The aura of weariness still overtook a majority of the class as we sat at our desks. The teacher sat cross-legged at her desk while taking long, audible sips of her morning coffee as she typed on her desktop. I on the other hand was not as relaxed or weary as the rest. My eyes were looking all around the zebra printed room as everyone was writing down their vote for the school-wide mock presidential election. I glanced over to my neighbor’s slip of paper and saw a big John McCain in bold letters. I darted my eyes across to another boy’s paper and in barely legible handwriting I managed to make out the word McCain. Am I the only one that is voting for Obama? I looked up to find the other black girl in my class. She seemed to be scanning the …show more content…
Zoosk asks while holding her hands. We all nod to her question. “Okay put them in a little stack on one of your classmate’s desk and I will come pick them up.” The other kids began to set it on the boy who made that crude remark to me. I set my vote on the top of the pile. The soft clicking of Mrs. Zoosk’s heels became louder as she approached our table. The boy handed her our stack of votes. She nodded with a smile to signify a thank you and moved to the next table beside us. “My mom and dad said that John McCain is going to be our next president,” the girl commented. “My parents said the same thing,” one of the boy’s commented. I decided not add to the conversation, since I am most likely going to receive some rude remarks from the boy across from me. I pulled out my binder and began to doodle away. I zoned out for a moment, until Mrs. Zoosk loudly cleared her throat to make an announcement. “Okay in our class, we had twenty-two votes for McCain and two votes for Obama.” The boy across from me broke out into laughter and my heart was crushed. It wasn’t because Obama lost my class vote, but because I thought going my own way was going to benefit me. Instead, it hurt …show more content…
“Obama won the real one,” I commented with a smirk across my face that I didn’t even bother to conceal. The other kid’s surrounding us laughed, while his face twisted up and he turned bright red in anger. He never talked to me again after that day and at that very moment I realized that I do not have to do everything that the crowd is doing because sometimes you luck out in the end going your own path. You may just have to ignore the others telling you and take the
Melissa Ames and Chris Hedges address the similar theme of political apathy in America, but deviate starkly in their respective audiences, tones, subjects, and methods of delivery. Because the authors possess differing viewpoints about the future of the country, are shaped by distinctive backgrounds and experiences, and have explored various unique concepts, one can detect a great degree of dissimilarity between the works in question. Even so, a thoughtful reader can also grasp quite a few similarities between their articles, “American Psychosis” and “Engaging ‘Apolitical’ Adolescents.”
The Earth is one big ball that is full of mistakes and flaws. Many people take initiative and send out a message through their writings. The article In Praise of the F word, by Mary Sherry, reflects on the school system. Sherry utilizes her passionate tone, pathos, and personal experience to sway the reader to follow along in her beliefs. In Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference, by Shelby Steele, Steele preys on readers by using ethos, pathos, and a sturdy tone to appeal to her readers. Though both writers present valid arguments and interest, as a reader, I believe that Steele’s argument was stronger within her essay.
There are always certain social problems that take place in our communities. Some of us may not experience it first hand, but all of us should acknowledge the fact that our greatest social problem is still looming to this day. In Michelle Alexander’s work, Drug War Nightmare: How We Created a Massive Racial Caste System in America, she talks about the social problem of inequality and discrimination in America. From being an African American to being a law professor and experience as a clerk for a Supreme Court justice, it can give a reader a sense of comfort knowing that she knows what she is talking about. Alexander uses several methods of using logical and emotional appeals to the readers so they can get a glimpse of this national issue.
Once more, President Obama presented the annual State of the Union Address to the American people. For the most part, Mr. Obama focused on the issues of immigration and health care reform, wages, energy, infrastructure and education; all the while particularly stressing the value of hard work. Like any other discourse, his speech employs various rhetorical devices as well as the elements of the “rhetorical triangle”: ethos, pathos and logos. Thus, in order to gauge the effectiveness of Mr. Obama’s address, one must examine the speech wholly on a rhetorical level, making sure to ignore any personal political views and notions of inaccuracy. Arguably, it also seems that of his various methods, the President’s most effective strategy was to mention personal anecdotes of people planted within his audience. Basically, it appears that the various rhetorical strategies utilized by President Obama in his address were mostly effective; while still, of course, holding some notable flaws.
Scott, Janny. “Shadowy Lines That Still Divide.” Class Matters. New York, New York: Times Books, 2005. 1-26. Print.
