...Presidential race and looks to address the concerns regarding video of controversial and racially charged comments made by former pastor Jeremiah Wright which seemed to playing on loop in every media outlet possible. He also addressed the subjects of racial tension and race and inequality in the United States. From the beginning of the speech, it is evident that the most effective appeal that Obama chooses to use is ethos. As a rhetoric tool, ethos is used to establish character. Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader (Examples of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos). In order to establish an effective ethos, the speaker must present themselves in a way that will make the audience believe what they say. A strong example of this is when he uses the quote “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union”. In referring to the U.S Constitution, this compels the audience to make a connection of significance and importance between his speech and that of the Constitution. Another way he established ethos in his speech was when he speaks of his personal and family history. By stating “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while...
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...Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. In his letter, King uses anaphora and allusions frequently. He also appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos to make his letter a paradigm of effective rhetoric. King uses allusions frequently throughout his letter. “Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world” (King Paragraph 3). Here King is paralleling his actions to the Apostle’s actions. By king alluding to the Apostles he appeals to the audience ethically. Rhetorical questions are also used in the letter to appeal to ethos. “Now, what is the difference between the two” (Paragraph 16)? King uses rhetorical questions to make the audience think about what he is asking them. Along with rhetorical questions, King uses syllogism, where he constructs a conclusion from statements he stated earlier in the letter. The syllogism in paragraph sixteen, King states, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.” As he states what A and B are, the conclusion, X, is therefore drawn. By appealing to ethos, King helps convey his message. King gains his credibility by saying he follows just laws but breaks...
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...The Pillars of Rhetoric Although it is the strong feelings that an individual displays about particular aspects of society that arouse interest in a speech, it the way that these are presented that allows a speech to transcend contextual bounds and continue to captivate audiences. Although he lived over 2000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle really knew what he was talking about when it came to the art of rhetoric. I know that it’s highly unlikely that you have read his 4th century BC treatise ‘Rhetoric’, unless you have a particular obsession for reading particularly old books written by particularly old men, but his division of persuasion into three categories remains relevant, as they continue to be manipulated and mastered by many orators today. These three categories are ethos, the...
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...Rhetorical Analysis The world is full of opportunities and dangers, no one knows what will happen next period. The difference between winners and losers is that winners are always with courage to challenge for the future. In this speech, Tiffany Shlain, a filmmaker, give some advice about this. She recounts in her commencement speech about some difficult periods of her life, such as having no money to shoot an important scene, the internet bubble, and her father’s death. Shlain’s purpose is to convey the idea that regardless of her difficulties, she was always full of boldness and confidence. She adopts pathos, ethos and logos in this speech to teach them how to become confidence and effort for their dream. It is effective to appeal to those students who have just graduated and feel confused about their future. Every author in their speech uses many interesting stories or making suspense in order to gain their audiences’ attention, which applied the pathos. In this speech, Shlain appeals to pathos to catch those students’ attention. She addresses that “Students went to the library because it was the only place to look things up, there was no World Wide Web!” and that her friend “finally told her boyfriend, she loved him, and she said she did it via email! And I cc’d his family, and I bcc’d his two ex-girlfriends.” Those two quotes show two different situations. First quote shows the students have to go to the library in order to get information before the internet is invented...
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...Baraka’s “Somebody Blew up America” and Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet in regards to ethos, pathos, and logos. Amiri Baraka, born Everett LeRoi Jones, was an African-American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. Baraka read his poem “Somebody Blew up America?” on the September 11th attacks and was heavily criticized for anti-Semitism and attacks on public figures. His poem is free verse and has no set structure but maintains its rhythmic elements for oral sharing. The poem was meant to be shared orally so that Baraka would be able to emphasize and share lines specifically for an audience. Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was an African-American Muslim minister...
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...Frederick Douglass, a well-known self-taught former slave, gave a speech about the Fourth of July on July 5, 1852 that challenged the institution of slavery and revealed the hypocrisy of the Fourth of July to slaves. Douglass uses ethos, pathos, and logos throughout his speech in order to convince his audience that there is no conceivable reason for slavery to exist. His audience were rich white citizens, including the president. Douglass first uses ethos by introducing himself to his audience and explaining how he got there, “… the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable…” which establishes him as a former slave. The use of ethos isn’t a traditional one in this speech. Frederick Douglass, a very well-known speaker during this time, wouldn’t need ethos to prove himself credible. In this introduction he’s trying to appeal to the audience by acting like a grateful Freedman while subtly showing his credentials He talks about only speaking to he has a “little experience and with less learning” and had only spoken at “public meetings, in country school houses” yet states he has spoken to...
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...makes an argument against what the clergymen had written about him. The Letter from Birmingham...
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...globalism of Aristotle’s Rhetorical theory with a focus on the discipline of public speaking. Mailloux introduces sophistic Rhetoric as founded on the pragmatic doctrine that “Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not”, a phrase attributed to the Sophist Protagoras (Patrick, 2006). Others Sophists of note include Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias and Thrasymachus – quoted in Plato’s Republic as saying “… ‘Just’ or ‘right’ means nothing but what is to the interest of the stronger party” (Plato & Lane, 2007)). West and Turner’s account of the Rhetoric show that the first teachers of Rhetoric were the "Sophists”, who were nomadic teachers of public speaking that were respected for their intellect and subsequently paid highly for their teachings. A modern understanding of Sophistic philosophy can be described by author and activist Rahul Easwar’s quote “The real fight is not between right and wrong; the real fight is between my right and your right”. Mailloux explains Plato and his (classical and contemporary) sympathizers’ contempt for Sophism and dismissal of the same as a...
