Two different but similar forms of writing are able to be tied down into one general but specific category. In the book, Mistakes Were Made (but not by me), by Elliot Aronson and Carol Tavris, Aronson and Tavris commentates on events that people go through. The book is mainly about Elliot Aronson’s and Carol Tavris’ opinion on how people behave and should behave when caught in tough situations. Instead of focusing on one main character in the book, each section of the book illustrates a different person 's’ situation and that situation would correspond with a specific theme in the chapter. Throughout the book, Aronson and Tavris give us a broad idea of how some psychological thinking/processes comes into play, each psychological concept corresponds to a chapter or section in the book, these ideas are: confirmation bias, revision of memories, self-justification, pyramid of choice, cognitive dissonance, blind spots, closed loops, reducing cognitive dissonance, blaming, self-justification (for the greater good), and (sunk costs). Another form of writing, “Wrong Answer”, by Rachel Aviv, is an article focusing on the main idea of a school going through tough times and the outcome of the actions taken by the staff. The article revolves around Parks Middle School in Atlanta. The teachers and staff in Parks Middle School were caught cheating and changing the answers students submitted for standardized tests, and this little mess resulted in hundreds of teachers being laid off and
Authors use various styles of writing to appeal to different types of audiences. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and “The Most Dangerous Job” by Eric Schlosser both utilize ethos, pathos, and logos writing styles to convince the audience of their ideals. An author uses ethos in writing to show his/her credentials and explain why he/she is credible. Pathos appeals to an audience’s emotions and makes the audience feel sympathy or pity. The author draws feelings out of the audience and compels the audience to feel what the author wishes them to feel. Logos uses facts, statistics, historical and literal analogies, and quotes from authorities on a subject to convince the audience with logic or reason. Upton Sinclair and Eric Schlosser have the goal of exposing the corruption in the meatpacking industry, but the authors develop their arguments through similar and contrasting approaches.
In reading "Mistakes were Made but Not by me," multiple accounts are given of traits exhibited by humans that are displayed subconsciously. The authors, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, begin by defining these traits and give readers the actual terminology to these characteristics. With various examples being provided to the reading audience they are then able to make a clear correlation between the behaviors displayed and how they may impact not only themselves but others around them. "Mistakes were Made but Not by me" has a theme which is centralized around the two key facets which are cognitive dissonance and self- justification.
Rachel Aviv 's "Wrong Answer" dove deep into a cheating scandal at Parks Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia. It begins with Damany Lewis, he was a teacher at Parks Middle School. Through the reading it’s made abundantly clear that his life passion was teaching the kids. He was a phenomenal teacher, Aviv writes:
Prior to his method on error, Descartes has already proven a pair of foundational beliefs. In meditation one, Descartes proved that he was “a thinking thing” and that in order to be a thinking thing, “I exist”. In mediation three, he proved that God exists due to the fact that in order to have an idea of God, one must already have the idea innately implanted in their mind. Since Descartes is finite he believes that God innately implanted the thought of an infinite perfect being in his mind, so therefore God exists.
Literary works have become one of the most preferred ways for people to express themselves and voice their concerns and opinions on societal issues. Through such pieces of work, authors are able to educate and critique the society at large, often forcing people to reconsider their views on certain matters. This has an overall effect of pushing them to reconsider the effect of their actions and errors as regards the issues in question. For others, writing about real life situations is most effective in communicating with their readers. Victims of racial discrimination may opt to put their ordeals down in black and white, mush the same way those who find themselves at the receiving end of sexual harassment may choose to write about their experiences. Arguably, the effect achieved is greater, in opposition to that of works of fiction. Even where a book is fictitious, more insight and connection to real life is achieved if the story is built around real life events and situations. Nancy Mairs does excellent in expressing herself through her spiritual autobiography; Waist-High in the World.
Walking through the streets of the United States you see a lot of different people. You see Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and many more. When these people come to the United States they are looking for a better live. These people are running away from lack of resources, to unite their family again. They want a better economic prosperity and many other conflicts. But little do they know that the Unites States is as bad as their own. The difference is that the United States has more opportunity, holds a high prestige and can hide their mistakes easily. One example of were the Unites States fails the immigrants is the Criminal Justice System. The criminal justice system was design to keep the community safe. It also works on restoring and
While people may struggle in life and find themselves in difficult situations, everyone has different ways to solve their problems. There are some decisions that turn out badly and lead to disappointments. Some people learn from their mistakes and try to avoid them in order to improve the relationships with their partners, friends, and coworkers. However, many people don’t like to admit their mistakes. They find that the easiest way to get rid of their mistakes is by putting the blame on the other side. Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) talks in detail about these problems that we face in our in our daily lives. This inspirational book has convinced me that self-justification affects relationships between people. The authors, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, give answers for an important question of “why we justify foolish beliefs, bad
Failure is a scary word. It’s a scary topic, and a scary feeling for many of us. We tend to focus more on not failing that we lose track of what were really aiming for; success. In Mistakes Were Made by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, we get an insight on why the gap between Asian and American classroom performance are so wide.
The book Mistakes Were Made by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson is mainly about cognitive dissonance, responsibility, and self-justification. People will not listen to someone telling them they are wrong because then they would have to change their mindset. This is basically what cognitive dissonance is people cannot have two conflicting thoughts. This is why people can sometimes be so wrong and not realize it because they were self-justifying the wrong answer.
4. How does the writer define the rhetorical situation and identify the call to write? What is the writer’s orientation toward the issues involved? What is at stake for the writer?
Her eyes scanned the page as if she was learning to read for the first time. The more she looked, the less she understood. How could was she unable to understand something this simple? It was so simple, yet the answers still did not show themselves.The idea of failure was foreign to her, as was confusion. Whenever the teacher set a paper on the desk in front of her, she would complete it with ease. It was what everyone expected of her, and she always lived up to that expectation. That was the norm, until today. For just a moment, panic set in. How could she damage her reputation by asking a question? What would her parents think of her if they knew she wasn’t perfect? As her heart slowed down, she secretly pulled out her notes, making sure
Relationships: one of the most discussed topics in the world. If one isn’t asking for advice on it, they’re giving it. But in order to give good advice or adhere to advice given, one must first take a step back, look in the mirror and face themselves. In Mistakes Were Made (but not by me), the authors, Carol Tarvis and Elliot Aronson, examine how self-justification alters and shapes relationships, new and old, through the good times and bad times. Both authors are well known for the great work they have done in their field.
There are many different ways to shed light on a problem that an author is writing about.
Everyone, at some point in their life, has made a mistake. Sometimes we get lucky and only falter a little, making it through the problem relatively intact. Other times, we mess up a lot and have to fix what was damaged over a long period of time. However, the same is true for most, if not all cases—those who make the mistake learn from it. Often times, our failures teach us valuable lessons that we only gained because of the experience we gathered after messing up. I have personally achieved a wealth of knowledge and experience just from all of my own little mishaps, and a few major ones.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” In his novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens exemplifies Ralph’s belief and conveys that when a person has gone wrong in life, a trauma or pain can help him or her return to a better path. All through the novel, characters such as Pip, Miss Havisham, and Magwitch illustrate this theme through the decisions they made in life and where those decisions took them.