Jay Heinrichs, author of Thank You for Arguing:What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion, is a wonderful storyteller but lacks in actually educating. Sure, he has a Master’s Degree in English, but I will soon discredit this so-called “degree.” Focusing on his personal experiences rather than actual tips, Heinrichs makes excellent use of his paid-by-the-word salary. Students, however, don’t want to know this; they did not waste $16.00 on a book about a middle aged white man’s home life. Seeing as how this analysis is required to have me, the author, pick a “best chapter,” I would have to pick the one in which he finally gives sage advice: how to correctly apologize. But, the cons vastly outweigh the
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This chapter informs the reader on how and when to apologize, and what to say when apologizing. For example, Heinrichs starts off with a rather long-winded story about the time he mistakenly printed an article stating that Mount St. Helens was in Oregon rather than Washington state. Once confronted by Washington state’s governor, Heinrichs had to explain to his boss what happened. Here is where his self titled “art of not-quite-apologizing” takes place. Heinrichs, being the true storyteller he is, goes on for quite some time explaining what happened. Rather than bore you with the details, I will skip ahead in the chapter (and believe me, I skipped quite a lot) and instead focus on what he actually attempts to teach. Now, the rubric states that the author, me, must explain what the most interesting part was, how Heinrichs explains things to the reader, and why it was effective. Let me shut this down right here and right now. The entire book was slow. It was boring. This chapter was picked at random in order to satisfy the requirement of having a “best chapter”. Despite many read throughs and analyzing, it is near impossible to find anything hooking my interest. Heinrichs tells the reader that in order to avoid completely apologizing, one must set goals, be first with the news, switch to the future tense, and then enhance the ethos (Heinrichs 251). To elaborate, …show more content…
This summer I was forced to read it in order to write this essay. I wished for nothing else but a coma in order to escape it. Children who were not taking English 1301 with me were out making memories, enjoying the company of others; I was stuck inside my bedroom reading as I wilted away. Minutes turned to hours, hours into days, days into weeks, until finally I finished. With how long it took to read through and gain at least a basic grasp of the concepts being “taught”, I could have written a 200 page novella and gone on tour promoting it. This book is a complete waste of time for anyone reading it. It taught me nothing that I (reluctantly) didn’t already know, and it drained years off of my life. Why would teachers be so cruel as to assign this? Here I was thinking that teachers were nice and kind, helping me to succeed in life. Now I am aware that they instead wish to drain children’s joy of learning and to subsequently replace it with a hatred for all things
This chapter informs the reader on how and when to apologize, and what to say when apologizing. For example, Heinrichs starts off with a rather long-winded story about the time he mistakenly printed an article stating that Mount St. Helens was in Oregon rather than Washington state. Once confronted by Washington state’s governor, Heinrichs had to explain to his boss what happened. Here is where his self titled “art of not-quite-apologizing” takes place. Heinrichs, being the true storyteller he is, goes on for quite some time explaining what happened. Rather than bore you with the details, I will skip ahead in the chapter (and believe me, I skipped quite a lot) and instead focus on what he actually attempts to teach. Now, the rubric states that the author, me, must explain what the most interesting part was, how Heinrichs explains things to the reader, and why it was effective. Let me shut this down right here and right now. The entire book was slow. It was boring. This chapter was picked at random in order to satisfy the requirement of having a “best chapter”. Despite many read throughs and analyzing, it is near impossible to find anything hooking my interest. Heinrichs tells the reader that in order to avoid completely apologizing, one must set goals, be first with the news, switch to the future tense, and then enhance the ethos (Heinrichs 251). To elaborate, …show more content…
This summer I was forced to read it in order to write this essay. I wished for nothing else but a coma in order to escape it. Children who were not taking English 1301 with me were out making memories, enjoying the company of others; I was stuck inside my bedroom reading as I wilted away. Minutes turned to hours, hours into days, days into weeks, until finally I finished. With how long it took to read through and gain at least a basic grasp of the concepts being “taught”, I could have written a 200 page novella and gone on tour promoting it. This book is a complete waste of time for anyone reading it. It taught me nothing that I (reluctantly) didn’t already know, and it drained years off of my life. Why would teachers be so cruel as to assign this? Here I was thinking that teachers were nice and kind, helping me to succeed in life. Now I am aware that they instead wish to drain children’s joy of learning and to subsequently replace it with a hatred for all things