Rhetorical Analysis
In a persuasive essay, rhetorical appeals are a very important tool to influence the audience toward the author’s perspective. The three rhetorical appeals, which were first developed by Aristotle, are pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience, logos appeals to the facts or evidence and ethos exhibits the credibility of the writer.
William Bennett is a well-respected man in the political world. He served as Secretary of Education and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Ronald Reagan and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H.W. Bush. His essay entitled “Leave Marriage Alone,” which was published in Newsweek, June 3, 1996, is a response to an article written by Andrew Sullivan advocating same-sex marriage. Using rhetorical analysis I will determine whether or not this essay is effective and why.
Bennett is a conservative republican who is a strong advocate for family values. The purpose of Bennett’s essay is to expose the downside of Andrew Sullivan’s argument in favor of same-sex marriage. He wants to persuade those who have read Sullivan’s essay to side with him. His audience seems to be primarily middle-aged heterosexuals who already take his stance on the topic.
Bennett’s essay is clear, concise and to the point. He talks about the key issues from the first sentence in the first paragraph. The structure of his essay is deductive, beginning with “the two key issues that divide proponents and opponents of same sex marriage. The first is weather legally recognizing same-sex unions would strengthen or weaken the instition. The second has to do with the basic understanding of mar...
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...etorical appeal will help to expose fallacies in the writers’ own argument. William Bennett has some good arguments but his lack of rhetorical appeal weakens his essay. He writes from the point of view of a bullheaded politician who shows little consideration for his opposition. He exhibits no appeal to emotion and comes off cold and without compassion. He gives no facts or statistics behind his arguments, just generalizations about a group of people it seems he knows very little about. All in all, Bennett’s essay is very feeble because he chose to ignore the literary laws Aristotle founded many centuries earlier. This essay is proof that these laws are truly effective.
Works Cited:
Gruber, Sibylle, Ed. et al. Constructing Others, Constructing Ourselves. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 2002.
Bennett, William. “Leave Marriage Alone.” Gruber 29-30.
The three Aristotle appeal are persuasive strategy that is used in a argument in order to claim and respond to counterclaim. Moreover, in the text “3 Ways to Speak English”, Lyiscott uses two appeals which are logos and pathos. Let’s start with pathos, pathos is defined as a strategy to get someone's attention by appealing to their emotion. Now Lyiscott delivers her message using pathos, which gave out emotions which was mad, determined, confident, honored and proud. She states, “I know that I had to borrow your language because mines was stolen.
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.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
In Andrew Sullivan 's "For Gay Marriage" (29-33) and William J. Bennett 's "Against Gay Marriage" (33-36), both authors address the issue of legalizing gay marriage, and more specifically the implications it would have on various aspects of society. Sullivan 's article focuses on how the legalization of gay marriage would not drastically change society as it is now, only provide validation and equality in all aspects of life. Bennett 's article focuses on the same specifics of society, such as fidelity and the definition of marriage, as his is written as a rebuttal to Sullivan 's, explaining how legalizing gay marriage would greatly impact society for the worse. Each author 's argument is influenced by either the inclusion or omission of the
Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to stem around certain categories. Fears, such as germs, are often a major category attacked by OCD. (Mayo, 1) These fears turn into obsessions, which can cause detrimental conflict in one’s life. Obsessions are thoughts, images, or impulses that keep reoccurring and lack control by the person obtaining them. (Ocfoundation, 2) Generally, these obsessions are unwanted by the person and are generally disturbing and confusing. Feelings of discomfort typically follow such thoughts as well as the wanting to correct the feeling of discomfort. (Ocfoundation, 3) Some of the most common obsessions today are body contamination, losing control, perfectionism, harm, or unwanted sexual thoughts. (Ocfoundation,4)
"Obsession is a commitment; you have to believe in it, because it soon takes you over." A chilling statement made by Pilar Vilades in a New York Times Magazine article regarding how time consuming an obsession can be. This is exceptionally true in cases of OCD. The human mind is truly one of this world's wonders, and watching how a person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder behaves will cause one to cherish sanity. However, even those who are considered sane experience their share of obsessive feelings in the more benign form of infatuation. Whichever word is used to describe it, the essence of both words resides in the dominance of one's mind by a single, reoccurring thought.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a disease that a lot of people suffer with in society especially young adults. While it is not a disease that is deadly, it does affect the victim in every day aspects of their life and can ultimately control their lives. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as, “… a common, chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over”. The thoughts that individuals have when suffering through Obsessive Compulsive Disorder cannot be restrained and really can disturb the individual. Thoughts or actions that people may have can range from worrying about daily occurrences, such as washing their hands, to having thoughts of harming people that are close to them. People tend to have these reoccurring compulsions because they believe by doing them or thinking them, they will either prevent something bad from happening or because it eliminates stress that they have. This disease can last a lifetime and can be very detrimental and disabling to how one lives their lives. Individuals can start to see signs of OCD in either late adolescence or even early adulthood and everyone is susceptible. When it comes to classifying this incurable disease, there is much debate on whether or not it a type of anxiety (Abramowitz, Taylor, & McKay, 2009). It is important to be able to understand this mental disorder since so many people are diagnosed with it. While there are treatments for OCD, there are no cures yet. Treatments could range anywhere from taking prescribed medication to just going to therapy and counseling fo...
