The Achievement Habit Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Bernard Roths' book, The Achievement Habit, talks about how reasons are bullshit in the second chapter. He talks about how people use excuses to hide the fact that people aren't willing to give something in our life a high priority. Roth uses an example of a student getting a flat tire. Even though it probably did happen, getting to class wasn't a high priority in her life. She could have left earlier and then even if she did get a flat she might have got to class on time. Roth says that reasons are a polite way to have an excuse. "Excuses" is more of a negative way of saying something.

In the last paragraph I mentioned the student with a flat tire. Roth used Ethos when he was talking about that situation. When he talked about how even though

They sometimes wonder what he means by that. Roth uses examples that happen in everyday life, whether you are a student, parent, or teacher. He uses examples like when he was always late to the board meetings, perspective of others, the flat tire, or a hypothetical example like punching someone in the face and not having a reason. He has a sense of trustworthiness because people can relate to what he is saying. People understand what he means by reasons are bullshit. Roth connects with his audience because he lied about being late to that board meeting. He said that the traffic was busy, which was true, but he didn't mention that he left his house a little late. People relate to it more when he puts both reasons, true or false. He also mentions that people usually stare when you walk into a room late and how bad/uncomfortable that makes you

He uses logic when he gives the examples. He gives real life reason why people might give excuses. When he gives the examples he tells what happened first and then he mentions on what they could have done different to not have to give the person that excuse. Like when he mentioned that he was late for that board meeting. He said that there was a lot of traffic when he was on his way. He mentioned what he did that made him late; squeezing in emails or phone calls and just not leaving in enough time. Roth said that he did not see that his meeting was a high priority so he didn't really think about what if he was late. He said that it didn't have any negative business consequences, but it did have an effect on his self-esteem. Roth said that he always felt bad when he always came in late and how people would stare at him when he walked through the