Through analysis of Lee Burdette Williams’s article “”Safe” is in the Brain of the Beholder”, it is clear that she deliberately employs a blend of pathos and logos to relay her message that, while freedom of expression is important, students and educators alike must be considerate of the needs of others. In her article, Williams uses precise language, including pathos to probe her readers’ emotional and empathetic sides, as well as logos to add believability and substantiate her argument. Williams’s article “”Safe” is in the Brain of the Beholder” that speaks directly to students and college educators, is both fairly written and successful at utilizing logos and pathos to formulate an argument to encourage her audience to look past differences…
This article presents a decent definition for safes space and supports my argument by showing how striving for political correctness has gotten out of hand. Deresiewicz, William. " On Political Correctness: Power, Class, and the New Campus Religion. "…
The main aim of the article is to expose how political correctness is harmful to our education system. The article argues that while some trigger warnings should be necessary, such as things that may trigger major emotional response, minor issues of political correctness should not be considered trigger warnings. These issues include microaggressions (small phrases or actions that have no malicious meaning but still get mistaken for insults) such as “Where were you born?” These minor trigger warnings are harmful to students in the long run because it restricts the scope of learning and poorly prepares students for the real world. The authors…
Growth of Immature Minds Have American minds become immature and not fit for the real world? In an article, by Greg Lukianoff and Johnathan Haidt titled “The Coddling of the American Mind” they believe the minds are being negatively affected because of the increasing rules about offensive language and topics. Many colleges are creating strict boundaries because of this new idea.…
The last thing you want to do is offend someone because of their beliefs, their faith, race, sex, gender, or anything. The public is becoming more aware of this as several media outlets have taken to using what they call “politically correct” terms. Terms that when used in discussions about sensitive topics, will hopefully not rub anybody the wrong way. At least, that’s what they want you to believe. Many Americans disagree with the notion that you have to speak in a “politically correct” fashion.…
College is traditionally where students fresh out of high school experience life as an adult for the first time. Trigger warnings, however, seem to have taken on the role of parents by coddling the students. The author of “Con: “Trigger warnings” impose censorship in the name of sensitivity” states that “Trigger warnings assume that many students are not capable of handling the responsibilities of adult citizenship. At the same time, they also foster the mentality of acting in the place of parents. Universities properly abandoned this idea decades ago” (Downs).…
In the article, “Political Correctness: The Effects on Our Generation,” by Kai Sherwin, talks about how society today is ruining the freedom of speech. This is because there are things that are socially acceptable in society that you can say. Through this others are forced to also say only the things that are socially acceptable to prevent conflict between others. Kai Sherwin thinks that this is ruining our nation. Kai Sherwin moves the reader emotionally and intellectually throughout the article through the use of diction and tone to make you think about what the freedom of speech really is.…
According to Haidt and Lukianoff, “The ultimate aim, it seems, is to turn campuses into ‘safe spaces’ where young adults are shielded from words and ideas that make some uncomfortable” (Haidt and Lukianoff 44). To the students, the goal is to create restrictions on the academic discussions about uncomfortable topics by implanting trigger warnings. To them, trigger warnings will help them feel more comfortable in collage by knowing what material to expect as they can plan to skip the lesson. While trigger warnings makes them feel more secure, it destroys the purpose of universities. Universities help strengthen students’ academic minds and to prepare them for the real world.…
In Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s article The Coddling of the Mind he expresses how trigger warnings might even be viewed as “vindictive protectiveness” as “It is creating a culture in which everyone must think twice before speaking up, lest they face charges of insensitivity, aggression, or worse” (Haidt, Lukianoff). This kind of protectiveness does not benefit a student in any way, mainly because it prevents them from engaging in intellectual discussions with people and ideas that they might not always agree with; a bad aspect if you want to succeed professionally in your career. This article also adds a common saying in education circles, “Don’t teach students what to think; teach them how to think” (Haidt, Lukianoff). By protecting students from course material that is needed in order to prepare them for professional life, a professor is teaching them what to think. By keeping course material with explicit content so that students can actually engage in collegiate discussions with people and ideas without causing a few of their peers…
For years now, people have tried to be more “politically correct” in everything they say or do. “Political correctness,” I have observed does not only pose problems for those in the majority but for the minorities as well. While on the surface this seems to be just a way of being considerate and kind to fellow human beings, I believe it is actually hurting society as a whole. When majority members cannot speak candidly, members of under-represented groups also suffer. What it results in is that no one, even the minorities it tries to protect, can discuss their concerns about fairness and fears without falling into the negative stereotypes.…
Published in September of 2015 by The Atlantic, “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt describes how the overuse of trigger warnings is ruining students’ education and their ways of thinking, while also addressing steps to counteract this crisis. The authors’ main argument states that students are starting to implement an ideology that erases any mention of words or ideas that could potentially offend them or students around them. Lukianoff and Haidt argue that this proves to be extremely disadvantageous for not only their quality of education, but their future professional life as well. They state this new wave of trigger warnings perpetuates fear, poor personal skills, a lowered quality of education, and…
Everything That Rises Must Converge: Flannery O 'Connor Often people think that knowledge equals power. However, in the short story, "Everything That Rises Must Converge," by Flannery O 'Connor, the author shows that knowledge does not always equal power when that knowledge is used for the wrong reasons. The character Julian in "Everything That Rises Must Converge," serves as an example of how someone cannot become successful solely off of being educated but through the choices that are made with one 's education. Such choices are effected by one 's culture, upbringing, and willingness to move forward.…
From the beginning of time, it has been bred into our lives to incessantly create patterns that help form a basis of reality and how to adapt to that reality. During the earliest times of human existence, we were faced with the burden of overcoming the harsh realities of the world and have strived to create certain ideologies in order to survive. This created a sense of anxiety that was essential to human nature. However, as the world progressed, this anxiety translated from analyzing and interpreting information to survive into us creating a basis of how the world works, how human nature works, et cetera. Thus, we began to attempt to overcome this anxiety bred into us by adapting to the world around us.…
America today, pressured by political correctness and social acceptances, has been reduced to become a country where we are more concerned about hurting people’s feelings or protecting our reputations. This mindset has caused America, the country where we used to be able to say what we want-- when we want-- how we want, to become a country overrun by what would sound better than what would be more effective. Our own government has trampled our rights as citizens under free speech, the right to bear arms, and the freedom of religion. We are becoming a society where one thing is absolutely right and anyone who thinks different is condemned a homophobe, racist, extremist, or terrorist. Our Reconstructionist officials (liberals/government activists)…
Political correctness is a problem that has swept over America in recent years. Every word anyone says in all walks of life, from politics, to business, to school, has become politically correct to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings. Everybody is a victim and everybody gets butthurt at the simplest words or phrases that come out of a guy’s mouth. The American society as an entirety has become too politically correct, from the politics of our government, to the businesses of our economy and the people who represent them, and to the classrooms of our nation’s high schools, colleges, and universities. How is the term “politically correct” defined exactly?…