Fun Ethic and. Work Ethic? By Robert J. Samuelson Samuelson uses his essay to explore a thesis that Americans are moving from a ‘work’ ethic to a ‘fun’ ethic. However, he doesn't spend much time explaining or introducing this, preferring to spend his time presenting facts, articles, quotes, polls and stories to prove his point. Unfortunately, as a reader, this choice of evidence, rather than solidifying his point, actually begs the question: what is his point? Samuelson spends very little time in the essay actually concluding or explaining his information. Instead, he buries the reader with facts and statistics, moving on from one factor to another before the reader even has the chance to grasp the importance of the previous one. Samuelson’s writing style is very informative, but he delivers his information in a brusque, rough way that makes the facts difficult to absorb. Samuelson writes the way others argue or yell- practically shouting the information, as if …show more content…
His essay certainly contains ethos; it incorporates quotes, polls, historical facts, and popular opinions. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see the purpose of this information. Samuelson does not make his points clear, waited until almost the last line of the essay to explain his idea, and essentially parrots the words of others. Even the main thesis of the essay, that Americans are changing their views from a work ethic to a more fun ethic, was in fact the idea of Thomas Riehle, a worker at IpsosReid. Essentially, Samuelson has written more of a compilation of information than an essay exploring ideas. As a reader, I finished the essay unsatisfied. Through Samuelson's information my interest was piqued, but there was no follow up, explanation, or conclusion I could draw on to be satisfied. This was disappointing, and proved to me that an though essay can contain numerous amounts of information, without a writer connecting them nothing is
In the essay, “The Work Ethic, In A Modern Guise”, author Joanne B. Ciulla talks about how the modern style of working is different from the traditional and old work ethic, and how the young and coming generation does not want to work hard but instead wants instant results. The long lasting formula of working hard and performing seems to be fading away. Instead of mastering the subject, students care about the final results and brownie points. Moreover, Ciulla asserts that students engage in activities that pay-off well in the end rather than the excellence of the work. In the article, Ciulla describes the situation of today’s students being more centred about the idea of getting a higher grade. According to Ciulla, students do not show determination but they want second-chances so that they can have a better grade than before. Students want that better grade simply because they have put a lot of time. Sometimes, professors unreasonably give students a higher grade which leads to a false confidence among students which is the root of other causes. In the end o...
An example of the author’s use of formal diction is when he includes the word indolent in a sentence. By using intelligent words such as this one, the author appears to be highly educated making him an exceptional source of information. An audience is more likely to listen and agree with an author that sounds perspicacious and credible. The author continues to establish formal diction by including the words demure, languid, disillusioned, indolent, and bumptious. All of these words allow the audience to understand how educated the author is, persuading them to agree with the author’s claims about laziness and its benefits. In addition, this word choice strengthens the author's argument and emphasizes its importance. When the author demonstrates words such as these, he appeals to the audience by sounding informed on the topic making his claims stronger. This passage relied strongly on diction to support the author’s main claim about how it’s better to be lazy. As the essay goes on, Morley continues to use strong diction throughout the paragraphs. For example, in the fifth paragraph, the author includes the words, perplexities, quibble, dignified, repose, and keem. These words improve the quality of Morley’s essay and make it much more compelling to readers. The audience is more likely to agree with the author’s statement when he uses words
In each of the authors essays in this book, is the truth of the smut and other things of the American ideal. You could say it is a liitle bit Weber's Protestant Ethic meets Larry Flynt. In each scenario, whether through agricultural facility and personal liberties, in the case of marijuana criminalization; immigrants in search of a better life, in the case of stigmatized farm workers; or punishing a successful businessman because of his lack of morals, Eric Schlosser returns to the unpleasant image of America as a bundle of hypocrisies.
The unsuccessful use of ethos makes the reader feel like the author’s piece is irrelevant to read. What’s going to make them believe this author has something to say that is actually worth listening to? It goes as far as the process it took for the author to make the article. Little things like the ones mentioned in this analysis: demographics of the subjects, interview styles and experience, which contribute to the process of making her article, could become big things when it comes to the author’s use of ethos, because it’s all about credibility. The process is where ethos is established for the most part and that’s where Anderson made most of her “little” mistakes.