...gin your life on the right foot all because BHS made college courses more available. If BHS makes college courses more available, students can save money during college and they can also finish core classes so they can focus on their career subject and they would have a lot of knowledge from their college courses giving them a headstart on the their career. A headstart on not only your education but on your life can be helpful to everyone that’s why BHS should make college courses more available.
Belloch, A., Morillo, C., & Garcia-Soriano, G. (2009). Strategies to control unwanted intrusive thoughts: Which are relevant and specific in obsessive-compulsive disorder?. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 33(1), 75-89. Retrieved October 28, 2013, from the PILOTS: Published International Literature On Traumatic Stress database.
Mann, S. (2004). 'People-work': emotion management, stress and coping. British Journal Of Guidance & Counseling, 32(2), 205-221.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that can make life excruciating. Obsessions and compulsions are not only time consuming, they can cause marked distress, interfere with a person’s usual routine, social functions, occupation and relationships with others. The article classifies obsessions as “recurrent and persistent ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced, at some point during the illness, as intrusive and inappropriate.” This is especially distressful for children who may not always understand the irrational and senseless nature of their obsessions. Also, the article states that compulsions are “repetitive, purposeful behaviors or mental acts that individuals perform to relieve prevent, or undo the anxiety or discomfort created by obsessions or to prevent some dreaded event or situation.”
This connotation is supported by several theoretical frameworks, including Affective Event Theory (AET; Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) and Job stress/Emotion/CWB model (Spector & Fox, 2002). AET posits that individuals respond to workplace events with a ‘feeling mode’, and these emotional responses, in turn, manifest affective-based work behaviours. To test this theory, Wegge, Dick, Fisher, West, and Dawson (2006) conducted a survey-based study in the UK call centre industry to examine whether emotion does indeed predict affective-based behaviours. The results suggested that emotional responses to work characteristics are associated with affective commitment (i.e., desire and behaviour decision to maintain membership with the organisation; Meyer, Allen, & Gellatly, 1990) and physical health complaints (e.g. ‘I have had difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep’). This study provides an empirical evidence to support the association between emotions and behaviours.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that traps people in endless cycles of repetitive thoughts and behaviors. Pierre Janet described obsessive-compulsive disorder by using the term psychasthenia. Sigmund Freud described obsessions and compulsions as psychological defenses used to deal with sexual and aggressive conflicts in the unconscious mind (Bruce Bower: 1987). OCD is also known as “The Doubting Disease,” because it’s as though the mind doesn’t register when the person does a certain action, which triggers the source of the obsession (USA Today:1995). Unlike most people with anxiety disorders, those diagnosed with OCD are more obsessed with what will happen to others instead of themselves (Edna Foa: 1995). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder occurs in a spectrum from mild to severe. At some point the person will see the actions or thoughts as unreasonable and senseless. All people have habits and routines, but what makes obsessive-compulsive people different is the fact that their obsessions and compulsions interfere with their daily lives (American Family Physician: 2000). They spend large amounts of time doing odd rituals. The rituals can take hours a day and make the sufferers miserable and doesn’t allow them for much of a business or social life (Harvard Mental Health Letter). At one OCD clinic, many had lost years of work to their symptoms. Seventy-five percent said the disorder interfered with their family lives and thirteen percent had attempted suicide (Harvard Mental Health Letter: 1998). Phebe Tucker, a psychiatrist at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, explained, the most common obsession is washing hands for fear of contamination. Other acts are counting over and over, checking locks, hoarding items such as newspapers or cartons, repeatedly dressing and undressing, and walking in and out of doorways. The thought and behavior patterns are senseless and distressing. They can make it very difficult for a person to function properly at work, school, or even at home. Obsessions take the form of doubts, fears, images, or impulses. (Harvard Mental Health Center: 1998)
Khalili, A. (2012). The role of emotional intelligence in the workplace: a literature review. International Journal of Management, 29(3), 355-370.
High emotional intelligence can improve work performance and its varied aspects can contribute to work differently. One aspect of emotion...