Jack Hoopman
Mrs. McGee
AP English Language and Composition
December 18 2014
The Curmudgeon Exposed
“Humbug!" The familiar lines of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol ring forever anew in Michael Levin’s cynical essay, In Defense of Scrooge. Levin’s opinionated essay defends the actions of the curmudgeon Scrooge throughout A Christmas Carol laying forth the case that Scrooge’s character is more flawless than what Dickens reveals. The intriguing, thought-provoking points Levin stirs begin questions in the reader’s mind of the common historical held thinking of Scrooge and Cratchit. However, as much as Levin’s points have created questioning in the reader’s minds the essay remains an ineffective writing piece because of the logical, emotional, and credible flaws that lay interspersed throughout the essay. …show more content…
“If he stays there, he shows by his behavior that he prefers his present wages-plus-comfort package to any other he has found, or supposes himself likely to find.” This phrase of antithesis and assumptions by Levin are both illogical and disillusioned. The assumption that Cratchit enjoys his position under Scrooge enough to stay is flawed and narrow minded as Levin appears to never once consider or mention the fact that work, at this point and time in history, was almost impossible to come by. This oversight on Levin’s part severely hurts the persuasiveness of his essay and weakens his entire appeal to logos because he fails to develop his argument by considering the that Scrooge is the real problem which results in the flawed, narrow-minded, illogical style of his
Mrs. McGee
AP English Language and Composition
December 18 2014
The Curmudgeon Exposed
“Humbug!" The familiar lines of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol ring forever anew in Michael Levin’s cynical essay, In Defense of Scrooge. Levin’s opinionated essay defends the actions of the curmudgeon Scrooge throughout A Christmas Carol laying forth the case that Scrooge’s character is more flawless than what Dickens reveals. The intriguing, thought-provoking points Levin stirs begin questions in the reader’s mind of the common historical held thinking of Scrooge and Cratchit. However, as much as Levin’s points have created questioning in the reader’s minds the essay remains an ineffective writing piece because of the logical, emotional, and credible flaws that lay interspersed throughout the essay. …show more content…
“If he stays there, he shows by his behavior that he prefers his present wages-plus-comfort package to any other he has found, or supposes himself likely to find.” This phrase of antithesis and assumptions by Levin are both illogical and disillusioned. The assumption that Cratchit enjoys his position under Scrooge enough to stay is flawed and narrow minded as Levin appears to never once consider or mention the fact that work, at this point and time in history, was almost impossible to come by. This oversight on Levin’s part severely hurts the persuasiveness of his essay and weakens his entire appeal to logos because he fails to develop his argument by considering the that Scrooge is the real problem which results in the flawed, narrow-minded, illogical style of his