3MP Competition

I loved to listen a bit to the work of my fellow students, one spoke on a poem about feminism, he posed an interesting question at the end of his speech, “are the advancements of the feminist movement an actual achievement or is it the allowance of a patriarchal society?” (I came in towards the end of his speech, but what I heard was good)

            Another student spoke about a book of the Vietnam War, she summarized that the book was very negative about war in general listing all the negative things that come from such an event. Though the general idea of the book was negative she argued that men could learn to friendship one another during war and to learn to love more if allowed to keep a positive outlook despite the horrors of war. She argued that war can have positive things come from it despite the bad things.

            One girl spoke on the Hunger Games trilogy and more specifically on the genre of dystopia. She argued that though it seems to have more mature content than most adults want their kids to read, it can have a good impact on teenagers. The idea that adults are content with what is and do not want to change things, but teenagers can show the world themselves what is wrong and help correct it. This genre helps open the doors for teenagers to want to do better and to “change the world”.

            I didn’t get to listen to all of the speeches in the competition, but I wish I had been able to because to listen to the arguments of my fellow students was a breath of fresh air. I gained some new insights to how I can change my own rhetoric and also gained more insights to different things of the world of writing.

My Issues Paper Introduction rough draft

Issues Paper Introduction

I sat down to take in a deep breath, for I had just received the news that my brother was now actively living a lifestyle contrary to that of which our religion had taught us to live. He was the third out of my three siblings to leave his religious roots just as my other two siblings had done. It saddened me to be the last one standing in favor of what I knew to be right. My siblings all abandoned our religion in their young adult lives. They did so not to follow after drugs, alcohol, partying, sex, or other things commonly attributed as spiritual poisons, but they did so because they no longer believed that religion was needed in their lives. My siblings are just one small example of a growing trend among youth and young adults throughout the United States of America today.

            Youth today are now leaving churches more than any other generation that came before them. Statistics show that less than 20% of Millennials (those 30 years of age or younger) consider religion as “very important” and these Millennials seem to be the only ones actually attending a religion on a regular basis (Barna Group). This is a stark contrast to the elder generations (those 68 years of age and older) where 40% believe that religion is “very important” and even a larger percentage actually attend church on a regular basis (Barna Group). The reasons behind this religious self-exodus of youth have been speculated by many to be because of various desires of youth to participate in the many “fun” things in today’s world such as sex, drugs, and alcohol. While such things may be the branches of a large tree, they are not the root of the problem. Youth today have experienced a great shift in their culture leading them to develop a greater sense of individualism which changes their perceptions and churches will need to adjust if they are to stop this efflux of youth from their pews.

My Thesis Proposal for Rhetorical Analysis

Thesis Proposal for Rhetorical Analysis

            Of the four articles given to us to choose from, I have to say that I didn’t enjoy the writers’ views in any of the selected pieces. Standing from the intended audience’s point of view though, I can see the skill by which each of these authors portrayed their opinions. The article I found to be the most effective would have to be A Government in Thrall to Religion by Frank R. Zindler. For this reason I have decided to write a rhetorical analysis on this piece in order to learn how Zindler managed to be so persuasive for his intended audience.

A Government in Thrall to Religion is most certainly the work of an extremist. Its constant sarcastic and ironic references to generally accepted Christian beliefs, along with incredibly strong language, push Zindler to the outer limits of what a lot of people would find acceptable, or even understandable, but despite this polarization, Zindler will find many people to listen to his message. Many with similar or close to similar views will likely walk away from reading this article feeling inspired to act upon what the author was portraying. He does this by first using strong language to reach deep into his audience’s soul to give them the idea that maybe their beliefs are not quite adequate and that they need to listen to him. This is most definitely a tool of pathos. Where Zindler can tread upon the hearts of those he preaches to, and twist them to be inspired by his language, despite the extremity of his writing. I plan to focus on this a lot in my analysis, on how he manages to inspire through the sheer amount of cunning, momentous, and quirky phrases he uses.

I also plan to write on how he portrays the Bush administration as an enemy using, logos type arguments to demonize Bush in the eyes of his audience. This is very clever because it makes him sound like he knows what he is talking about which also gives him a slight ethos approach for his audience as well. I may not like his message at all, but I certainly can see his skill in the art of inspiring a crowd, even if it’s for the wrong cause. I will also expound on this in my analysis and I hope I can learn from this article on how I can better inspire people for that which is right.

Faith in America Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Purpose:

            It seems that the purpose in the writing of Faith in America was to convince as many people in the nation as possible to remember the role that religion played in the founding of the United States of America and to remind others that we must be accepting of religion in our society.

Ethos:

            Mitt Romney is a well-known political figure in the USA today. He was a state governor of Massachusetts and ran for the national presidency. He also is known for his beliefs in God and the role of religion in our society. Though despite his strong opinions to have religion involved actively in our culture, he does not believe that religion should extend into government issues. This belief allows him to truly show that his argument is credible and current for our society today in the USA.

