Kill Stray Cats or Let them Alone

The essay titled “Workers Revolt: The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue Saint-Séverin” by Robert Darnton discusses a massacre of cats that, according to the worker Nicolas Contat, took place in Paris in the first half of the 1700s. Contat’s writes about two apprentices, Jerome and Léveille. They had poor living conditions, were given food scraps to eat, and they had to deal with the master and their superiors. On top of all this, during the night stray cats would howl, keeping them awake. One day Léveille decided to crawl along the roof until he got near the master’s bedroom and began to howl with the cats. The aster and his wife became convinced that they were being bewitched and ordered the apprentices to get rid of the cats. They chased cats of rooftops, hit them with iron bars, and trapped them in sacks. They also performed mock trials where the rest of the workshop would join in and hang the cats with a noose. Although to us this seems like a horrific act of violence, the workers turned it into a celebration. These different views of the same event exist because of the different societies. The hatred these workers had for the bourgeois, popular celebrations, and the things that cats symbolized all contributed to the humor of the cat massacre. We must first understand these to be able to understand the cat massacre.

Many articles, especially those within the opinion section of a newspaper or a magazine, will often contain elements of rhetorical strategies. These rhetorical strategies help enhance the argument that is presented in the article and thus,in most cases, help the reader come to the same conclusions that the author came to while writing this article. Yet, When there is use, there is also misuse. It is through this case that even some misuse of the rhetorical strategies can lead a well balanced opinion article to become a very bias “puff piece.” One of the main examples of this, especially pertaining to the use of persuasion ( ethos, logos and pathos), is in an opinion piece written by Jason Lee Steorts for The Atlantic. This article was titled “When Should Cops Be Able to Use Deadly Force?” and for a controversial issue, the author used copious amounts of rhetorical strategies to conform to his own bias, ineffectively used supporting and opposing sources and committed fear mongering in some cases. All of which clearly indicate to the reader the poor attempts to compensate for the lack of legitimate evidentiary support in his arguments in this article.

“In the early nineteen-seventies, for instance, the biologist Erika Friedmann, of Brooklyn College, studied how heart-attack patients respond to social support. Patients who had a dog or cat, she found, were more than four times as likely to survive a year after a heart attack than those who didn’t have a pet” (Bilger, part 3, paragraph 21). If the research is done, it is easy to see that humans generally live longer if they own a pet. Caring for a pet can be emotional also. Sharing a living space with another living being will allow you to get attached to them and build relationships you probably had never thought you’d have before. In the article, The Last Meow, it explains how Karen had suffered injuries in an accident and found later that she could not get pregnant. Knowing that she could not start a family and living in pain everyday was taking a toll on her mentally and emotionally. However, when they had started caring for their cats, she found a way to fill her depression. “Karen had studied enough psychology to suspect that her feelings for Lady were party misplaced mothering instincts, but she also knew that relationships like theirs could have a particular intensity” (Bilger, part 3, paragraph 21). Owning the cats made her happy. It is obvious why she would go through debt just to save the

I believe that the cat was the only thing that showed her love and attention. Her only son, had a family of his own, her grandchildren were older now, and she felt like she was not important to them anymore, and the children?s mother was involved with the baby. By bringing the cat, she felt like she would not be lonely. The reader can also tell that the woman is extremely prejudice. She refers to the black child as a ?cute little pickaninny? and a nigger.

Do you ever wonder how journalists get away with presenting overly biased information through blog sites and news articles? Reporters have been doing this for years, and because of the law enforcement's inability to regulate what gets broadcasted through the media, these articles remain the leading culprits for false interpretation by the audience. A Modest Proposal is a prime example of how easy it is to manipulate the media by the way Swift conjures up what seems to be the “only solution” for the poverty issues in Ireland. Although the idea of “eating children to save money” seems absurd today, the citizens actually believed it to be a probable solution at the time. Swift influenced the viewpoints of his readers by the way he presented logical statistics in his work, making him seem as a credible source to onlookers who had no prior knowledge on the topic.

In both essays on whether or not a dog park should be built in Muscatine, Iowa; both authors make good points. While the first one uses a combination of facts and emotion, the second author mixes some facts and what seems like animosity towards dogs. The first one is a very inviting and interesting article which gives the reader facts as well as connecting on a personal level. The second article seems a little cold and negatively charged.

