Rhetorical Analysis In the book “The Achievement Habit” by Bernard Roth, he talks about how reasons are bullshit. How can they define that reasons are bullshit? Someone might say to their boss “sorry for being late, I was late due to doing something with my daughter.” There are many reasons that reasons can and are bullshit. Roth explains how reasons are bullshit with ethos, pathos, and logos.
Roth has been teaching at the Stanford University for fifty years. “Many reasons are simply excuses to hide the fact that we are not willing to give something a high enough priority in our lives” (Roth 42). In this quote, Roth uses his tone to impact his message that will be appropriate for his audience. Roth kept telling his students during his lectures …show more content…
He continues to explain how people in everyday situations use reasons as excuses. Roth gives an example of this when describing a student being late to class. He states, “Even if it’s true that her bicycle has a flat tire, the bottom line is, getting to class on time is not a high enough priority in her life” (42). Even though the student had a reason on why she was late to class it was valid and not just a “bullshit reason.” This example can also be used with the argument that even when people use reasons they are still taking accountability in their actions. Although that student was late to class she still took accountability on why she was late. Another example of this is explaining why an athlete couldn’t make it to a game. Say there was a big game coming up and the star player stayed up late the night before and missed the game the next day. The athlete could show up and blankly say, “I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the game I stayed up too late the night before.” Even when giving a reason he is still taking accountability on why he couldn’t make it to the game. In chapter two of “The Achievement Habit” written by Bernard Roth, Roth uses strong rhetorical devices to convince his audience that “reasons are bullshit.” He uses strong evidence to prove himself as a credible person through ethical appeal. Roth continues on and makes connections with his audience to create emotional appeal. Finally, he uses supporting ideas to logically back up his key points and argument. Although Roth has strong and convincing ideas, there are still times in his writing that may make his audience argue against what he is trying to
Roth has been teaching at the Stanford University for fifty years. “Many reasons are simply excuses to hide the fact that we are not willing to give something a high enough priority in our lives” (Roth 42). In this quote, Roth uses his tone to impact his message that will be appropriate for his audience. Roth kept telling his students during his lectures …show more content…
He continues to explain how people in everyday situations use reasons as excuses. Roth gives an example of this when describing a student being late to class. He states, “Even if it’s true that her bicycle has a flat tire, the bottom line is, getting to class on time is not a high enough priority in her life” (42). Even though the student had a reason on why she was late to class it was valid and not just a “bullshit reason.” This example can also be used with the argument that even when people use reasons they are still taking accountability in their actions. Although that student was late to class she still took accountability on why she was late. Another example of this is explaining why an athlete couldn’t make it to a game. Say there was a big game coming up and the star player stayed up late the night before and missed the game the next day. The athlete could show up and blankly say, “I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the game I stayed up too late the night before.” Even when giving a reason he is still taking accountability on why he couldn’t make it to the game. In chapter two of “The Achievement Habit” written by Bernard Roth, Roth uses strong rhetorical devices to convince his audience that “reasons are bullshit.” He uses strong evidence to prove himself as a credible person through ethical appeal. Roth continues on and makes connections with his audience to create emotional appeal. Finally, he uses supporting ideas to logically back up his key points and argument. Although Roth has strong and convincing ideas, there are still times in his writing that may make his audience argue against what he is trying to