Well, What Do You Think It Is?
Getting an F in a class may seem like it’s the end of the world, when actually it doesn’t matter. Whether you get an F or an A, no one cares. Even if people do care, it doesn’t affect someone’s life. In Bernard Roth’s, The Achievement Habit, he tells us in chapter one that “Nothing is what you think it is”. Roth effectively uses Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to support the topic in chapter one by appealing and connecting to the reader.
One way Roth effectively proves that, “Nothing is what you think it is”, is by using ethical appeals, or Ethos. By using sophisticated word choice and a good tone, Roth gives off a sense of trust as a writer. He tells a story of a time when he failed …show more content…
He does this by using stories to connect with the reader to create a sense of trust between himself and the reader. Roth writes about one of his former graduate students in his class and how he failed miserably to create a wearable pipe organ. Mike’s goal was to show his creation at the Burning Man festival, but it was a disaster. Roth saw Mike as an embarrassment and a failure. Three years later Mike showed his new creation at the same event and everyone, along with Roth, were captivated. Although Mike failed horribly the first time, he continued to do what he enjoyed and he turned out successful. Roth saw that Mike wasn’t an embarrassment or a failure. He realized that, “Success is doing what you love and being happy about it” (Roth 15). Even if Mike’s second creation had not worked wonderfully, he still would have been a success because he was doing something he loved. Many people can connect with this because failure is a common part of life that everyone will encounter, but if people are happy with what they are doing, then they aren’t really failing at all. This just goes to show that, “Nothing is what you think it is”. Even a failure can be seen as success. Roth does a good job of showing how useful Pathos can be, but he also is very convincing by using
Getting an F in a class may seem like it’s the end of the world, when actually it doesn’t matter. Whether you get an F or an A, no one cares. Even if people do care, it doesn’t affect someone’s life. In Bernard Roth’s, The Achievement Habit, he tells us in chapter one that “Nothing is what you think it is”. Roth effectively uses Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to support the topic in chapter one by appealing and connecting to the reader.
One way Roth effectively proves that, “Nothing is what you think it is”, is by using ethical appeals, or Ethos. By using sophisticated word choice and a good tone, Roth gives off a sense of trust as a writer. He tells a story of a time when he failed …show more content…
He does this by using stories to connect with the reader to create a sense of trust between himself and the reader. Roth writes about one of his former graduate students in his class and how he failed miserably to create a wearable pipe organ. Mike’s goal was to show his creation at the Burning Man festival, but it was a disaster. Roth saw Mike as an embarrassment and a failure. Three years later Mike showed his new creation at the same event and everyone, along with Roth, were captivated. Although Mike failed horribly the first time, he continued to do what he enjoyed and he turned out successful. Roth saw that Mike wasn’t an embarrassment or a failure. He realized that, “Success is doing what you love and being happy about it” (Roth 15). Even if Mike’s second creation had not worked wonderfully, he still would have been a success because he was doing something he loved. Many people can connect with this because failure is a common part of life that everyone will encounter, but if people are happy with what they are doing, then they aren’t really failing at all. This just goes to show that, “Nothing is what you think it is”. Even a failure can be seen as success. Roth does a good job of showing how useful Pathos can be, but he also is very convincing by using