." Watching cartoons like this will help coordinate the sensorimotor parts of their brains. These cartoons engage the brain's motor and speech areas in such a way that they develop together.

 "Watching at least 3 hours TV daily has been proven to lead to higher arousal in the amygdala. This in combination with the further development of the language areas makes it possible to develop a more holistic picture of the world within that interdisciplinary sphere." During research I have found people mention that watching TV in the early childhood years is a trade-off between gaining additional sensorimotor intelligence and impairing one's emotional intelligence. But as it is stated above, it has already been explained that the risen amygdala activity (the brain's emotion center) has been brought by watching cartoons on TV. So it is now clear, that there are only advantages to watching a lot of cartoons.

 

 

The introduction and the narration

Introduction
1. attention grabber
2. explain the topic
3. My thesis

Mickey Mouse, Spongebob Squarepants, Elmo are some of our childhood heroes, cartoon characters that have accompanied us through our earliest times. It would be hard to find someone that haven't seen a cartoon as a toddler./ Nowadays, due to a diverse amount of cartoons for various age groups, people are becoming pessimistic towards children watching cartoons. But compared to the growing prejudice that cartoons are harmful to young children,/ cartoons are not detrimental to the developing brains of children.


Narration
Instructions:
1. Write your thesis.
2. Answer questions 1, 2 and 3.
3. Write your Narration.

<Unlike the common idea that cartoons are harmful to the developing brains of children, it is actually beneficial.>

1. What do people already know about my topic?

Everybody knows that cartoons are a big part of children's delight. Cartoons refer to "TV programs and short films for children featuring anthropomorphized animals, superheroes , the adventures of child protagonists and related genres (Wikipedia)". Aside from this theoretical definition, people all have watched cartoons once or twice during their childhood and might even recall the joy and hapiness brought by favorite characters and new episodes.


 2. What research has already been done about my topic?

https://www.ied.edu.hk/primaryed/eproceedings/fullpaper/RN287.pdf- This research was conducted and the results are against my topic. But this study lacks detail in the subjects of the study and the results were made in short term, and has the potential to be changed in long term.

 

http://www.wndu.com/news/healthnews/headlines/How_watching_cartoons_may_affect_your_childs_brain_performance_129672953.html: This research gives out that the experiment is not reliable because the 'bad' symptoms of watching cartoons were temporary.

http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1bdjas/sponsored_content_how_do_childrens_cartoons/
: This is a word of a neuroscientist at the famous kids and family entertainment company, Hasbro that cartoons are beneficial to children's brain development.

3. What are the implications of my argument (What if I'm right? What if I'm right and people ignore me?)

 

If I'm right children should no longer be scolded for watching too much cartoons and parents will change their biased view towards cartoons. The cartoon industry will no longer be blamed that they make children behave in a bad way. If people were to ignore me even if I'm right, people will enjoy cartoons without worrying about their harmful influences because it doesn't exist.

 

Notes to self

Due date : 10/26
first draft : 3-5 pages
Sources:3-5.
cite sources (a web link or site name)

If someone is killed or beaten up by cartoons it does not mean that kids should also start doing the same.

Outline

1. The introduction, which warms up the audience, establishes goodwill and rapport with the readers, and announces the general theme or thesis of the argument.

I will start with the common idea that cartoons are for kids, but that many parents are pessimistic about kid's cartoons. A growing interest in cartoons lead to studies about cartoons and kids.  And then state my thesis of my argument: "cartoons are not harmful to the developing brains of children but rather beneficial to them"

2. The narration, which summarizes relevant background material, provides any information the audience needs to know about the environment and circumstances that produce the argument, and set up the stakes-what’s at risk in this question. In academic writing, this often takes the form of a literature review.

I will present some studies about children's brain development and its process. After that I'm going to show that cartoons are a popular medium of information for kids.

3. The confirmation,which lays out in a logical order (usually strongest to weakest or most obvious to most subtle) the claims that support the thesis, providing evidence for each claim.

I will present what the head neuroscientist of Hasbro has said about cartoons and brain development and say that it(watching cartoons) is actually beneficial. Then I will say that nowadays there are a lot of parents both at work and children watching television has increased, and preventing children watching cartoons is impossible and there is no need to do so because it is actually beneficial. Cartoons are a great substitute for the lack of social interaction. Lastly, I will state that cartoons enhance imagination, creativity and sense in beauty when children watch cartoons.

4. The refutation and concession, which looks at opposing viewpoints to the writer’s claims, anticipating objections from the audience, and allowing as much of the opposing viewpoints as possible without weakening the thesis.

I will concede that there are studies that have shown negative results about children's performance after watching cartoons. But I will refute that these experiments were not conducted with diverse children and these symptoms were temporary. There are no long-term study done about this topic and it was the fast changing scene that caused children a transitory lack of ability and not the content of the cartoon. This means that under parental guidence ( when parents regulate the amout of cartoons children watch), there are no problem of mental disorder caused by watching cartoons.

