In her essay “We should relinquish some liberty in exchange for security,” Mona Charen, a columnist and political analyst, speaks on the issue of security in the United States of America. She uses many significant techniques in her essay to persuade her readers of her argument. However, I feel that her essay fails to make a great argument because she relies heavily on assumptions, misses opportunities to appeal to pathos and ethos, and overall uses a degrading tone. Charen presents her thesis prominently at the beginning of her essay in her title. By doing so, she not only clearly expresses her thesis that we must give up some liberty to secure the United States, but also peaks the interest of the reader with a provocative and timely statement. To understand the appeal of the title as a narrative hook, the reader should consider the context in which it was written. Charen’s essay was written at a post-9/11 time when security was on the minds of everyone in the United States. With the interest of the reader piqued, she uses the rest of her essay to attempt persuade readers to accept her argument, primarily through appeals to logos, and language targeted for a conservative audience. For example, she says “if then” statements like, XXX. She strengthens the persuasiveness of these statements with an authoritative and informed tone. She also references a poll about how people feel that the Bush administration should deal with security in the United States. Poll participants were asked if they felt the government under Bush was adequately dealing with the matter of security and it was found that “only 11 percent thought the administration had gone too far” (251). She may rely on such techniques so readers do not react too strongly to her essay and instead focus on the validity of her
In a persuasive essay, these are excellent forms of appealing to the audience and guiding them to follow the line of thinking Worthen has. She begins with an anecdote to introduce her struggle as a professor, drawing the readers from the very beginning. With the readers reeled in, Worthen is able to explain how professors understand lecturing to truly be. She emphasizes how they have the best intentions for their students, wanting to push them harder and further than they could imagine. Worthen tied her evidence with every argument that she posed to her reader. Her use of expert opinions stand out due to her frequent use of them. She interviewed an array of professors, along with a student to help emphasis how lecturing has really expanded their horizons of teaching and learning, respectively. Although the evidence may seem a bit faulty due to it strictly coming from her opinions, she does an excellent job tying it with the expert onions she has gathered from different professors. Worthen also gives a student input to help validate all these ideas from the perspective of a former
Effectively communicating an idea or opinion requires several language techniques. In his study of rhetoric, Aristotle found that persuasion was established through three fundamental tools. One is logos, which is used to support an argument through hard data and statistics. Another is ethos, which is the credibility of an author or speaker that allows an audience to conclude from background information and language selection a sense of knowledge and expertise of the person presenting the argument. The impact of pathos, however, is the most effective tool in persuasion due to the link between emotions and decisions. Although each of these tools can be effective individually, a combination of rhetorical devices when used appropriately has the ability to sway an audience toward the writer’s point of view.
In Eric Foner’s book, The Story of American Freedom, he writes a historical monograph about how liberty came to be. In the book, his argument does not focus on one fixed definition of freedom like others are tempted to do. Unlike others, Foner describes liberty as an ever changing entity; its definition is fluid and does not change in a linear progress. While others portray liberty as a pre-determined concept and gradually getting better, Foner argues the very history of liberty is constantly reshaping the definition of liberty, itself. Essentially, the multiple and conflicting views on liberty has always been a “terrain of conflict” and has changed in time (Foner xv).
Have you ever wondered how influential people write great speeches that grab people's attention? They use a literary device called, rhetorical appeals. As supported in Hillary Clinton’s November 03, 2016 speech, uniting the American Public, will lead to an advantageous country. In her speech for the Democratic National Convention it states that, as elected for president, she will get everyone saying “We” instead of “I”. To reach out to the American Citizens and grab their attention, Clinton uses many rhetorical devices as she speaks. Using Logos, Pathos, and Ethos, the people of America jump on board with Clinton's ideas.
Our nation seems as if it is in a constant battle between freedom and safety. Freedom and security are two integral parts that keep our nation running smoothly, yet they are often seen conflicting with one another. “Tragedies such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings may invoke feelings of patriotism and a call for unity, but the nation also becomes divided, and vulnerable populations become targets,” (Wootton 1). “After each attack a different group or population would become targets. “The attack on Pearl Harbor notoriously lead to Japanese Americans being imprisoned in internment camps, the attacks on 9/11 sparked hate crimes against those who appeared to be Muslim or Middle Eastern,” (Wootton 1). Often times people wind up taking sides, whether it be for personal freedoms or for national security, and as a nation trying to recover from these disasters we should be leaning on each other for support. Due to these past events the government has launched a series of antiterrorist measures – from ethnic profiling to going through your personal e-mail (Begley 1). Although there are times when personal freedoms are sacrificed for the safety of others, under certain circumstances the government could be doing more harm than good.
Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
Throughout the passage, Florence Kelley uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to collectively and deliberately get to the point regarding limits on child labor and improvements for the working women. The use of rhetorical devices target both her specific and indirect audience by appealing to her audience’s logical and emotional senses. By writing in a combination of facts and evidence with emotional appeal to draw her audience, Kelley delivers her message effectively and successfully using emotional appeal and logical reasoning as the vehicle to her message of child labor and improvements for working women.
Understanding and employing rhetorical strategies greatly assists the writer in developing his or her argument and supports the reader in understanding and formulating a stance given
Historically, citizens of many countries sacrifice their personal liberties for a sense of security masked as a governmental attempt for pushing their views onto the citizens. A historical example of this scenario is the passing and enforcement of the Es...
Florence Kelley used rhetorical strategies in her message. She uses them to make logical statements in an argument, to make credible statements showing what is morally correct, and to make statements that appeal to the reader's emotions.
America is one word that brings the hope of freedom to many people around the world. Since the United States’ humble beginnings freedom has remained at the core of its ideologies and philosophies. People of all races, nations, and tongues have found refuge in America. The National Anthem proclaims, “…land of the free, and home of the brave” (Key, 1814). But has America been consistently a land of the free? Unfortunately freedom has not always reigned. There is a constant struggle to overcome fear and prejudice in order to provide a true land of freedom. In times of heightened tension, the masses of common people seek to find a scapegoat. Often, this scapegoat is a minority with ties to current negative events. As fear uncontrollably grows, it can cause people to allow and commit unspeakable atrocities.
The rhetorical analysis played a role in this, because I was required to use the various rhetorical appeals to compose a strong argument. Using the appeals definitely helped in trying to persuade the reader to acknowledge the opposing view.
In order to get readers to agree, writers use rhetorical devices to persuade them and appeal to their ideation. In the columns, “Now or later, the Clintons are toast,” and “What the WikiLeaks emails tell us about Hillary Clinton,” both authors use a variety of rhetorical devices to convince readers to comply with their positions on the issue. The news article, “Emails Related to Clinton Case Found in Anthony Weiner Investigation,” is an unbiased piece which explains the concerns of Hillary Clinton’s email enterprise. Though the columns are opposing in viewpoint about the same topic, they differ in tone, diction, and the usage of different rhetorical techniques.
September 11, 2001, the day terrorism exploded. Across the country a terrorist group called al-Qaeda coordinated four separate attacks against the U.S. in just one day. The attacks left nearly 3,000 dead and double that amount injured. The American government had to respond in some way. Thus, The USA Patriot Act was born. However, in accordance to the U.S. Constitution, the act doesn’t quite fit the bill. The Patriot Act enables unconstitutional and unethical encroachment upon American citizens. Within this essay I will explain the Patriot Act and apply certain amendments to it in an effort to evaluate its level of constitutionality.
The most well know terrorist attack is the attack on the twin towers in New York City, New York on September 11, 2001. Since the first initial attack, America has fallen victim to twenty seven attacks on the nation’s soil, this number has gotten out of hand. In addition to massive terrorist attacks, mass murders are also considered a dangerous issue. A mass murder is defined as the killing of four or more people, and while there were many murders since the beginning of time, the first major mass murder is recorded on September 6, 1959, when Howard Unruh went on a killing spree and murdered thirteen people in his neighborhood over small arguments such as the property line. Another recent issue in America’s society are riots. While riots in the civil rights era started out as peaceful sit-ins, riots since then and throughout history have evolved. From the peaceful sit-ins, they began to get more violent, such as burning churches, and now they have tried burning whole cities. America’s rights should stay in tact and they should always be able to keep them. American’s freedom of speech is compromised on a daily basis in schools and in the public eye. It should not matter if a student has her nose pierced or is wearing a tank top. Or if there is a big riot. It is the American people 's right to be in the middle of everything and try to