Heather Mallick’s “Someone has to stand up for the gifted students” discusses the evilness that is the “task force” and vaguely suggests to readers that specialized schools should stay open. The author effectively appeals to authority and demonstrates the benefit of specialized schools but, ultimately her overuse of emotional appeal, peculiar tone, and ad-hominem writing style detract from the article. The effective appeal to authority compels readers to side with Mallick’s opinion. By highlighting John Malloy’s position as the director of the Toronto District School Board and displaying the fact that “he was so opposed that he has asked for the recommendation to be deleted” (Mallick, 1), Mallick encourages the reader believe in the benefit …show more content…
Overuse of emotional appeal “can sometimes come across as manipulative” (Prinsen, 2), and in the case of Mallick’s article, misuse of emotional appeal damages the article’s integrity. Throughout the article phrases such as “You can get beat up for that” (Mallick, 1) and “Who among us at some point has not cowered in a classroom” illustrate Mallick’s perversion of emotional appeal. This misuse of emotional appeal comes across as manipulative and results in readers not trusting the author which ultimately leads readers to question the article’s …show more content…
The “writer is attacking someone on a personal level instead of addressing his or her opinions and argument”. (Prinsen, 4) The author bluntly critiques the report, but not for it’s content. Mallick makes weak statements such as “The report is badly written, by the way” and describes those who wrote it as “an amorphous group with an unrivalled talent for educational jargon”. By attacking the report not based on it’s content, but it’s writing style Mallick isolates many readers. She claims that she stands up for those students, but she chooses not to use facts to support her claims. Additionally, by berating the people who wrote the report Mallick further degrades her readers’ trust. Ultimately the reader is left questioning the author’s validity because of her slanderous attacks in place of legitimate
When analyzing the arguments of both Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” and John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School”, their most distinct aspect is the tone in which their arguments are presented. Moore’s informal writing invokes a reaction within the reader. He capitalizes entire sentences to make them appear louder and draw attention. How can referring to a president as an “Idiot-in-Chief” not elicit a certain emotion within the reader? Moore is a well-known activist who is quite aware of popularity and infamy. His words are not an attempt to persuade dissenters to his side, but rather to appeal to the emotions of his supporters and drive them to action. Whereas Gatto writes in a formal but understandable language that appeals to the intelligence of parents and children alike regardless of their view of public education. It is notably free of exclamation marks as well as the jargon associated with educators. The voice used plays a key role in the techniques and tools each arguer uses to convince their intended audience to take action.
Pickering’s argument rested on, as a teacher, he had to refrain from making statements about the school’s operation “which, in the absence of such position, he would have an undoubted right to engage in” (Oyez,
...ssibly help more than harm. Experience has taught me that when a child walks in fear of expressing their feelings they bottle up all of their emotions; simply because they’re afraid of the consequences. Teaching children to appropriately use and appreciate violent media will help them build confidence, “power, and selfhood.” (Jones 287) He successfully executes the use of rhetorical methods and offers solutions to the opposing viewpoint. Jones’ consistent use logical and emotional appeal entices the reader and effectively persuades; this clearly substantiates his deserving of the top persuasiveness prize.
Board of Education outlawed educational segregation, the Illinois School District had created a completely different gifted program for Hispanic students, separate from the White students’ gifted program. Ford found that in 2009 and 2001, the RDCI (The Relative Difference in Composition Index) researched and concluded “at least one half million African American and Hispanic students combined are not identified as gifted” (Ford 145). While African American Students are rising to be the majority race in public education, the percentage of African Americans even being recognized as gifted or academically accelerated, is not proportionally increasing (Ford). Society hold precedents with people who have superior intelligence over those who do not, but how can superiority even be concluded when all people are not given the opportunity to have an enriching education? African Americans are not able to increase their percentage of gifted students because African American students are not given the chance to be even recognized as worthy or capable of such achievements. As society advances further academically and leaves African Americans with an unquail education, the percentage of African Americans attending college and entering professional careers
David Foster Wallace, author of the essay “Authority and American Usage*,” praises and advocates for “good” writers who have a strong rhetorical ability, which he defines as “the persuasive use of language to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience” (Wallace 628). To have a strong rhetorical ability, an author needs to be aware of whom their audience is, in order to present their information in a way that will be influential on their audience. Wallace recognizes that an author who applies a strong rhetorical ability will be able to connect with the audience so that they respond “not just to [their] utterance but also to [them]” (Wallace 641). An author needs to take into consideration not just content, syntax and grammatical structure (their “utterance”) but also how their character will be perceived by their audience. A positive tone will make the author seem more pleasant and relatable, whereas a negative tone connotes arrogance and pretentiousness. That is why it is crucial for an author to recognize that an audience will respond to “them” and not just their “utterance,” as an author’s appearance to their readers can also shape how impactful their writing is.
