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.