If it was not apparent enough that America’s education system is failing, Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” openly explains to us about the truth. America, for being the richest country, is behind in the educational standpoint. America needs to rethink their standards when it comes to education. America is more focused on corporate earning than educating our youth. The author of “Idiot Nation” makes the reader think about how America is viewed in the world. The purpose of Michael Moore’s essay is to point out what is wrong with this nation and also give the reader the motivation to actually do something about the situation at hand. Moore is trying to make readers aware of where we send our children. The author is trying to shock readers with the facts to do something to improve the American education system. Moore uses a great deal of data and logos strategies to alarm the reader. Michael Moore’s overall essay is based on his pathos arguments. He is highly irritated and in disbelief of the education system. The author uses one of the most common and easy to read strategy. First, he makes a logo standpoint and then supports his argument with pathos. He does this so that the reader is engaged and taken aback by his logo argument then is in agreement with his pathos argument that follows. For example, on page 134, he states that a group of 556 seniors at fifty five prestigious American universities were given a multiple choice test. 40 percent of these students did not know when the Civil War took place. Then the author states his concern: why politicians like senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Herbert Kohl of Wisconsin want to go after MTV when they are the ones responsible for the massive failure of American education (pg... ... middle of paper ... ...periences of how he was either reprehended for being out of the norm and how being smart was looked down upon. Personal experiences are always a good way to persuade the audience to agree with your argument. The audience can relate. This essay “Idiot Nation” is seen as a voice for the people. The author Michael Moore is communicating what the people think to the government. He gives for examples of how to take action. This only emphasizes his argument. In conclusion, many people may view Michael Moore as being uneducated and just ranting about his dislikes; however, he writes about what most of us believe and do not admit out loud. The purpose of any piece of information is to inform the public. Michael Moore effectively informs the reader about America’s poor education system, why and who to blame for this unfortunate truth, and lastly what actions can be done.
In 2005, David Wallace Foster delivered a memorable commencement speech to the graduating class of Kenyon College. It was not the standard US commencement speech with “the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories” which then turn out to be “one of the better, less bullshitty conventions of the genre”. By using pathos , Foster created an intelligent argument that wasn't overpowering but thoughtful and understanding. The argument made by Foster in his speech is about the capital-T Truth. And to Foster, the capital-T Truth is about life before death. The point of Fosters speech is to expose the importance of education, the value it possesses and the awareness it brings. Its modest amount parables, proverbs and cliches revealed the honesty behind his words and ugly truths that caused a stir the audience. Wallace Foster stripped away the standardness of such monotone and basic writing of commencement speeches to his advantage. By using pathos he builds bridges, sustains his arguments and emotionally influences his audience.
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.
In the editorial, the author makes an argument that most students do not want to learn mathematics. They are forced to learn it and this will cause them to rarely remember what they learned after graduating. Here the author asks a question to all his audiences: "How many college graduates remember what Fermat's dilemma was all about?" (Hacker). This question makes the audiences feel like the author is talking to them and for those audiences who were college students, they will have a feeling of "yes I used to know it but I totally forgot it now" and this feeling supports the author's argument effectively. Another example is what the author mentions in the last paragraph of his editorial: "Think of maths as a huge boulder we make everyone pull, without assessing what all this pain achieves. So why require it, without alternatives or exceptions?" (Hacker). The first sentence asks the audiences to imagine and gives them a vivid analogy. Then the second sentence which is a question for the audiences appears without giving a correct answer. The author uses pathos very well here by giving his audiences the feeling that they are not just reading the editorial but also interacting with the author. With the help of that, the author successfully claims his thesis again in the last paragraph and the audiences will accept his idea not because he persuades them. The idea, which is also the
In Rereading America Michael Moore entitled “Idiot Nation” focuses on the failing educational system in the United States of America. The American nation has decreased in their studies and have lowered their standards, yet America still claims they have their priorities in order, which is education. Moore attempts to persuade his readers that the people who are to blame are lack of education in politics and the budget cuts they are making, however, politics blame teachers for making America decrease in their schooling test scores. Americas have many opportunities and useful tools to be successful; however,
In this example Lennon plays with our sympathy, telling stories of how Roberto was one of two hundred prisoners that were trying to get accepted into the college program that only seats twenty three. He ends with a quote from his mother “How you think is how you act”(Lennon 3). This saying by his mother, is comparing the inmates attitudes going into jail and how if educated how they can change when coming out. In this argument by John J. Lennon he uses a variety of pathos, logos and ethos writing methods in order to try and persuade the readers to agree with adding more college courses for inmates. Although the argument is very well written Lennon’s use of egos, pathos and logos are lacking. Which in turn allows the readers to not be persuaded towards his goal of increasing the amount of classes offered in
uneducated that fight the wars that politicians vote for. But it was probably one of those things that should have remained just a neat idea - the actual confrontations are just embarrassing for Moore, the politicians and the audience. Perhaps it's an embarrasing reality we all ought to face, but maybe it's just tasteless. Either way, the point remains forceful: the heroism of all these disadvantaged young people should only be used as a last resort.