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...The goal of any given article is to persuade the audience, therefore it is necessary to put the audience in the appropriate emotional state. The use of pathos is seen almost immediately in this medium of work. James Gross, a psychology professor at Stanford University is quoted in the first paragraph of the article. He is concerned that his daughter, a thirteen year who loves math and science, won't pursue her passions once she realizes that science is a male dominated field. He believes that “as time goes on, she’ll feel increasingly lonely as a girl who is interested in math and science”. The rhetor uses this anecdote as a way to emotionally appeal to her intended audience. The worry and distress that this father feels for his daughter is meant to connect with others who may have young...
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...suppressed the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 by force. This photograph was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press. This picture is considered one of the iconic images of the 20th century. But there has been a repurposed image of the tank man that has yellow ducks instead of military tanks. The rubber duck has become very popular in Hong Kong Harbor. The author of this photo is unknown. It was published on June 5, 2013 on the Chinese micro blogging website Weibo, and has received so much attention that Chinese authorities have banned the term “big yellow duck”. What has not been told is that the government in china still does everything to keep the event in mystery, pretending it never happened. Looking at both of these pictures there has been a meaning change to the photo “Tank Man” because there was a switch of military tanks and rubber ducks. In both photo there is similarities and differences. In the Jeff Wiedener Photo “Tank Man”, there is a man who was protesting at Tiananmen Square while the military where going down the street. This unknown man, some saying his name is Wang Weilin, walked in the middle of the street and stopped in front of a line of military tanks. In a result of that these tanks had stop and tried to move around him and he wasn’t letting them go around. While he is standing in front of these tanks, he has two grocery bags in his hands. This unknown man shows courage and no fear because he stands up in front of a lot of people and a line...
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...Boltenhouse WRIT 120 H1FF Krista Hilton 12/01/2013 A Rhetorical Analysis of Duffield’s “Should Federal Agencies Use the Same Definition of Homelessness”? The author, Barbara Duffield, Policy Director for National Association for the education of homeless children and youth, writes for CQ Researcher the article “Should federal agencies use the same definitions of homelessness?” Duffield aims to substantiate that federal agencies, using different definitions of the law create complications. That clear guidelines need defined for establishing what is best for families and youth found in a homeless situation. Justification for changing the definition of homelessness is provided in this article by Duffield using ethos to prove creditability with homelessness, logos to support why she believes in modifying the definition and pathos to create empathy the with the readers on effects of homelessness. Duffield proves ethos in the article by quoting Federal law, The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) criteria, and her professional credentials on the issues of homeless. According to HUD in the article it “…bases people's eligibility on where they happen to find refuge: with very few exceptions, HUD limits homeless assistance to people who are on the street or are fortunate enough to have found a shelter bed.” (2013, para. 2) and “Under federal law, public schools, Head Start programs, and runaway-youth programs include families and youths in these living situations...
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...not believe that these days of new hope are days when extreme measures are justified in Birmingham. From his prison cell, King replied not only to the ministers' letter but also to an educated, white, middle-class audience, by writing his response in the margins of the newspaper and on toilet paper . "I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was well timed in the view of those who have not suffered from the disease of segregation," King, wrote in what was later published as the essay, Letter from Birmingham Jail. The 6500 word letter went on to explain and make clear to the clergy and to the world why the struggle against racism must not be deferred. King's main claim in this letter is that no matter what the circumstances are it is far beyond time for the black community to stand up and fight for what is rightfully theirs, the same rights and freedoms accorded to the white community. King effectively accomplishes this task through the structure of the essay and in his use of pathos, ethos, and logos to defend his arguments. King's structure of the essay is purposeful in its attempt to sway the audience into his way of thinking. King begins the essay by clarifying why he is in Birmingham to begin with. Secondly, King describes his direct action campaign, for this is why he is being attacked, his "unruly" behavior. He then explains to the reader that this campaign may involve breaking laws, but they are laws that should not be in place to begin with. Next...
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...Susan B. Anthony’s speech “On Women’s Right To Suffrage” and Pericles’ Funeral Oration both used rhetorical appeals effectively, evidenced by the number of people studying the pieces of writing. Furthermore, the literature pieces in question both talk about a social matter; Anthony is talking about social justice and the funeral Oration talks about democracy. Despite bearing some superficial differences, the similarities between Anthony’s speech and Pericles’ Funeral Oration regarding rhetorical appeals are remarkable. Both speeches were able to vocalize their points effectively because they used social values like justice and adoration that showed extremely powerful pathos forming a solid argument. In Anthony’s speech, for example, she says...
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...Communication is the main constituent for all strong and long-term affiliation between people. In “Sex Lies and Communication: Why Is It So Hard For Men And Women To Talk To Each Other?” Professor of linguistics Deborah Tannen go over the distinctness between men and women and present some answers to the subject. She says that the lack of communication is often the cause of divorce. She noted that most women’s complaints in a marriage or any other relationship were that the women believe that their men do not listen to them. However, after an analysis with many couples and same sex-friends, she concluded that the problem was not that men do not listen, but they listen differently. Throughout her essay, Tannen has focused on the problems and...
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...------------------------------------------------- Write your revised two-part thesis statement here, and be sure to include a claim + reason (the “because” or “since” clause): ------------------------------------------------- In order to provide soldiers with a more accurate and fair account of their body mass index the Army should discontinue use of the tape test and instead use a skinfold caliper, if a soldier does not pass the caliper they should be given the option to undergo the water displacement test wich is the golden standard for bmi testing: this will provide soldiers with a fair chance in passing their height and weight requirements. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- What type of claim does this represent? ------------------------------------------------- This would be a claim of policy since it addresses a regulation and provides means to better it through change. Specifically, changing the Army regulation regarding height and weight requirements to...
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