Alan M. Dershowitz's Essay 'On The Books'

Improved Essays
Ethos, as defined in the Oxford English dictionary, is “the character of an individual as represented by his or her values and beliefs; the moral or practical code by which a person lives”. Alan M. Dershowitz, educated at several Ivy League institutions, projects himself as an eloquent writer, erudite and a model citizen.
Initially, Dershowitz demonstrates that he is capable of eloquent writing by effectively using the Rogerian technique. The Rogerian technique, a conflict solving technique based on finding common ground instead of polarizing debate, generally allows the writer to swiftly state his position in a clear, straightforward manner while simultaneously, introducing the opposing arguments and rebuffing them. Secondly, paragraph four of Dershowitz’s essay, Yes, It Should Be “On the Books”, illustrates the eloquent style of the Rogerian technique. The following is a sample of Dershowitz’s work: “A carefully designed judicial procedure is more likely to reduce the amount of torture actually conducted, by creating accountability and learning a public record of every warrant sought and granted”.
…show more content…
Dershowitz explains that an Israeli prime minister scolded security for providing false information about other organizations. Furthermore, paragraph eighteen of Dershowitz’s essay, Yes, It Should Be “On the Books”, illustrates Dershowitz’s intellectualism. The following is a sample of Dershowitz’s work: “Several years ago, an Israeli prime minister reprimanded security of officials for bringing him “unwanted information of misdeeds by Shin Bet” (the Israeli FBI). A wise professor commented on this action in the following words: That strategy is extremely dangerous to democratic values, because it is designed to prevent oversight and to deny accountability to the public. That wise professor was Philip

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Ethos looks at the author’s credibility. Tan is a well-known writer, and does a lot of public speaking. We can trust her qualifications as a writer and an English speaking American. When she shares her stories we can be sure that she is someone we can believe. Lastly, pathos, or emotion, is an appeal in writing.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethos is the rhetorical appeal that refers to the author of the document and establishes their credentials and authority. A specific example that illustrates the effective use of ethos occurs after the defense argued that a life sentence is unconstitutional under Article I, section 15 of the Oregon constitution. Haselton responds to this claim using ethos stating that “Article I, section 15, of the Oregon Constitution provides a basis for challenging the constitutionality of “[l]aws for the punishment of crime,” not for challenging the length of a particular individual’s sentences” (para. 19). By referencing Article I, section 15 of the Oregon constitution, Haselton demonstrates his credibility and knowledge of the legal system. By doing so, Haselton showcases the audience his authority to deny the defenses’…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Hartenstine uses the advantage placed by order of essays presented, as he follows Marx’s opposing proclamation. The author uses a primarily Aristotelian form of rhetoric in his essay, mainly focusing on the topic of ethos, argumentatively the most important element of Aristotelian rhetoric. Ethos is defined as a writer’s credibility on a subject, scored by intelligence, character, and experience. Ethos can highly influence the effectiveness of an…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gifted Hands: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Gifted Hands is the novel of Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Ben Carson. Carson’s journey from the bottom of his fifth grade class to becoming director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Throughout the book Carson uses Ethos, Pathos, and Logos throughout the book explaining how a strong faith in god, and the help of a rugged mother, he was able to subdue not only the irresolution of his classmates and teachers but also that of his own intelligence, and the ability to turn his life around without the encouragement from his father to become the first doctor to perform a surgery separating twins. Carson was born into the ghetto from an early start life wasn't harsh not until the leaving of his father, when his mother Sonya was responsible for taking care of two children with a minimum education. Undetermined Sonya taught Ben with an education and hard work it can take you anywhere in life.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Learning to read” by Malcolm X uses ethos and pathos throughout the whole essay. He gives you a sense of trust by letting his reader know that he is not perfect, being that he was once illiterate himself. He is comfortable with the fact that he came from the bottom and that he was not always this powerful influential man. He appeals to your emotions by giving examples of the racism he endured, and how he handled it.…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Memoir, often distinguished from autobiography, is a narrative that reveals experiences within the author 's lifetime and is often written in the first person point of view. An excellent example of this would be Eugenia Ginzburg’s memoir, Journey into the Whirlwind. In her memoir, Eugenia Ginzburg describes her own imprisonment and exile by detailing her eighteen years in prison following her arrest during the Great Purge. Ginzburg writes her memoir in a way to drive home her themes. In other words, her end goal is to clearly state her themes and have the readers understand what the themes are by writing her memoir around them.…

