In the article “‘Boobies,’ The Courts and Free Speech,” the author The Times Editorial Board uses things like rhetoric, connotation, and bias. This article talks about how students were given freedom of speech, but some think they they are taking it overboard. I think that this article is leaning more towards the weak side, and the author uses rhetoric, connotation, and bias to make his arguments weaker. The uses of rhetoric in this article make the author’s arguments weaker. For example, The Times Editorial Board uses pathos in, “But an Aug. 5 decision by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia involved a less solemn form of expressive adornment: a rubber bracelet bearing the message "I ♥ boobies! (Keep a Breast)." By a 9­5 vote, the appeals court ruled that two middle­school girls were wrongly …show more content…
I also think that with bias, it made the author’s arguments both weaker and stronger in different ways. Since the author didn’t have any job at the school or on the supreme court or anything, the author has no credibility which makes his arguments weaker. I think that the author gives one or two counterclaims for example, “The original idea of schools, which I do not believe is yet abandoned as worthless or out of date, was that children had not yet reached the point of experience and wisdom which enabled them to teach all of their elders,” (The Times Editorial Board). This helps show another side of the story so that the author isn’t completely slanting which helps make the author’s arguments stronger. Also, when The Times Editorial Board says, “By allowing students to express their opinions in a civil and non­disruptive way, schools help prepare them for their responsibilities. That was true when the Tinker case was decided in 1969 and it's true today,” I think that this is showing bias, because the author is giving hi own opinion on the issue which makes the author’s arguments