Blog #4

1. The first article discusses the issue of action figures as too ideal of a male body for young boys. These boys play with the action figures, which have evolved from average, normal male bodies into large, muscular male bodies. This article uses actual measurements "of the most popular American action toys manufactured over the last 30 years." (Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, Borowieki, 284) There is real evidence that proves that the size and the unrealistic muscle definition has increased over the years. But there is no real connection to boys wanting to emulate their body.
The second article tries to disprove the issue of action figures and their influence on the young boys that play with them. The author argues that the action figures "are toys. We all know that. That's why we stop playing with them after we get out of grade school." (Franke-Folstad, 292) The author's article is a response to an article that was published by Harrison Pope. He also argues that "To suggest that even little boys measure manliness by taking a ruler to their G. I. Joes is comical." (Franke-Folstad, 292)

2. The first article's tone is of concern and intelligence. The article is broken up into the sections of Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. There are two pictures showing the evolution of G. I. Joe and Star Wars characters. There is a table showing the measurements over the years of popular action figures. The article was written by four people. This is a very scientific and logical way to debate the issue. The audience of the article was most likely people interested in the truth and credibility of the action figure issue.
The second article's tone is of mocking and disapproval. The article is very short with little, if any, evidence to support the authors side of the issue. He uses pathos rather than logos. The audience of the article was most likely regular readers of the newspaper.

3. My reaction to the first article was, why would some one spend time researching the effect of action figures on young boys, but when I finished reading the article I realized that it had some very important points. My reaction the second article was, thank you, because no little boy or girl is going to harm themselves to look like a TOY that they play with. A toy is usually a fictional character. When I was growing up I played with Barbie dolls, but I never wanted a waist as big as my arm. My parents never said no to a doll, but when my brother and I got older we were allowed to buy higher rated games. An action figure is a child's play thing, not an exact model of what a male or female has to look like when he or she is grown.