Throughout the analyzing process, logos, ethos, and pathos are searched for and scrutinized. While reading this article, one may see believe there is a lack of evidence from outside sources to back up an argument, and then quite possibly assume it is just made up and not reliable. Granted, Jones seems to use only one source for his article, which does not necessarily mean he does not state any evidence or logos. This whole article is Jones’s evidence, and the source is himself, because the article is a story about the author’s involvement with violent media.
The average human would think that going to school and getting an education are the two key items needed to make it in life. Another common belief is, the higher someone goes with their education, the more successful they ought to be. Some may even question if school really makes anyone smarter or not. In order to analyze it, there needs to be recognition of ethos, which is the writer 's appeal to their own credibility, followed by pathos that appeals to the writer’s mind and emotions, and lastly, logos that is a writer’s appeal to logical reasoning. While using the three appeals, I will be analyzing “Against School” an essay written by John Taylor Gatto that gives a glimpse of what modern day schooling is like, and if it actually help kids
...echniques employed are persuasive and subtle, and this allows Carr to take advantage of all emotional arguments at his disposal. In conjunction with sources pertinent to the topic, Carr’s emotional appeals seem to get his audience thinking, and from the article it is easy to agree with the points he has made. Carr’s use of logos and pathos does bring into question his ethos, however. Fortunately, Carr’s ethos should not be questioned, as he has written several books and articles on the topic. This does not excuse his bias, but it does permit him to speak on the topic at hand. Carr definitely presents himself as a strong literary figure, and his views on the internet are reasonable as well as relatable. This combination of ethos, pathos, and logos successfully allows Carr to write as an expert in this field, and his article and thoughts are not to be taken lightly.
The need for education is a massive problem that the United States is facing in the current day. According to the United Way’s web...
By appealing so much to pathos, his letter focuses more on emotionally convincing and persuading the reader to accept his claim, rather than providing facts and logic to his argument. His combined use of logos and ethos also adds an aspect of logic and reason to his argument, as well as further showing his credibility and connection to the subject as the author. His use of the three rhetorical devices helps to bolster and support his claim, while also personalizing and connecting with the
“Idiot Nation” is an article lashing out against “the system.” The analysis of the reading indicates that politicians and individual Americans have neglected the needs of the education system. The logic that Moore concludes is that it is prioritized as insignificant regarding concerns for what will benefit and prosper this need, opposed to the future generation 's educational system. This type of neglect allows corporations to run things as they desire. Again, this is a gap monetarily that does not benefit the educational system. In fact, based on profit margins that have been documented, by USA TODAY newspaper, for example, written by Jesse (1), who is an activist that studies these cases, and documents for the last 10 years of his life,
The author begins his argument by retelling the story of his youth to build his ethos but the results are poor as it presents more questions on how he is a credible source on this argument as his only evidence is his own story. However, through the same means his pathos is built as his anecdote conveys feelings in the audience, making them more willing to listen. Graff finally, gives a call to action to schools to use students’ interests to develop their skills in rhetoric and analysis, which reveals the logic behind his argument. The topic about how students are taught rhetoric and analysis brings interest but with an average argument only built on pathos, a low amount of logos, and questionable ethos it can fall on deaf
In the essay “Ways of Seeing” written by John Berger, Mr. Berger makes his attempt to inform an audience with an academic background that there is a subjective way that we see things all around us every day and based on our previous experiences, knowledge, and other things that occur in our lives, no two people may see or interpret something in the same way. In the essay Mr. Berger uses art as his platform to discuss that we should be careful about how people look at things. Mr. Berger uses rhetorical strategies such as ethos, pathos, and logos. These rhetorical strategies can really help an author of any novel, essay, or any literature to truly get the information they desire across to the audience in a clear and concise manner.
A nation's level of literacy is determined by how effectively its leaders and people concentrate on useful things rationally. Leaders who are literate does not always mean that they possess all the qualities needed to take a nation forward. The actual literate level, in spite of being highly educated, along with the factual illiterates, altogether shapes the nation’s growth. A nation which focuses on trivial things instead of giving adequate attention to important problems that the nation is facing is an idiot nation. Through this perspective, the United States of America is a nation of idiots.