Article of the Week 8: Quit Blaming Congress for All of our Ills

Quit Blaming Congress for All of our Ills is about how the American people have been using Congress as a scapegoat for the many recent economic problems. Ross K. Baker,  a political science professor and writer for USA Today, states that Congress should not be the only group blamed for the recent problems. His opinion is that the Obama administration has not been open enough with other branches of the government and the Congress, with much of it's operations open to public viewing, has taken the blame because if its visibility. He also states that much of the problems we see right now are because of voters who have elected candidates who will not compromise, effectively halting the government. This was written to try to convince readers around the D.C. area that they should not look to blame one source for all of their problems as well as to caution them to vote logically instead of emotionally.

Baker used pathos clearly in his piece. He references a book written by Texas Governor Rick Perry and also an influential leader from the past, Otto von Bismark. The author also seems to use the classical argument structure. (Outlined above) This helps him to organize his thoughts as well as to convey his point. On the whole, this piece was written well and convincing. The congress is not the only party at fault. It also brings the average voter to look at who they had voted for and whether they truly thought their decisions through.

Article of the Week 7: IRB Sections 2 - 3.5

After taking about a month to read the first section, the book took off and I am almost done in less than a week. After landing in Afghanistan, Marcus and the other three men on his team begin to look for a good place to stay in order to have good visibility of the village where their target lives and have a good defensive position in case if any Taliban fighters find them. They find a spot and are set up, when three goatherds accidentally go by them. The soldiers need to decide whether to kill the goatherds. They eventually decide to let the goatherds leave, but they are spies for the Taliban and the nearby Taliban army of about 200 quickly descend on the four American men. Both sides fight and the battle ends with half the Taliban forces dead. Miraculously, Marcus lives (though more than half dead) when some local people find him near a river. They bring him to their village and give him hospitality which, by their laws and customs, means that they have to defend him from harm by any means necessary. After some time, Marcus decided to leave so that the people protecting him would no longer be in danger, but as soon as he tried the Taliban decided to attack.

Throughout these sections, Luttrell uses many combat terms and abbreviations. He never refers to a weapon with something as general as "gun" or "rifle." His weapon is a "Mark 12 Sniper Rifle" and the native weapon is an "AK-47." The author spends much of his time closely describing his surroundings. He often notes the impossibility of his mission compared to the bravery and attitude of his friends. Each one was shot multiple times before they died. He describes each occurrence in detail, not just to get across the gruesome injuries, but to express the strength of these men and their bravery. One man was shot in the neck and continued to fight until shot another shot killed him. Also, throughout the book, even before the Taliban attack, cursing is prevalent. While in most cases, this would be frowned-upon, his use of this language gives the book a more realistic feel and helps to convey the mentality of these men.

One section that I found particularly interesting was:

     "Look at me, right now in my story. Helpless, tortured, shot, blown up, my best buddies all dead, and all because we were afraid of the liberals back home... Afraid of American civilian lawyers... if you don't want to get in a war where things go wrong... where innocent people sometimes have to die, then stay the hell out of it in the first place."

This section was remarkably reminiscent of "How to Tell a True War Story." Throughout the book, Marcus explains how he is never allowed to shoot a person until they begin to shoot at him because of America's laws on "civilized" warfare. He states that he is more afraid of the American media than any of the Taliban. His point hits home at this part of the book because over fifty people died in order to keep up an American pretense of being righteous.

Article of the Week 6: Worldview: Will U.S. honor vow to rescue Iraqi aides?

This article speaks to the negatives of the US troops leaving Iraq. Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer is a highly qualified author and has visited Iraq eleven times in the past seven years. Trudy Rubin talks about Obama's moral obligation to save the Iraqis who have helped the US throughout the war because all of the bases are being evacuated and the citizens without protection. The US has planned to give visas to these people, but last month only 43 Iraqis were given visas. Trudy Rubin criticizes Obama for not holding up his promise in a situation she believes he can fix easily.

With the war losing supporters in the last few years, many people support the withdrawal of soldiers. Personally, I have been against the war but this article forced me to think again about removing soldiers from Iraq prematurely. This piece is relevant in the sense that this is happening currently, but it could have been more effective at a time when more focus was put on these efforts. Written to inform the public of this tragedy about to occur in Iraq, it comments on the way politicians often change their views and how this hurts people who have helped the US and should deserve our support. Throughout the piece, the author uses a strong appeal to emotion, using phrases like, "Why are you consigning many of them to death?" "desperate Iraqi interpreters," and "you betray the Iraqis who helped us." This causes the reader to feel guilt through her use of strong emotional word choice. She also takes Obama's words, moral obligation, and uses them repeatedly in order to drive home the hypocrisy of his actions. Despite her skill, the author has not caused a change as of yet. This is still a large issue and as she mostly speaks to the president's obligations it is not likely that her writings will cause the change she is seeking.

Unit 1 - Assignment Question Reflection

What single assignment, reading, activity or 'something else' was most helpful to you so far and why? Be specific.