At the start of the article, the author brings opposing viewpoints together by defining exactly what the debate covers

Jen Lemos is very objective when writing in the article. Lemos sticks with the information he got and doesn’t tell much about his own opinion. There is none form of appeal in the newspaper. He writes about what Liza Kessler and Judith Mellen talks about and their opinion.

(Charity Navigator, 2015, Charity rating) These numbers are a far cry from what Mr. Bergh told the Governor of New York when he paid a visit to the ASPCA and he stumbled over a hole in the old, tattered carpet and told Mr. Bergh to buy better carpet and send him the bill, Mr. Bergh simply replied, “No, thank you, Governor. But send me the money, and I will put it to better use for the animals. (as cited in Winograd, 2012, ¶3)” Moreover, for the last 15 years, the shelters, rescue groups, feral cat caretakers and No Kill proponents who have tried to restore Bergh’s vision through the No Kill revolution have been opposed by those like past ASPCA CEO Ed Sayres, supported by a Board of Directors content to count the money, all of whom appear intent on squandering Bergh’s noble legacy. When we look back on Mr. Berg’s life’s mission and what he wanted to accomplish and then look at the ASPCA today, one must wonder what happened? While it is not an easy task to undertake, we will take a look at animal “shelter”

While describing the conflict she adds, “We are a nation divided.” (Leodora) The article attends both sides of the story, and they are trying to appeal to the nation as a whole. The Times Herald itself, illustrates both sides of the story and is proven to have a high factual reporting. As Leodora differentiates between two solutions she illustrates “For security reasons, many public restrooms in city locations are locked...these are real issues, but they should never escalate to the point we have witnessed with this Starbucks story.” (Leodora) The article demonstrates no bias, because it continuously supports both sides. Continuously Leodora claims, “This is a result of the incredible racial divide that has developed in this country.” (Leodora) With a neutral party article the reader is drawn in by the correlations made, thus influencing them to believe this incident was no ones’ fault. There is a negative effect on society, because looking at both sides expresses the distraught racial divide, strengthening the emotional appeal on the audience.This article is highly effective since it represents both sides of the story, that utilizes loaded language to favor both conservative causes. The critical reader

On April 23, 1949, the Illinois Governor, Adlai Stevenson, wrote a satirical yet professional response to a citizen's request to restrain all cats. This veto is titled, The Cat Bill Veto. The Illinois senate received a bill from a concerned citizen. The citizen feels that cats should be contained because of the public nuisance some see cats to be. Stevenson writes a letter expressing understanding of the situation, but reminding the Senate that this is a minor issue compared to the major problems being faced. While analyzing Stevenson´s response to the bill, many of us will recognize the satirical diction and Stevenson´s ethical credibility being revealed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the task of depth analysis and comparison as this was an excellent way to compare differing author’s choices and opinions. It was an opportunity to dive deeper into the text and break apart varying elements. It truly showed how straight, un-slanted news reports do not question the readers and simply inform them. On the other hand, a particular columnist’s piece challenges the reader and forces them to wrestle with their own opinion. Maureen Dowd, particularly executed this task remarkably. As she did not heavily focus on her liberal opinions that often, but rather realized that even her party had flaws. She looked at the bigger picture of this election and analyzed in such a way, that it wasn’t always evident which viewpoint she supported. She was open minded in order to bring controversy to her readers and spark a legitimate

The statement made by Jennifer McCarthy enabled me towards the consensus in contradiction of the authenticity of the articles persuasive argument. Upon reading McCarthys statement, I was unable to distinguish any source of factual evidence concerning the conflict due to the nature of the secondary sourced information. It was only after reading McCarthys statement in the comments section of the Heavy news article. The ability to differentiate your own consensus on an issue aside from what is written, significantly strengthens the readers ability to elect their own stance upon an

When my cats get to going, it is probable that my house may be destroyed. They aren 't kittens any longer, but when they play together, they might has well be. They chase anything and everything, and they can make a mess out of the most unlikely things. This isn 't usually a problem for me, but when they start scratching the furniture, that is when I have to get the spray bottle out. I have one sitting by my desk, and one in the living room just to keep tabs on my cats.

The narrator finds this cat to be out of place, and she uses the sight of this cat to take her text in a different direction. Losing her train of thought is an exercise in allowing the reader to experience what it might feel like to be a woman writer. Although the narrator goes on to make a valuable point about the atmosphere at her luncheon, she has lost her original point. Women, who so often lack a room of their own and the time to write, cannot compete against the men who are not forced to struggle for such basic necessities.