Obama is able to gain his listeners’ ears because of his clear and effective writing. In Obama’s writing various elements of rhetorical framework create a strong and persuasive argument that Obama is able to present in grabbing his audience’s attention and consideration. Seen through his writing, Obama’s use of rhetorical appeals, devices, and context create an in-depth look into the problem of the racial divide which still exist today. In writing an effective argument, Obama employ’s through rhetoric’s personal experience, historical events, religion, and the current state of things, which he asks his audience think more about. By noting that the problems of America as a whole is a problem that every citizen shares and not a problem that exist individually for different races. Obama is able to have his audience focus on the real issues Americans face moving forward. Ultimately, as it is seen prior before the speech was published and given, Obama’s intent on the direction and how his speech would be formed, along with writing techniques that were used to craft the speech, all reveal his personal knowledge of rhetoric’s and ability to write a persuasive argument. Through his speech Obama is easily able to dismisses his critics and do what he intended to do, being that he wants his audience to focus their attention on to the more serious problems that remain unsolved for American
I decided that I wanted to dedicate as much time as I could to this class, and set a goal for myself: to become an officer. After weeks of meticulously perfecting my speech and having occasionally surges of anxiety, election day had arrived. After all the candidates had given their speeches for their respective positions, the class voted for the officers. After the period of tense silence and scrupulous tally counting had concluded, I exerted a sigh of relief as I heard my name get called for the Latinos In Action Secretary. Little did I know, this moment would propel me into diving into the wonders that this club had to
“Stop spacing out, Mr. Anderson,” Mrs. Sorun said, who had thrown a paper wad at my head. “Part of your grade is listening to what your peers have to say and right now you’re failing.”
“The Candidate” is a prime example to the inside of a campaign and the inside of an election. Elections do not only include the candidate themselves but the campaign manager, the supporters, the nominee’s family and the media crew. During “The Candidate” democratic nominee John McKay uses many strategies in order to “not” win his election for senator of California. Going into this campaign McKay was in hopes that he would not win the election, as time passed his view of the election changed as did his strategies.
Political commentators often label American students not as liberals or conservatives, but simply as apathetic citizens unconcerned with political issues. The number of students venturing to the polls continues to be depressing to any advocate of a democratic form of government. Outside of political science classrooms, few students seem to be knowledgeable of simple political events and personalities.
During the November 2000 presidential elections, two children tried to make daddy proud. First there was Albert Gore Jr. – the son of a powerful and respected senator of Tennessee – who was no stranger to politics and privilege. As a child he attended the prestigious St. Alban’s School and while growing up, it was common to see then Vice President Richard Nixon as a guest at the family dinner table. Then there was George W. Bush – a third-generation politician, with his grandfather a former senator, his brother the governor of Florida, and his father being former president. The November 2000 presidential elections would become the battle of dynastic supremacy. Whose silver spoon was shiniest? In the end, Bush’s spoon was voted most polished (at least by the electoral standards, certainly not by the popular) and was given the presidential seat. The election had many Americans frustrated, echoing columnist Lars-Erik Nelson’s protest, “Bush’s spectacular career rebuts the notion that America has become a meritocracy, in which we are all born equal and then judged upon our intelligence, talent, creativity, and aggressiveness” (qtd. in Maass 10).
Contrasts with the statement Obama makes two sentences after, “This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem.” The juxtaposition signifies how he wants the country to move forward. Together, the people can help fix problems like the health care, the war, and the education system. Furthering his ethos, Obama makes allusions to the O.J. Simpson trial, “We can tackle race as a spectacle as we did in the O.J. trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina, or as a fodder for the nightly news. or we can come together and say "not this time" “ providing an example of how horribly previous presidents had handled the country’s racial problems.
---. “I Admit It: I Was Wrong to Have Supported Barack Obama.” Telegraph Blogs. The
Obama emotionally influences the nation to move forward from the issues of race that is hindering America. Without dwelling on his family tree, Obama reminds us that his father was black and his mother white, that he came from Kenya, but she came from Kansas: “I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slave and slave owners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
On July 27, 2004, Barack Obama made arguably his most important speech, “The Audacity of Hope”, at the Democratic National Convention Keynote Address. These conventions are for political parties to announce a winner for nomination. All the way through his piece, Obama focuses on connecting Americans and himself to the audience. In fact, at the time, Barack Obama was a US Senate candidate for the United States president, and in making this speech, was offered a window for raising his popularity. Throughout “The Audacity of Hope” speech, Barack Obama implements three main devices to raise his political popularity: repetition, abstract language, and structure.