The most helpful resource by far has been the rhetorical triangle handout. Being visual to a fault, this helped lay the groundwork for the course in a simple layout. I also thought that the way it was presented was especially helpful. This material was given with the other materials on the source and then we, as a class, were told to mark it up ourselves. This brought out our own ideas as well as content we felt was important from the text. Then afterward, we went over the important details in class and what we were supposed to gain from that resource. This method, then made the class think on the topic as well as expressed the important ideas of the course. It is also a great resource because it is easy to look back on to review the main ideas of the materials we have covered and the basics of rhetorical analysis. The first step I tend to take when analyzing a document now is to visualize that paper in my head.

Unit 1 - Essential Question #1

What makes an effective Argument?

An Argument starts out with an arguable premise, but that is not the only factor in creating a solid argument. The rhetorical triangle is a major component of writing, considering the rhetor, audience, context, and subject. Even though there have been many techniques outlined in this chapter to help with argument, these have stuck out to be the most important of the concepts learned. Sometimes it is hard to get a part of the triangle correct, and if this happens, then the entire paper will fail because it failed in conception. For example, if a person were to write a paper on family values they would look to cite sources. Before the Tiger Woods scandal, he would have been a great person to cite because of his supposed commitment to family values. However, after his affair was publicized, he was no longer a good source of information on this topic. So, failing at one of these basic steps, such as context, can be a person's downfall.

The next most useful elements in making an argument would be the topics. Although we have not covered them thoroughly in class, they seem to be a reliable way in order to make strong comparisons between subjects. Along the same lines are the enthymeme and syllogism. These two ideas seem that they would make an extremely strong argument if used well.

The Classical Argument Structure also can help in making an effective Argument. I would be remiss if I left it out, but I feel as if we knew it already, if not by name. The concept may have been new to others but, since starting high school, my English teacher had focused on those same ideas as mentioned in the piece on the Classical Argument Structure. This structure is an important tool as it allows for varying structure and creativity within the piece. It also allows for an "aha moment" that the conventional "TICAP" essay does not afford. Generally, though all pieces of the course so far have been helpful, the greatest tool has been the rhetorical triangle and the exploration of how all of the pieces in this system fit together. 

Article of the Week 5: IRB

Lone Survivor tells the story of a Navy SEAL's mission in Afghanistan through a narration of the trip and a series of flashbacks. Joining the Armed forces two years before 9/11, Marcus Luttrell Petty Officer First Class, the author and subject of the book narrates this specific mission as well as his experiences training to become a Navy SEAL. Published six years after 9/11, Marcus' journey and major topic of this book was a direct result of those terrorist attacks. This book shows how dedicated soldiers are to the country and the ideas it represents. Often repeated is the idea "Let him who desires peace prepare for war," (Luttrell, 101). The people who would read this book would most likely be Americans who would be curious about the war and what it is like to be in one. Also, people who are interested in politics and history as this book is response to an event that changed much of the world.

While not even far enough to have read about the mission, there are a few prominent rhetorical devices used thus far. The use of flashbacks is the  most noticeable. it provides depth to the story and meaning to the mission because the reader gains knowledge of how hard the author has worked to get in such an elite fighting force. The author also uses much repetition throughout the novel. In the section where he is in training for the SEALs, the command to get "Wet and sandy," occurs many times a page. What is interesting is that the author does not just repeat this order, but every time explains how this order has a different effect on him each time it is used. These strategies show how difficult it was for Marcus to attain his position in the military. At this point it is difficult to distinguish the author's purpose because he is still setting up the story. 

Presentation Slides: Politics and the English Language - George Orwell

Group Members:
Mark Muli, Emily Ostrow, Arthur Zhong, Mike Marta and Erin Annunziato

Article of the Week 4: Teenage Brains

"Teenage Brains" is an article from the October issue of National Geographic, a highly respected science and history magazine. This article is about how the teenage brain develops and the differing theories on its development. The theory previously accepted is that teenagers made bad decisions because their brains were not fully developed, but this article attributes those decisions to chemicals in the brain. Rather, this article mostly focuses on how scientists now believe that the brain acts this way in order to make people in their teens and early twenties more able to deal with change. This time of change in the brain is beneficial because once the "wiring" is finished in the brain it is less able to change.

Written mainly to inform adults or parents, the article often threw in comforting comments to parents who have trouble with teenagers. As teenagers are not considered responsible in many societies and throughout many eras, the article addresses a continuing topic of concern for the audience. The use of narration (a teen speeding) in the beginning of the article is effective because it is used as a source of reference throughout the piece. However well written, this article laid foundation for the first half of the article, making it less interesting for audiences with previous knowledge. Much of it could have been shortened for a more interesting and less long piece. The author often uses (somewhat) common memory for examples, but his flaw is that not all people have had the experience of raising a teenager. This device is then rendered inadequate because these situations are not applicable to all people. While this article may be successful to the majority of the population and the target audience, it has the potential to anger teenagers as it often refers to them negatively and uses generalizations.