    • 1318 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Both parties can win if we cut healthcare costs,” by Arthur Garson, the author attempts to persuade intended bipartisan readers to find common ground in the health care debate. In “How healthcare controls us” by Robert Samuelson the author attempts to persuade intended republican readers to take a stand on how to reform current health care overspending. While Samuelson and Garson appropriately appeal to their respective audiences’ emotions, Samuelson is more likely than Garson to succeed in accomplishing the goal of getting the American voters to take a stand on healthcare reform because the writer presents himself as someone the intended readers will more readily identify with and offers evidence that readers will find more compelling. First, Samuelson’s strong ethos is due to his superior education on specific topics compared to his target audience’s education; he easily earns ethos through a teaching role simplifying explanations to complex ideas that thus allowed the target audience to better perform their duty as citizens (making educated stances on political issues).…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    J.K. Rowling is a world renowned writer with a great sense of Aristotelian appeals. She is the writer of the Harry Potter series and a graduate of the University of Exeter. In June of 2008, she was asked to write the commencement speech at Harvard University. She titled the speech, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.”…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People always ask ‘If there was a fire, what three items would you save?’ but the truth is, all your experiences and memories will never amount to those three things. In the article “Buy Experiences, Not Things,” James Hamblin uses ethos, logos, and pathos to explore the idea that those who buy experiential things rather than material things are generally happier people. His intended audience is meant to be the younger generation of millenniums. Through his use of these rhetorical devices, he is able to make the argument that buying an experience, such as a vacation or concert, generates more happiness than buying a possession, such as a computer or clothes.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Professor Bernard Roth is a horrible persuasive writer. Bernard Roth is a Professor of Engineering and an academic director of the d.school, which is the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, at Stanford University. He has done many amazing things in his life, including writing a book. Although he may be a great teacher, he is not the best writer. In Roth’s book titled The Achievement Habit, Roth did a poor job with his arguments in the chapter “Reasons Are Bullshit.”…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For many unskilled and undocumented immigrants their only option for a job is to work in a restaurant. They work as hard or even harder than other workers and get half the pay with horrible conditions. This is because most of them do not know English. Many of these restaurant workers excel at what they do, but they get verbally abused by their bosses. In response to this Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health was created.…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Let Anger Flow “Wow did I just hear that?” is exactly what I told myself after hearing this speech again after all these years. I realize that I did but it took me a little while to accept it. The speech I am referring to is of course the speech that Goku gives, after all the carnage Freiza has brought on to Goku. This speech stems from when the undying love a man has for other beings is tested by a complete polar opposite whom seeks only to destroy.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This shows us a good use of ethos; another use of ethos is when Obama sites the text by saying “Clem once said.” Obama uses pathos when he says that Clem is a good man and then he says that a good man is the best thing to hope for when you are eulogized. This gives emotions because it would not be a very nice thought to be eulogized and what is said about you not so good. He used the next sentence to show us credibility and emotions. When Obama talks about the accomplishments that Clem accomplished throughout his life time he shows logic because he said that not everybody has to be as accomplished as Clem at the time when he got out of school.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the start when Roger Chillingworth found out his wife, Hester Prynne, has an affair there was betrayal and vengeance running through his veins. Roger is an obstacle when it comes to Hester and Dimmesdale wanting to travel back to England and start their new life together. Ethos is shown in Dimmesdale when he makes the decision to move countries with Hester the person he committed a sinful act with and has not yet confused about it to the community. In the text, it states, “Arthur Dimmesdale gazed into Hester’s face with a look in which hope and joy shone out, indeed, but with fear betwixt them, and a kind of horror at her boldness, who had spoken what he vaguely hinted at, but dared not speak.”…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Expert on ethos, John J Ruszkiewicz in his persuasive text argues that arguments based on character known as ethos. He supports this claim by first thinking that arguments based on character, trustworthiness, and credibility. Ruszkiewicz purpose is to persuade the readers in order to get them to use ethos to make better arguments.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays