Mcmmurtry

Throughout the centuries, there have been an infinite amount of literary works written by a sea of authors that write a variety of genres. All of these works are precious in their own way, and even if their theme is similar to that of another, the author always ads a bit of his/her own flare in order to make said literary creation unique in some way. William Wordsworth’s “London 1802” and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Douglass”, although quite similar in form and sentence structure, do add their own flare through the use of specific details. Through the use of these devices, the speakers show their disgust for the evil deeds humans do and

When talking about such a touchy subject as the one in ‘To Bid the World Farewell’, a writer has to have the ability to inform without insulting. It takes a certain level of tact. This is where the use of tone comes in. Throughout the entire essay, Mitford utilizes the crafty tool of sarcasm to hide the ugly truths in plain sight of the

Our teacher, Mrs. Hetrick, provided the answer to our question: “These essays could have easily been generated by a computer program. They tell me nothing about yourselves; why in the world you are telling me all of this? You need to make me care about the message you are conveying, otherwise, your writing is useless.” She then told us that while we were all communicating in the proper format, we had failed to take into consideration whom our audience was. In order to truly persuade and influence our audience, we had to do more than place complicated ideas into a grammatically immaculate sentences; we need to show the audience why they should care about our writing; otherwise, they will just lose interest. I realize now that this experience provided a stable foundation for what I consider to be an example of passionate rhetorical ability, which helps me reflect on what authors Wallace deems as “good” through their rhetorical strategies.

In 1960, American journalist and politician Clare Boothe Luce speaks to journalists at the Women’s National Press Club. She brings up the topic of integrity. Not only does integrity affect journalists, but also the media as a whole. From the beginning, she is straightforward with the audience, she is going to give them hell. She goes on to say that everyone in the audience will be revolted, but should listen through. This prepares the room full of female journalists to feel attacked by her criticisms of the American press. Luce argues that integrity needs to be restored in the media, to do this she appeals to their values while using a defensive tone along with a positive one, while also creating

To achieve this effect, Alexander appeals to the pathos of the readers. According to Thank You For Arguing, “Pathos, or argument by emotion…appeals to the brain, gut, and the heart of your audience,” (Heinrichs 40). To appeal to these various parts of the readers, Alexander utilizes rhetoric. The rhetoric in Alexander’s text basically gives the readers a call to action. Alexander uses an experience of an individual, who was targeted because of his race to appeal to pathos of the readers, “In that case, Terrance Bostick, a twenty-eight-year-old African American, had been sleeping in the back seat of a Greyhound bus…suspicionless police,” (Alexander XX). Alexander uses this personal experience of Mr. Bostick to reveal the ambiguities in the American justice system. She frames the experience in such a way that the police are looked upon as the bad guys, which shows how she has appealed to the pathos of the readers. The specific readers, who are are target of Alexander’s text, feel that there is something wrong with the justice system if people are only being suspected and arrested based on their skin color. They do not feel bad for the person’s actions, as they were illegal, but they demean the manner in which he was arrested and it sort of riles them up. Alexander uses this type of rhetoric in her text to emphasize that the United States’ justice system is set up in a

Graff effectively uses ethos in his article by discussing a personal anecdote as well as utilizing some intelligent diction. When arguing that students would be more inclined to engage in an academic mindset if they were able to apply their own interests, Graff states, “I offer my own adolescent experience as a case in point” (245). By claiming that he personally struggled with academic engagement, Graff influences the audience to perceive him as a credible source. Not only does Graff prove his ethos through his personal anecdote, but he also builds his ethos by using impressive, complex diction. For example, Graff uses scholarly words such as “philistine,” “interminable,” and “rudiments” in order to present himself as a qualified, intelligent resource (247). By establishing his credibility, Graff strategically influences the audience to be convinced of his argument.

Possibly the three most important components a writer must understand are audience, genre, and rhetorical situation. When reading critically we become acquainted with these concepts therefore become better writers ourselves. While learning about rhetorical writing and composition we have analyzed Billy Collins “ Commencement Address at Choate- Rosemary Hall” , Martin Luther King Jr’s “letter from Birmingham Jail” and Lloyd Bitzer’s essay on “Rhetorical Situation”. In this paper I will analyze and make connections between the concepts of audience, genre and rhetorical situation in connection to the fore-mentioned readings. In doing so I will focus on how each used these concepts as means to communicate their main ideas and purpose.

