Rhetorical Analysis - Thesis Proposal

Whenever I think of rhetorical analysis, I always think of the scene in "My Fair Lady" where Alfred Doolittle goes to meet Professor Higgins. Professor Higgins has taken in Alfred's daughter, Eliza, to teach her better English and transform her character. Alfred doesn't come to rescue his daughter, he comes to get some money, because he is extremely poor. Higgins is not quite sure why Alfred has come, and when he inquires, Alfred replies, "I'm willing to tell ya. I'm wanting to tell ya. I'm waiting to tell ya!." Impressed by this, the professor says to his colleague, "You know, Pickering, this chap's got a certain natural gift of rhetoric. Observe the rhythm of his native woodnotes wild. 'I'm willing to tell you. I'm wanting to tell you. I'm waiting to tell you.'"

Higgins is so amused by Alfred's rhetoric during the course of their conversation, that he obliges his request and gives him the money. It's really a great scene. I wish I could have found a video clip to share.

Now, I was not so persuaded by any of the articles we were asked to read, but I was more amused by some than by others. My favorite was, "A Government in Thrall to Religion", but looking at Blogger, it looks like that was  popular among most of the people in the class. So instead, I am going to dissect the rhetoric used in, "Ashcroft and Friends Versus Washington and the Framers".

Thesis Proposal:

In "Ashcroft and Friends" Robin Morgan has a clear purpose to her argument, and relies on strong diction and quotes from some of America's best-remembered ancestors to bring others to agree with her point of view. That view being, that religion is too prominent in American culture and that everyone should rid the idea that America was a nation built on religious ideals. She uses some good figurative language to engage her audience, sentiments from the Founding Fathers to strike a chord of patriotism, and even modern examples of how powerful religion has made itself in America.

I am not going to constantly praise Morgan for her rhetorical accomplishments, because there are also instances in which she tried, but failed. For example, being a feminist writing for a feminist magazine, she probably felt some need to give a shout-out to the women. But her reference to Abigail Adams, and saying that "female citizens were invisible to them [the founders]", could lessen the credibility of her sources. "The founding fathers were wrong about what the role of women should be, why should I agree with their ideas of what the role of religion should be?"--a feminist reader might wonder. Also, Abigail Adams was religious. Morgan relied heavily on the quotes from the Founding Fathers, and perhaps too much. She could have increased the pathos and the logos of the argument if she had used more contrast in her references.

"Faith in America" Mini-Analysis

            The point of the speech by Mitt Romney is to convince people that being a Mormon would not affect his presidency, and that religious diversity is very important to America and he wants to embrace that. His audience is the people of faith in America. For Ethos, he says that he is simply an American, to make him seem neutral to all beliefs and prove that being a Mormon will not affect how he handles affairs. However, he also goes on to say how he will never back down from his beliefs, which may enhance his credibility for some, but for others with no faith, it may worry them that if something came up that aligned with God’s will and not the will of man, he would choose God’s will. He sneaks in how he was a former governor of Massachusetts, and he makes references to major historical figures in America, such as the Founders and Martin Luther King Jr. to back up the credibility of his subject. He tries to use the fact that he is religious, to prove that making an oath on the Bible will have more meaning to him, and to increase his credibility as a possible presidential candidate.

            For Pathos, he uses examples of how hard early Americans worked to find religious freedom to appeal to American pride. He also shares how a founding father welcomed anyone of any faith, as long as they were a patriot. He shares examples of religious extremists (violent Jihad), to show how important it is to band together and embrace religious freedom. His main point is to appeal to the unifying feeling of being an American.

            For Logos, much of what appealed to emotion and was used to increase his credibility, were also points of logic. Such as his reference to the founders and how they cherished religious freedom, and “in God [they] trust[ed]”, but still being an American was the most important part. His purpose is to convince others of how important the role of God was in the creation of this country, and that it should still be today.

Mormon Housewife Blogs

Ethos

• She shares that she is not a Mormon or a mother, so to make her argument seem unbiased
• She also shares that she is married to a former Mormon, to prove that she does have somewhat of an understanding of the community
• The words of other sources of authority are used, such as the president of the Utah Psychiatric Association, so when she considers that many of these women blogging possibly suffer from depression, it doesn't sound like she is trying to destroy their character, she is only stating facts

Pathos

• She appeals a lot to humor in her introduction, and she achieves this by her descriptive language. I could imagine the exact people she was describing, and it was very engaging.
• A feeling of pity is even met, by sharing the statistic about how in Utah the most antidepressants are prescribed than anywhere else.
• She appeals to humor also in the way that she presents her paper in the way of a confessional. She has this addiction, and she is not sure quite why, and is not willing to give it up. But what makes it comical is that it's not a bad addiction, she calls these blogs, "uplifting".

Logos

• She attempts to offer many logical explanations about why these blogs are so entertaining to read. One explanation is that Mormons are expert journal-keepers, which is essentially what blogging is, because it is sou encouraged in the LDS church to keep a journal.
• In her analysis she explains what is so appealing, and she believes that it is the way they "make marriage and motherhood seem, well fun. Easy. Joyful"
• She explains another reason that they may appear happy, is because optimism is so stressed within the LDS community.

Opinion Editorial Reflection - Reboot

What worked for me was making an outline. I usually just dive into a paper, but I found that making an outline, where I put in order what I want to say and get an idea of how I want to say it, helps me avoid writer's block. It felt like a much more fluid process, and less stressful. I also liked getting feedback from peers, as it was an opinion editorial, and they were my audience, it gave me a better perspective of what engages certain audiences. I used meme quotes to show that I’m not that out-of-the-loop as far as social media goes, and to enhance my credibility. I tried to throw in some humor to appeal to my audience, but I also shared more serious information, like a local girl getting raped, and a quote from Elder Cook to appeal to more emotion. For Logos, I used analogies to show how harmful the website (YikYak) can be, actual quotes from the site, and the Elder Cook quote could also fall under the category of logical appeal.

 What didn’t work for me was the 20 minute free-write. I don't think well under pressure, the best ideas come at random moments. I ended up not using any of the possible topics that I came up with in the portion of the writing process. After analyzing my paper, what didn’t work for me in terms of the rhetorical triangle was that I could have been more consistent with quoting memes to make the paper funnier. Also, I had hoped to have the exact number of how many sexual harassment reports are made weekly in the Provo area caused from online dating, but the officer never got back to me. I think it would have strengthened the logos in the paragraph regarding that subject.

As far as expectations go, I had never written an opinion editorial before, and I liked the amount of freedom that it allowed. I expected to learn more about how to persuade an audience with my words, and I think being able to receive a lot of feedback, helped achieve that.