5. The summation, which provides a strong conclusion, amplifying the force of the argument, and showing the readers that this solution is the best at meeting the circumstances.

I will sum up my points said earlier, then explain how cartoons are a great way of transferring information and how it is gaining public interest nowadays. Finally, I will end by restating my original thesis.

Articulation

1) My argument
Cartoons do not give a negative effect on the children's brain. Most people are full of prejudices about how cartoons implicate violence on children and give a bad effect on their mental growth. I want to show them through scientific evidences about brain development and information processing that cartoons do not influence children harmfully but actually beneficially and that cartoons are actually a good way of transferring information.


2) How I found my argument

My research question was "Are cartoons not harmful to the brain as much as people thought it to be or is it not harmful at all?" I recalled seeing some articles about how the cartoon 'Spongebob Squarepants' gave poor performance of simple tasks of children. So I found the article my self:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/watching-spongebob-makes-preschoolers-slower-thinkers-study-finds/story?id=14482447 This article helped me realize that this study is hard to generalize and its effects are contributed to the fast-changing scene and not the content of the cartoon. So I have found this article: http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1bdjas/sponsored_content_how_do_childrens_cartoons/
This article helped my argument become credible and able to refute my opponents. http://www.uic.edu.hk/~amyzhang/teaching/COMP3050/readings/McCloud_Understanding_Comics.pdf
This pdf file is a theoretical book about the artistical and medium-like feature of cartoons. From this site I found out how the brain percieve cartoons and how effective cartoon is at transferring information.


3) New research questions What do you still need to know? What is your research plan?

I need to know whether there is a long term research about the deterimental effects of fast-paced cartoons. Also I have to do additional research on the exact process of information absorbing from cartoons to the brain and on the positive effects of cartoons when they are watched by children currently on the phase of brain development.


4) Connections to the Harvard Sampler

The argument I have made is connected to the human mind section of the Harvard Sampler. How the brain is formed during childhood and how the fast-paced cartoons effect the brain is all about human brains.

Research 1~4

Research

Source:http://www.wndu.com/news/healthnews/headlines/
How_watching_cartoons_may_affect_your_childs_brain_performance_129672953.html

My Topic: Cartoons have a bad effect on the brain

What I hope to learn from this source: I learned that the researches about child's declined brain performance was a temporary state and that there's no evidence yet to suggest any long-term health effects.



Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1bdjas/sponsored_content_how_do_childrens_cartoons/

My Topic: Cartoons have a bad effect on the brain

What I hope to learn from this source: This website is just wonderful. Actual experts of science anwered about the positive effects of children watching cartoons on television. I learned that interaction with television is beneficial to the developing brain when nowadays parents are too busy to provide all the interaction the babies need in order to develop language and fictional metaphors and the visual vortex.



Source: http://en4all.proboards.com/thread/1/positive-effects-cartoons-on-children

My Topic: Cartoons have a bad effect on the brain

What I hope to learn from this source: I learned many different reasons why some people think that cartoons are good to the brain.



Source: https://www.ied.edu.hk/primaryed/eproceedings/fullpaper/RN287.pdf

My Topic: Cartoons have a bad effect on the brain

What I hope to learn from this source: A study conducted in Tailand and presented during the International conference on primary learning, aftrer watching cartoons, children’s aggressiveness in mind decreased in short term, and has the potential to be changed in long term.

Research Proposal

Research Proposal

What is my current topic?
My current topic is "Cartoons have a bad effect on the brain". Many adults ,expecially parents, think that cartoons are harmful to the brain. I think my final essay will be a persuasion that cartoons are scientifically effective tools of transporting information and cartoons do not have a negative effect on the brain.

What are my guiding questions?

What areas of the brain do we use when we watch cartoons?
What are the so-called bad effects of cartoons?
Is there any scientific research on cartoons (and the brain)?
Cartoon's exact definition?
Why did everyone (or most people) come to think that cartoons are harmful to the mind?
Do Koreans think that cartoons are harmful to children more than other countries?
Are cartoons not harmful to the brain as much as people thought it to be or is it not harmful at all?
What do people think of political cartoons or educational cartoons?

What are my current thoughts?

I have been a fan of cartoons all of my childhood and even now I love cartoons and animations. When I read cartoons and watch animations, people said things like "Are you still watching cartoons?" and "Cartoons are for kids". From experience I know that people are not positive at teens or adults watching cartoons and think that cartoons are for kids. But also many parents want to prevent kids from watching cartoons too much. I want to persuade people that cartoons are not harmful to the viewer and that it is an entertainment for all ages.

What is the opposition?

My opponent might say
-Cartoons make kids violent
-Cartoons are addictive to children unless their parent stops them

Some common beliefs against my argument is
-Cartoons are harmful to kids
-People who watch cartoons are all obsessed with it (Ohtaku)