Rhetorical Analysis Of ' A Quick Lesson On What Trigger Warnings Always Do Essay

Roxane Gay’s persuasive essay, “The Illusion of Safety/The Safety of Illusion” is about trigger warnings in the media. Her argument in the essay is that trigger warnings in the media give a false sense of security to the people the warnings seek to shield. She explains how trigger warnings are futile because you cannot protect someone from their own self. She also proposes that as time goes on anything can have the potential to become a trigger to someone.

Peer pressure is a common aspect of society that can ultimately result in devastating consequences. Often times, one is encouraged to follow the beliefs of others by changing their values and behaviors. Whether one truly has the motive to perform such actions, those who surround always have the potential to influence our decisions. In the short story, “Shooting an Elephant”, written by George Orwell, the concept of one being pressured to perform something against their will in order to preserve their image is very prominent. This essay well illustrates how people will do whatever it takes to conform to the common beliefs of society even if it doesn’t follow what they

In the article “Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces and Free Speech, too” published in the New York Times by Sophie Downes, Downes argues in response to a letter sent out by the dean of the University of Chicago. The letter states that safe spaces and trigger warnings were an issue deterring students from having free speech and therefore would not be supported on the Chicago campus anymore. Downes argues that the letter was just a poor attempt to advert attention away from the real issues on the campus—ones that the dean will not meet with student council about and will not talk about at all. Sophie Downes argues that safe spaces and trigger warnings actually encourage free space and enhance support and community—two values that the dean said were deterred by the existence of them.

As a class, we mainly fell into the category of those who would not tell a professor if they had any concerns regarding a class. The standard here with the usage of trigger warnings is how do we as a society know what actually will require a trigger warning. If no one has a standard, then the policy would be mocked for being too lackadaisical. I see trigger warnings being necessary in some situations where I would want to know if something graphic is going to be shown to me. We came across two definitions of safe spaces in the class: 1) an actual physical safe space and 2) an ideological safe space. The concern with the physical safe space is that it seems more reductive or childish, which interestingly enough is how the Baby Boomers assess our generation.

Bridges’ argument in Why students need trigger warnings failed to address how some students might use trigger warnings to avoid a reading or an assignment. His personal experience with a student with trauma, though, helps incite sympathy and suggest to readers that trigger warnings are necessary to avoid further physiological harm to students. However, AAUP’s argument still sustains credibility because many professors have similar views that trigger warnings marginalize topics like sex and race and they react by avoiding those topics.

In this article, they view trigger warnings as a way of students avoiding issues that may cause them discomfort. Manne describes the idea of trigger warnings as a way to “flag content that depicted or discussed common causes of trauma, like military combat, child abuse, incest and sexual violence.” However, she says that the purpose of trigger warnings are slightly different at schools and universities. The warnings are meant to prepare students instead of bombarding them with possible triggering material. This way each student can learn instead of experiencing a panic attack which makes it “impossible to think straight.”

Persuasion is a key focus in many essays, stories, commercials, and other forms of media. There are many methods to this, one of which is rhetorical devices. Bell hooks, the author of Feminism is for Everybody, writes to persuade the reader to her own cause: feminism. She uses rhetorical devices, which can be used to persuade—or dissuade—readers in comparison to the writer’s own point of view.

Arguing that coddling students from words and ideas affects the education and mental health, Lukianoff and Haidt effectively uses rhetorical questions to communicate to their audience. Lukianoff and Haidt start off by asking their audience “What are the effects of this new protectiveness on students themselves?” This rhetorical question allows the audience to be introduced to what the article will be arguing towards and allows them to contemplate on their own before the authors give their own viewpoints. The audience can consider whether over protecting students can really be harmful and if the effects can

The topic of trigger warnings have been a hot topic amongst people. Trigger warnings are a warning or a statement that the following material or phrases could be harmful to the psyche of certain individuals about to experience the material. This spans across the average worker to professors at universities. This topic rose from about 2011 on the internet and has reached a high to where people are discussing their thoughts on the matter. Everyone has a stance on whether trigger warnings should be issued when discussing a potential topic that could cause distress for a student or anyone in a class. With the rise of mental health disorders being diagnosed in students, some seek professional help or a better diagnosis because of there helpfulness. Students have been at odds sometimes because of trigger warnings. The debate on whether or not to implicate them in a classroom setting is the main topic of the argument.

In the two essays, How Trigger Warnings Are Hurting Mental Health on Campus by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt and The Trigger Warning Myth by Aaron R. Hanlon, the authors have opposing sides to trigger warnings abusing mental health. Lukianoff and Haidt claim that trigger warnings hurt the mental health crisis on campus. In contrast, Hanlon argues that trigger warnings are not the problem and that is what happens when the mental challenges of students become flashpoints in our culture. I agree with both authors because mental health seems to be avoided rather than supported, therefore, trigger warnings being a problem and because our culture has made it difficult to adapt to people with mental disabilities.

Lukianoff and Haidt also discuss their opinion on the use of “trigger warnings” (2015). Trigger warnings are said to be words that warn students of the use of graphic content in class. Trigger warnings are

Trigger statements are becoming more and more popular in syllabi, especially on college campuses. These provide students, especially those with post-traumatic stress disorder, with a warning about possibly uncomfortable content that could cause a flashback or panic attack. There are several different opinions about trigger warnings. Jenny Jarvie, the author of the article “Trigger Happy,” believes that they have gone too far and are a detriment to society (Jarvie 6). To enhance Jarvie’s point further, in their article “The Coddling of the American Mind” Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt explain how trigger warnings cause metal illness on campuses across the country. The opposing view is that they are necessary to have a fulfilling learning

Advertisers use a variety of appeals to convince the viewer’s to buy certain products or bring a topic to the awareness of the viewer. The anti-child abuse announcement that San Francisco Human Services Agency released is no different. A public service announcement is designed to publicize a problem the nation is facing. Advertisements can appeal to the audience through a variety of elements such as images and speech. In this advertisement pathos and ethos are represented through the sounds and visual content while logos is presented through the statistics given at the end of the advertisement. With this advertisement it is also important to consider the

In Lindsay Holmes’s article “A Quick Lesson on What Trigger Warnings Actually Do,” she states that trigger warnings are misinterpreted cautions notifying whether or not a discussion could cause emotional distress, and often are not implemented for this reason. Holmes begins by recounting when the University of Chicago announced they would not be focusing on Trigger Warnings or safe places; although the university later tells expresses that their initial statement was misinterpreted, the author uses this to open the discussion on the importance of trigger warnings.

Trigger warnings have become a very pending and current issue with many students, as they are currently included in most college syllabi. Recently many professors have been adding such announcements to the beginning of their coursework outlines, and by doing so students are given a more accurate understanding of what the curriculum entails. They can help one avoid suffering from trauma including anxiety attacks, nightmares, and PTSD attacks, but it can also be argued that they continue the bad habit of coddling that many millennials grew up with and are accused of expecting as they enter the real world. Before examining how essential these trigger warnings are, one must first understand exactly what a trigger warning is.