In final analysis, King uses the rhetoric devices ethos, pathos, and logos to improve his argument in the Letter from Birmingham Jail. These devices help advance his purpose that the African Americans are being treated unfairly. By making himself appeal to logic, emotions, and credibility, King wrote a sound argument on the current situation of the African American

Rhetorical strategies are ways in which authors craft language so as to have an effect on readers. Charles Murray, in his essay “Are Too Many People Going to College?” uses various forms of persuasion to convince readers that attending college is not and should not be a stereotypical norm for all millennials capable of obtaining a degree. The synopsis of his claims essentially lies in these three statements: college should not be a place where core knowledge is learned, college does not benefit everyone’s career path, college should not be required to achieve a higher educational understanding of a vast variety of interests. Murray peeks readers curiosity to his claims by making critical, emotional, and logical appeals. By appealing to all forms of persuasion, Murray’s opinions on this topic might just change the way reader’s view college.

This passage can be divided into three distinct sections. The first section is where he uses rhetorical strategies to get his point across. The second section is where he uses a literary device to appeal to his audience's emotions. The final section is where he uses multiple questions to strengthen the

Through his use of pathos, Malcolm X triggers real emotions by targeting the people whose lives are spent in jail. He establishes his pathos by using other rhetorical devices like, opposition, imagery,

In the essay, Staples describes how people see him as a threat and how they allow their fear to base their judgements on him that was preconceived by societies teachings. For example, Staples sarcastically writes, “My first victim was a woman…” (542). When first reading this sentence, the audience begins to fear about what they are about and begin to take the place of the soon to be “victim”. But when the reader continues to read deeper into the essay, Brent’s sense of sarcasm and use of hyperbole, becomes clear and the audience is able to understand why he used the previous quote as the beginning of the sentence. Brent is frustrated at how the people in this society judge good people, based on the sole acts of those who do evil. Staples’ use of fear creates the passion in the message by using first person point of view. Staples describes to the audience his childhood and college years by writing, “...I have since buried several, too” and “...I was mistaken for a burglar” (543). The reader can feel Staples’ fear as he is being chased and how he has had to bury family and friends. This becomes powerful in writing and the reader is able to better understand just what it is like for Brent. The audience also gets a feel for how Brent felt being compared to a burglar. Just by including these personal stories and relating it back to himself, Staples gives the audience the capability to better

The essay begins by talking about when Staples ended up walking behind a woman on a Chicago street. At this instance, her pace began to increase until, finally, she was sprinting away from him. In the beginning paragraphs, he introduces words such as “victim” and “mean”. By doing this, a vivid picture is easily formed in the mind of the reader of when he came up behind this lady on the street. The situation was displayed in a way that made the reader suspect that something was going to do happen to her. As the passage continues, Staples beings to change this picture and starts to pull emotion from the reader. "It was in the echo of that terrified woman's footfalls, that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I'd come into - the ability to alter public space in ugly ways." (205) This newly expressed feeling is a prime example of Staples beginning to draw an emotional response from his audience. He is able to

The rhetorical situation helps the audience understand all aspects of which the rhetor writes. When an audience understands the rhetorical situation, they are able to make a judgment on whether they believe the author to be credible or not, or their writing to be effective or not. Mary Crow Dog and Maya Angelou are both effective rhetors because their rhetorical situations work together to make their essays compelling. “Civilize Them with a Stick” by Mary Crow Dog and “Graduation” by Maya Angelou each introduce effective rhetorical situations as they establish their individual identity through their educational experiences.

For instance in the excerpt written by Jane Addams, she uses a lot of rhetoric when talking about the necessity for social settlements. In this excerpt there is one rhetoric in particular that stands out, which is pathos. Pathos stirs up feeling of sorrow, sympathy, and pity and that's exactly what Jane Addams does. Jane Addams put as lot of feeling into this piece of writing and that definitely helps build up her argument. When you read this you can get a