In an excerpt from his book, Denison, Iowa: Searching for the Soul of America Through the Secrets of a Midwest Town (2005), Dale Maharidge utilizes numerous rhetorical appeals including ethos, pathos, mythos, and kairos to persuade the reader that the survival of small towns in Iowa depend on their capacity to accept immigrants. This book covers the history of a small town in western Iowa, Denison, and its unflattering historic past of hostility towards immigrants. He begins the book by…
A Modest Proposal was written by Jonathan Swift and published as a pamphlet in 1729. The proposal was submitted anonymously by Jonathan in an attempt to find a quick and simple solution to the poverty in Ireland. The author uses a number of rhetorical devise to appeal a rational and or emotional response of the audience. Right from the start of the proposal looking at the title, the author is using irony to introduce his proposal being hardly a “Modest Proposal”.…
Rhetorical Analysis: The Help by Kathryn Stockett The Help is a novel written in 2009 by Kathryn Stockett that has been featured on the New York Time’s best-sellers list. The story is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s and tells the story of black maids working in white households. The story addresses issues such as racism and gender equality roles.…
In his satirical piece, A Modest Proposal, Dr. Jonathon Swift’s use of pathos demonstrates that civil neglect has debilitating effects on the poor in Ireland. Swift uses reduction to convey the degraded value of human life. Swift proposes that “the skin [of a child...] will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen” (I. 94-96). Since poor children are an eyesore to the upper class in the streets begging for food and money, Swift proposes that these children should be ridden of and killed. A poor child’s life, that would have been wasted away struggling to survive, takes on meaning by making use of its body parts to serve the upper class.…
Sexual orientation has been a heavily disputed topic for decades. At first no one really cared, but the more it was put out there the more it became evident that this couldn’t be ignored. It wasn’t until June 26, 2013 that gay marriage accepted in all fifty states. It is gradually becoming more widely accepted, but there are still large groups out there that do not support it. In Sager’s article Refuting Anti-Gay Rights Arguments, we see that he has a much stronger source because he comes back with textual evidence, while Dawson’s article Bisexuality is a real Thing, is much weaker because it is based off her opinion.…
Rhetorical Analysis of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration Michelle Alexander is an African American civil rights activist, Ohio state law professor, and legality lawyer, who has written the famous novel, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness in 2010 which emphasizes the ongoing civil rights issues being had within African American communities and law enforcement. Michelle uses several rhetorical devices within the chapter “The Rebirth of Caste” to provide evidence as to how racism is still prevalent within the United States of America without intentionally noticing it ’s there. Through the use of quotations from historical sources, ethos, pathos, and logos and a timeline of how racism and white supremacy…
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was formally signed into law on March 23, 2010, with four key rhetorical elements of the ACA that command attention; counteraction of insurance company’s rejection of patients with pre-existing conditions , assuring “essential health benefits ”, mandating citizens to obtain health insurance , and an “employer mandate ”. Consequently, in terms of public policy, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Secondly, it would require individuals to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government. As Obama’s symbiotic theorist Saul Alinsky revealed in his textbook Rules for Radicals about political revolutionary tactics, “Political action requires a social force.”…
There are racial struggles in the U.S. There was slavery in the U.S. People were mean to the slaves. Then there was a civil war, north against the south, the north won the battle. The north made slavery illegal. The black people that were slaves were emancipated and set free.…
Back when settlers first came to the new world they were in search of religious freedom. No longer wanted to live under the rule of Great Britain, they left for the unknown. American was founded on the belief that once you become a U.S. citizen you are free. Although, the constitution was put in place to make sure that the “freedoms” do not get too out of hand. In today’s age some of these laws have restricted people from living the life that their ancestors risked their lives for.…
In Maria W. Stewart's lecture in Boston in 1832, she conveys her position on the injustices of slavery and the cruelty that slaves experiences through the use of diction, figurative language, and her own personal experience. Altogether, these create a sense of injustice and desparity for the cause of the African Americans and their freedoms and aspirations to be something more than just servile labor. Diction is a major influence in this lecture. With a variety of words, such as "chains", "ragged", "drudgery and toil", "exhausted", "death", and "cruel", Stewart appeals to the feelings of people in an attempt to make them understand the hardships and extreme injustice that encompass the life of a slave. To continue, there is also another set…
The Equal Rights Amendment "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." In 1923, this statement was admitted to Congress under the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution granting equality between men and women under the law.…
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is able to convey a warm tone throughout this essay. Her rhetoric and structure of the essay helps establish that tone. She choses to have an interview style structure in some of her paragraphs, which can almost make it feel like someone is having a conversation with her. She continues to create a personal attachment with the reader by sharing details about her personal life, consequently, this creates a more personal and engaging tone. It is important for her to have that quality in this essay because her points will resonate with the readers.…
In her “Equal Rights for Women” speech, she decided to speak out about acquiring equality for women by establishing an affirmative case for the Equal Rights Amendment. Shirley Chisholm delivered her speech on May 21, 1969 in Washington, D.C., to push for the equal rights amendment in essence to ensure women’s rights and roles within society. By using Aristotle’s theories of persuasion, Chisholm peacefully presented “a proposal that has been before every Congress for the last 40 years and that sooner or later must become part of the basic law of the land -- the equal rights amendment. ”(Chisholm). By applying ethos, pathos, and…
When reminiscing on her childhood, Jenny Rain could recall the injustices and skepticism that her family would face on a day-to-day basis. Jenny remembers overhearing hurtful slurs that were directed towards her and her family during one of their visits to the Virginia Beach boardwalk. The remarks that Jenny overheard people say ignited a fire in her, whereas her two dads were oblivious to the snide comments. Later in life, Jenny came to the realization that the fate of same-sex couples to be able to legally marry and parent children rested on the shoulders of those in her generation that experienced the same upbringing by gay parents as she did. In the fight for marriage equality, children like Jenny account for a huge part of the debate to show how completely ordinary the upbringing of a…
Since the beginning of time, people have fought over their different opinions. With different opinions, there are bound to be a lot of arguments. Some of the arguments can be big or small, and other arguments people do not like to speak of. One of the most confidential is the right for LGBT communities right to be able to get married. This is an ongoing problem that needs to be settled one way or another.…