Author Douglas McGray, in his article “Lost in America,” fights for the expansion of foreign language education in schools by focusing on the present and potential future effects the issue will have on the state of America’s world relations and world business market. To efficiently communicate his message for expansion, McGray publishes his article in Foreign Policy Magazine—a publication known for its political demographic. He publishes his article there with the intent to persuade his intended audience, lawmakers, to pass additional policies and laws expanding foreign language in schools. McGray compiles evidence from history, research, and some of his own thoughts on global education in America. He includes several rhetorical choices such …show more content…
He applies this method to influence his audience’s emotions by provoking fear and a sense of responsibility to the issue. For instance, this can be seen when he states: “Whether it is translating and analyzing intelligence intercepts in Arabic and Farsi… young Americans will struggle to bear their responsibilities” (McGray 353). In this, McGray creates a sense of urgency on the issue by using lawmakers’ fear of America having poor foreign relations. McGray uses fear, such as this, to elevate his argument’s significance. By relating the issue to foreign policy, McGray is able to advance his cause and its importance in the mind of his audience. Causing fear in one’s audience is a strong device for support as it promotes the issue as a high-priority. In addition, besides the use of fear, McGray also uses an urgent tone in his attempts to provoke a sense of moral responsibility from the audience towards the issue. An instance where he uses this can be seen when he states: “We may live in a democratic age, but the international system is no democracy. The United States can solve crises that entire continents, working together, cannot. It can also sink most treaties, veto any global consensus, undermine the United Nations…” (McGray 359). This quote is important because McGray utilizes it to reason with his audience that the U.S. has a responsibility to expand …show more content…
An example can be seen when he says “The same holds true in global economics, politics, and society, which can shift—and shift the world’s competitive landscape—as fast as a new operating system can turn a two-year-old laptop into an expensive typewriter” (McGray 359). Similar to old computer programs not being able to work or communicate with newer computer systems, McGray argues with this analogy that the nation’s future generations will not be able to communicate and participate in the world economy if they do not expand their knowledge of foreign language. Analogies such as this are a powerful device for reasoning of support as it makes this unfamiliar issue more familiar by relating it to something more easily understandable. It helps illustrate the picture of the problem that McGray wants lawmakers to see. McGray creates this picture of a possible detrimental state that adds to the reasons why addressing this issue is vital to the nation. Creating the perspective of the issue is important if McGray wants to be successful in convincing Congress that the issue needs to
Despite there being hundreds of video game releases every year, most of these games are unoriginal and therefore unplayable. There are countless video game genres, but one of the most popular genres in the past few years have been the zombie games, also called survival games. I was thoroughly convinced that all the games in this genre were clichéd and overdone, until I played the video game The Last of Us. Even though it is a survival game, the focus is not on gruesome zombies or gratuitous violence, making it already vastly different from the others. Instead, the focus is on telling a story. Between the gorgeous graphics, serene music, and flawless acting, it already goes beyond being just another “zombie game,” but this isn’t even accounting
The tone during the whole plot of in Brave New World changes when advancing throughout the plot, but it often contains a dark and satiric aspect. Since the novel was originally planned to be written as a satire, the tone is ironic and sarcastic. Huxley's sarcastic tone is most noticeable in the conversations between characters. For instance, when the director was educating the students about the past history, he states that "most facts about the past do sound incredible (Huxley 45)." Through the exaggeration of words in the statement of the director, Huxley's sarcastic tone obviously is portrayed. As a result of this, the satirical tone puts the mood to be carefree.
The article “The Coddling Of The American Mind”, written by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, was written about how teachers are afraid of what they are allowed to say during in class because of the emotional effect on the students. While writing the article the authors have many examples of logos, ethos, and pathos. The logos of the article appeals to logic by presenting facts and statistics. The writers provide definitions of words such as microaggression and trigger warning. While explaining the definitions they go on to give real world examples to further the understanding of the words. Also statistics of the amount of mental health issues are provided to enhance the logos. Secondly to make the article more appealing is adding an emotional
Throughout the course of this novel, Ishmael Beah keeps the readers on the edge of their seat by incorporating interchanging tones. At the beginning of the novel, the tone can be depicted as naïve, for Beah was unaware to what was actually occurring with the rebels. Eventually, the tone shifts to being very cynical and dark when he depicts the fighting he has endured both physically and mentally. However, the most game changing tone is towards the end of the novel in chapters nineteen and twenty. His tone can be understood as independent or prevailing. It can be portrayed as independent because Beah learns how to survive on his own and to take care of himself. At the same time, it is perceived as prevailing and uplifting because Beah was able to demonstrate that there is hope. Later in the novel, Beah travels to
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
In the article “Do You Speak American?,” Robert MacNeil is trying to reach the american public, especially those who do not have a complete understanding of the ongoing changes that are happening to the English that is spoken throughout the United States. He uses a multitude of examples to prove this very fact. For one he wants to inform the people that one reason for this change is that average people now have more influence in the way language is spoken.Which to him is a good thing. He enjoys the new evolution that American English has undertaken. He believes that it is a step in the right direction. Another, example he uses are the changes different regions and/or group of people have made on the English language. He uses the different accents and dialect to show the growth and improvement that occurred. Even though, some linguist view these changes as wrong, MacNeil views them as necessary and as something that is unique to the United States. In essence, a necessary growth that only makes the United States grow into a better country. Thus, making it more diverse.
In the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, the narrator’s monotonous tone makes the reader experience a lack of emotion and feeling. The novel starts off describing Mersault’s current job and how he must go on leave in order to attend his mother’s funeral. He and his mother have been disconnected for some time as they had come to a mutual agreement with her staying in an elderly home. Mersault, the main protagonist, did not have the money or time to tend to his mother. The elderly home was the best option for the both of them. When he returns home from the funeral, Mersault gets caught up in external affairs he should not be in. He ends up writing a break up letter to Raymond’s girlfriend, which drives the rest of the story. Raymond beats his
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
From a young age, José Martí began dedicating his life to the promotion of liberty, and political independence for Cuba as well as the intellectual freedom for all Spanish Americans. One of his famous works, “Our America” stood as a rhetorical rally to unify Cubans from all backgrounds to come together for a common cause. To Martí, the need for a second revolution in the name of independence was evident. Throughout his work, he expresses admiration for the United States, applauding the function of democracy, while still stressing the dangers of its expansion into Latin America.
The authors of “Coddling of the American Mind,” Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, use ethos, logos, and pathos convey their negative stance regarding trigger warnings and the effect they on education. Lukianoff and Haidt’s use of rhetorical appeal throughout the article adds to the author’s credibility and the strength of the argument against increasing the use of trigger warnings in school material. The authors, Lukianoff and Haidt, rely heavily upon the use of logos, such as relations between conflicts surrounding trigger warnings and other historical conflicts impacting student ethics. Examples of the use of these logical appeals are the relation between the Columbine Massacre and the younger generations ideology. The author goes on to mention other societal turning points such
It can be argued that knowing the truth is vital in unfortunate circumstances that would only bring unease and despair. In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, citizens are constantly sheltered from anything that would bring unhappiness. Society feels that people should be unaware of how horrible life is. There is even a drug Soma that is designed to bring pleasure to its users and cause joyous hallucinations. Huxley writes with a satirical tone throughout the novel, but overdramatizing can often times be effective to point out certain flaws in society. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, there were multiple concerns for the changing of traditional values. Some of which include advancements in technology leading to a loss of individuality,
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
In the article, “Public and Private Language”, Richard Rodriguez argues that bilingual education delays learning a “public language” and developing a public identity”. I can relate to Richard’s story because my family and me moved to America when I was young and we also had the same struggle learning a new language. I agreed with Rodriguez when he expressed that he didn’t feel like a true American until he mastered the English language because English is the first and main language in America.
While many Americans, and even more unfortunate is American teachers, claim that global education would harm American values and go against what America stands for (Webb), a global education presents the ability to either properly expand upon one’s knowledge of the world with accurate information about their true culture and their language, or a global education could either undeservingly demote or promote a country to a ranking it may or may not deserve. Without global education, our future generations will face unnecessary challenges and face the possibility of destroying everything that we, the world, built upon to maintain
In a recent study, the National Geographic Society and the Asia Society shed light on a growing concern that showed students from the United States lacked understanding and knowledge of different people, places, and cultures around the world. This growing concern demanded higher-quality education as well as for teachers to understand the value and necessity of developing lessons based on global education. Since the 1980s, the United States government has tried repeatedly to introduce and incorporate multiculturalism and global education into the system but was met with hostility and protests by many of its citizens. Many protestors believed that global education introduces anti-Americanism, and that multiculturalism introduces and encourages "separatism and disunity". Therefore, it is important and necessary to inform and introduce the general public to the benefits of global education, or cultural education in general to our youth. This will help rise a more knowledgeable generation that is better equipped to deal, communicate, understand, and help the rest of the world.