The problem associated with how students are chosen to join a gifted and talented program stems from the way that we define giftedness. Because there are countless ways in which any individual can define talent, the government created a federal task force in 1972 to study gifted education in order to standardize the way in which schools choose students for and implement their gifted and talented programs. The task force’s results are known as the Marland Report and include much information as a result of their research, including a decision that a public school’s gifted and talented programs should aim to serve between 3 and 5 percent o...
Mark Edmundson’s “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students” was published in 1997 in Harper’s Magazine. Edmundson’s thesis is that the value of a liberal education is decreasing due to the devotion to consumerism and entertainment on college campuses. In supporting this thesis he, put simply, he uses name-dropping to impress his audience and sway them to his side. Evidenced in this article, the use of historical, political, and cultural figures in writing can be an effective rhetorical device that builds one’s credentials and effects the way the audience perceives the argument at hand.
However, “The Coddling of the American Mind” is not an informative piece, as it is filled with opinions and methods of emotional persuasion towards the author's belief upon the topic. The rhetorical device pathos is abundant towards the end of the article where the author is dependent on negative connotations and emotionally captivating statements in order to convey the idea that students should be aware of the potential to be offended and accepting of it as a part of life. Lukianoff and Haidt's negative vocabulary can be seen through words such as “Blaming” and “catastrophizing”; these words are synonymous with overreacting or the inability to accept and negatively impact the opposing side's argument about student anxiety. Negative connotative vocabulary alongside statements directed towards the reader's emotions such as, “In June, a professor protecting himself with a pseudonym wrote an essay for Vox describing how gingerly he now has to teach. “I’m a Liberal Professor, and My Liberal Students Terrify Me,” the headline
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel K. Durst. "They Say/I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. Vol. 2e. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.
The ability for all children from varying walks of life to receive a well-rounded education in America has become nothing more than a myth. In excerpt “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch argues the government’s fanatical obsession with data based on test scores has ruined the education system across the country (107). In their eyes, students have faded from their eyes as individual hopefully, creative and full of spirit, and have become statistics on a data sheet, percentages on a pie chart, and numbers calculated to show the intelligence they have from filling out bubbles in a booklet. In order for schools to be able to provide a liberal education, they need the proper funding, which comes from the testing.
Pathos is the appeal to an audience’s emotion. Aside from the other two appeals that I have outlined in this essay, pathos is by far the most recognizable appeal in Lamott’s article. The humorous tone of the article is very easily recognized and frankly, it is hard not to laugh at some of Lamott’s uncalled-for sarcastic remarks (whether it be in your head or out loud). For example, when writing about how every writer she knows never writes an elegant first draft, she continues, “All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her” (1). By making such presumptuous claims about this person, some audiences might find this type of language comical or entertaining, which in turn makes them want to believe Lamott and continue reading. In a way this helps Lamott seem credible to some readers, in which case she has created a successful argument. On the other hand, some readers might find this kind of language unprofessional and inappropriate. Because much of the article deals with language that is full of humor and sarcasm, it would make sense to say that Lamott has directed this article towards an audience who is looking for something more entertaining than a typical statistic-filled essay that one might consider mainstream in this field. Whether it be entertaining or absurd, Lamott most definitely uses the appeal of pathos in her
People should be recognized according to their accomplishments. If someone wins a Nobel Peace Prize or wins gold at the Olympics, then they deserve to be praised for their efforts. Nonetheless, someone who has barely accomplished anything can actually be worthy of praise also. How is this possible? If only there was such a person that could pioneer this paradoxical task. But there is. Her name is Jennifer Bobylev and she is an ordinary teenage girl. She might be overly concerned with her looks but that is normal for teenage girls. She is still in high school and has no major life accomplishments to speak of. However, her character, values, and dedication to family and friends, make her someone deserving of praise.
The superintendent and principal are stymied in their efforts to reach a compromise as Mrs. Durnitz refuses to change her position that the policy must be followed to the letter. She appealed to the teachers’ association for support when it appeared that the administration and board might not uphold her position. The local newspap...
Author unkown (2003, March 9). In gifted classrooms is diversity lacking?. Salisbury Daily Times. Retrieved March 10, 2003, from http://www.dailytimesonline.com/new/stories/20030309/localnews/1142640.html
Shaunessy, E. (2003). State policies regarding gifted education. Gifted Child Today Magazine, 26. Retrieved March 7, 2004, from http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10445176&db=f5h