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.
When foreigners think of America, they think of McDonald’s, the Statue of Liberty, Hollywood film stars, and the list goes on. In terms of Americans, people associate Texans with cowboy boats, Californians with surfboards, and New Yorkers with a snobbish grin on their face. It is true that all these things represent America in one way or another, but what exactly is American identity? Erikson’s analysis on American identity has drawn attention to four topics: Mom, adolescent, boss, and machine. He links all four topics together by using the myth of John Henry Hero. Goffman, on the other hand, develops dramaturgical analysis to understand human behaviors. He sees men as actors with different roles and these actors have to perform to different audiences. Even though Erikson’s approach and Goffman’s approach to understanding human identity are very different, both of them consider American identity changes over time because of the change in environment.
I also noticed that Samuel Sewall was very detailed, like many of the other writers we’ve read about.
In the Introduction to “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to help structure academic writing that considers the opponent’s argument. However, some writers have complained such templates “make them all sound the same,” and turns them into “‘writing robots’” (Graff and Birkenstein 10). In turn, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer do not stifle creativity, but actually foster more complex, intelligent writing. As the authors themselves put it, “creativity and originality lie not in the avoidance of established forms, but in the imaginative use of them” (11). Although some people believe otherwise, Graff and Birkenstein insist that a writer’s use of their templates is analogous to musicians’ use of the verse-chorus-verse pattern of songs. Using a pre-established form does not necessarily produce any less original content, as given by the thousands of original songs in the world. In sum, then, their view is that their templates are tools to help a student make more effective arguments.
Samuel Johnson in response to madams request to have him seek the archbishop for her son to enter the university denies this request in a well-constructed argument. Johnson’s refusal is supported through the use of definitions, diction, and the appeal to logic. These rhetorical devices play an important role in conveying Johnson’s unwillingness to complete the woman's task.
In the article “Ambitions to a Fault” written by Robert J. Samuelson published in the Newsweekly paper, the author illustrates how Americans competes for success. For example, in the beginning of the article, Samuelson uses this as his entry sentence to get his point out there, “A great strength of American society is to drive to succeed- well, not just to succeed but to do better that everyone else; to be a star, a tycoon, a power, a celebrity or a leader; to be admired,
Ethos is something that makes the article creditable. Or what gives the author the right to be saying what he/she is saying. This article was revolved around the interview that was done with Governor Snyder. That is why they were able to quote what he was saying about the situation and have a file with his emails on them. This makes it clear to the audience that what is being said is true. That is why ethos, that make the article creditable, actually make the article better fo...
Harrison writes that the ideas presented by Emerson contributed to the ideas of the boisterous go-getting culture of America which has predominated American culture, despite being seen as untrue to both America and Emerson himself. Despite viewing these attitudes as attitudes only, they are seen as non-dismissible due to both their pervasiveness in the American psyche and the fact that they are not self-evidentially
Talbot uses powerful diction to get her message across in ways which normal writing and syntax could not achieve. Examples range from “...sneaky way of gaming the system” (223) and “...criticized as palaces of privilege” (229) and “...the contest for valedictorian offers a pleasing image of a purer meritocracy” (231). All of these following examples of powerful language depict to the reader the importance of the topic and to stress the author’s message. The rhetoric adds to stress certain points which are very critical in her message. Without the strong dialect the message could be weakened and even worse in the end it could be depicted wrong. On top of all the syntax and diction along with the rhetorical appeals brings the reader to the author’s overall message of needing to reward the best in a different way than normal but making sure that we still do reward
In her article “The Needless Complexity of Academic Writing” published on October 26, 2015, Victoria Clayton argues that academics should not write to such a high level that they are not able to be understood by those who are not
Williams’ views on style are more diverse. According to him, style should be more about the audience the writer is writing to rather than the writer himself. Williams explains how to write or the reader. In his last chapter Williams states how to write in a constructive voice, how to the flow of information affects the reader, what words to use when the reader has prior knowledge of the subject and when he or she does not, and how to be clear for the reader.