Today's Politicians Could Use More Hollywood Style Summary

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One of the methods commonly used by Carter in his writings in analogy. In his article “Today's Politicians Could Use More Hollywood Style,” describes the politics and government proceedings of “The West Wing” -- a popular show that ran during both the Clinton and Bush administrations -- as being more civil than our own. Carter starts off by summarizing an episode from the show’s finale season where the republican presidential candidate is approached about a rumor of someone burning a flag in the white house during his daughter’s birthday party. The candidate deflects the questions saying that it is a private matter and that “politics is being ruined by putting such matters center stage.” Carter states that he “[finds himself] nostalgic for the program’s serious, pragmatic and respectful politics,” in which politics today are lacking. This comparison shows a major shift -- and problem -- in today’s times. Instead of focusing on and attacking the issues, politicians today …show more content…

By doing so he voices his personal opinions on the topics he writes about, but he also includes himself in with the reader when he makes generalizations about society. In the aforementioned article “Today's Politicians Could Use More Hollywood Style,” Carter talks about seeing C.J. Cregg -- the actress who played the beloved press secretary, Allison Janney, on “The West Wing” -- appeared at a White House press correspondents to weigh in on the upcoming election. He said he was “delighted when, for a happy moment, C. J. Cregg took the podium to remind us of a time when, even in our fictional selves, we aspired to more.” He includes his emotions because they help to solidify the point of his argument that modern politics need to make a readjustment. This is effective to the audience because the use of the word “us” is meant to make them think about the state of modern politics and how society as a whole has gotten to this

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