Rhetorical Analysis Of How To Tame A Wild Tongue

In the article “The Coddling of the American Mind,” writers Greg Lukianoff and Jonathon Haidt address today’s college campus culture of oversensitivity and how targeting microaggressions by shielding sensitive topics from students may be modeling cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortion is a way our mind twists words to convince us of something that isn’t true to reinforce negative thinking. Since college administrators changed ways to try and block out microaggressions on campus it is actually teaching students to think in distorted ways. As a result, students are learning lessons that are bad for themselves and their mental health. However, Lukianoff and Haidt believe that cognitive behavioral therapy is the next big thing to teach good

LGBT representation is a touchy subject, and Amy is one of the few brave enough to explore the topic. However, she left more than a few holes in her argument, biting off more than she could chew. Her position on the misrepresentation of bisexuals in TV was ineffective at persuading her audience, because of her lack of concrete evidence, misdirection of audiences, and contradictory statements.

This postcard builds suspense in the reader’s mind. Alex saying that this adventure could kill him makes the reader interested in finding out more. “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again I want you to know you’re a great man.” (Krakauer 3).

In the article, “Toddlers in Tiaras” by Skip Hollandsworth, the author’s main focus is to make the audience aware of the dangers involved in child pageantry, and how it can negatively impact the children who participate. People who enter their kids in these events don’t think to consider the consequences that result from pageant lifestyle. By incorporating strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos, he is able to make an effective point of argument to persuade the audience.

Anzaldua’s audience is everyone, ranging from immigrants to native United States citizens. In her text she uses examples that many people can relate to when English isn’t their first language or they have a unique difference from the majority. An example I chose to back up my claim is one from Anzaldua's past experiences, this takes place in her childhood dentist office where from the imagery she gives us shows she annoyed with some of the state the dentist is saying about her “strong [and] stubborn” (206) tongue. Even though the comments made by the dentist wasn’t directed towards her language and accent, the way she feels while he’s speaking to her show that she already has some insecurities with the way she speaks. She believes that her language is something that defines her, and if people have a problem with how she speaks they have made up negative assumptions about her.

The rhetor of an argument or persuasive piece is a key factor in its overall quality and effectiveness. If the rhetor is someone who is unknown or unwilling to state why they are qualified to speak on a topic, they will have little effect on an audience. The rhetor can promote them-self through ethos if they are not already known in the field they are speaking about. Gloria Anzaldua “was born in the south Texas town of Raymondville, the oldest of four children…she entered Texas’s segregated educational system in 1949. Because she spoke only Spanish her teacher mocked and punished her” (Keating 1). She faced many challenges growing up as a mostly Spanish speaking child in an English educational system. She stated, “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess – that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler” (Anzaldua 19).

In the nonfiction/ autobiography, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Anzaldúa is able to show her personal experiences of how she learns to accept that she is her language. She is able to incorporate her audience of other Chicana women who are still struggling with their identity throughout the nonfiction/ autobiography through the use of code switching, personification, and synecdoche. Through this she is not only to precious experiences to show her audience how she become who she is today through them, but show her audience how they are not alone if they are struggling as she was to find her identity through her language.

In May of 1998, Kipland Kinkel brought a gun to his school. Over the course of two days this escalated from: being sent home, to murdering his father and mother, to murdering 2 students and wounding 26, earning a lifetime sentence of 111 years and 8 months in prison. In the court case being examined, the presiding judge addresses the original case, defendants ground for appeal, and the justification for the State’s decision to deny the appeal. Judge Haselton effectively uses ethos, logos, and pathos to support the Higher Court’s decision to deny the appeal because the original sentence was constitutional and just.

Many people wish they can drop everything important to them and isolate themselves from society; very few people will even attempt this, but Chris McCandless breaks societal norms to accomplish this goal. In Into the Wild, John Krakauer tells the story of this young man’s life to inspire the audience to chase their dreams through the use of logos, involved sentence, and anecdotes.

A prosecutor’s job is to find evidence to support his case against an individual accused of breaking the law while a defense attorney tries to present evidence to prove the innocence of the person accused. Neither can be truly be unbiased about their evidence but each of them is motivated to confirm a particular position. Much like a defense attorney, in his biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer attempts to prove that McCandless’s tragedy was not due to his incompetence or lack of knowledge about the wild. He asserts emotions and rational onto McCandless’s experience as well as drawing similarities between his personal experience and McCandless’s in order to create a more sympathetic response from readers.

1a. Know and understand- to perceive as the fact or the truth; to grasp the meaning of an idea

When Anzaldua says “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language” she wants you to feel every aspect of what she is saying. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” she persuades her readers to believe the way she feels and that she has went through hell to fight for what she believes in.

To begin with Equality believes his eventual assessment of his sins are wrong. He is too tall and too smart. He feels so absolutely terrible about how he looks. He truly believe he is sinning by looking the way he does. He discovers electricity, he wants to tell the Council of Vocations. He is very scared that he is going to get into a lot of trouble and be banished. Equality wants to be a scholar, but he knows that the Council of Vocations will not allow that. Equality states “we know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it.”(Pg. 18) This statement proves that Equality honestly believes he is evil, terrible, and a horrible sinner.

In other words, her mother had been influenced by American values. For this reason, she pushed her daughter to become more like the dominant society (American) and less like the minority group (Mexican). As Anzaldúa integrated to American culture she continued to experience discriminatory circumstances. For instance, while she attended “Pan American University” she had to enroll in speech class “to get rid of [her] [accent]” (Anzaldúa 374). Then, when she “taught High School English” she was discouraged by the principal to using Chicano literature in her class (Anzaldúa 379). On the other hand, the resentful minority group (Spanish speakers) expected her not to use the “oppressor’s language” (Anzaldúa 375).The impact of all these events, influence Anzaldúa to believe that “by the end of this century English, and not Spanish, will be the mother tongue of most Chicanos and Latinos” (Anzaldúa 378). This is important, because Anzaldúa writes, “ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity” (378). If her prediction becomes reality, then most of what surrounds me (and others like me) will disappear.

I prefer to express myself in my writing, although it’s not always easy. We all want to be good writers, but it can be difficult to become a good writer. We don’t grow from things that are easy, we grow as writers when things become difficult and challenging to the mind and the hands of a writer. For an example, when I was writing for the visual rhetorical analysis of a documentary it was difficult writing about the documentaries ethos, pathos, and logos. (Question 2.) At the beginning of my essay I wrote in my thesis that the author of the documentary Fed Up lacked in giving the audience logos, but had persuaded their audience with pathos and ethos, “Fed up has certainly persuaded its audience through the use of ethos and pathos; although