Pathos:

            In the article Romney focused on going through the history of the USA and how important of a role religion played in the making of this nation. How it shaped the American character and still should shape us today. Doing this allowed him to appeal to Americans’ emotions, mostly pride in being a citizen of the country, but also respect for the accomplishments of those that forged this nation out of so little, using religion to help them create the American ideal, which is, freedom for all to do and worship as they please.

Logos:

            The underlying logic behind Romney’s article was that as religion played a fundamental role in shaping our society and culture, it should also continue to do so today even if it is to be outside of governmental jurisdiction. In other words, if religion worked so well to create such a great society today, why can’t it continue to do so today? We should separate religion from government yes, but we shouldn’t separate religion from ourselves, or our culture, for it is fundamental to a better societal future. Also, religion shouldn’t be judged by other religion. The fight for serving God is not an exclusive right to any one religion, it should be shared between all who wish to serve. It also should be respectful to its individual contributors.

Zane Tolman

Writing 150 Section 32

Opinion Editorial Reflections

            The opinion editorial was a great experience for me to return to active writing. It’s been a long time since I’ve needed to write a paper to try to relay a message from my heart to others and I’m grateful for the opportunity that I had to author this paper. In my paper I focused on how in society today there is a rampant lack of control when it comes to taking care of one’s body. The idea of my paper was to persuade others to take care of their bodies, prevent future sicknesses by doing so, and provide the wonderful benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

            After finishing my rough draft I tried to go through and use sentence reconstruction that I learned about on style academy. I felt by doing so I allowed my paper to flow a bit better for the audience that would be reading my paper. I also used a conscience based argument to appeal emotionally to readers. I learned the importance of trying to appeal to the audience emotionally by studying about pathos. I felt that before I may have tried a pure Logos approach, or a logic only approach, that may have been convincing to some, but not as much as if I was using a combination of pathos and logos. I also tried to create an ethos approach by using confident language and stating facts and ideas that only those that have studied the topic would know. This I hoped would allow the readers to be confident that what I was saying was not a stretch in the truth, but reality.

            In the end I felt that my paper was overall a success for me. Was it perfect? No, I don’t believe so at all, but I do feel I matured in my abilities to write a better paper and most definitely learned how to write a better opinion editorial.

Reflections on Style Academy

            It’s amazing, as one begins to write, how realization comes to them that what they are writing, or have already written, is not exactly how they wanted it. So, they erase away and try to imagine a better way to scrawl down their thoughts in order to produce the masterpiece that they truly want to author. I often find that reviewing the many arts of writing which have been drawn by others can greatly improve my own writing and ability to transmit that perfect message.

            Unfortunately, the perfect way to share a message is hard to find and often involves a lot of work. By studying writing techniques, much like the ones that style academy offers, we can receive valuable input that will allow us to draw ever closer to that perfect way to transmit our message. Style academy also provides great exercises that will increase the spectrum of writing techniques that their students will have. Anyone who is interested in writing for any reason can see the worth of developing new and better techniques for their writing career.

            Style academy is set up in a way that even younger students have the opportunity to explore its wonderful world of writing and rhetoric. Its teachings are organized primarily into three categories where each one focuses on techniques for different levels of writing. These categories are: Cover the Basics, Craft with Purpose, and Be a Rhetorical Ninja. Cover the Basics section focuses on exactly what its name implies, that is the basics of writing. Craft with Purpose is focused on helping develop a writer’s ability to see the many options they have in crafting a written piece of work. Be a Rhetorical Ninja focuses on even more options for writing and using techniques that only the most seasoned of writers are familiar with. If one were to go through each category, and practice the exercises involved in each, he or she will find themselves ready to write a paper like a rhetorical ninja.

Opinion Editorial Thesis :)

Opinion Editorial Thesis

            There are billions of people on the Earth today and each one of them leads a different life than the other, each unique. Though circumstances set the stage for which direction one’s life will tread, it is often such a person’s opinions that lead him or her to create their own path to life’s end. Many of these opinions are strongly enforced by those that hold them close, often argued for very passionately. I would like to present one such opinion. One of my own, that I believe very strongly about and would like to share with others.

            The opinion I will be presenting is focused on the lack of healthy living displayed by many people in our current society. In the United States of America there is a growing problem of unhealthy living. Unhealthy living marked by eating food which only fattens, sitting down at work and home all day, using various electronic forms of entertainment instead of getting out, and avoiding exercise as if it was something bad. The piece I am to write will likely be based off of reason and likely have a little humor in it. Though, the piece will focus more on trying to appeal to the side of people that convinces them to act, their conscience. I will try to use some basic humor in order to keep the readers’ attention while my message transmits to their deeper selves.

            I believe very strongly that people need to take care of their bodies, teach others to do so, not be afraid to tell others that they need to do better, and be an example to others by following a healthy lifestyle themselves. If this were to be a societal rule, and was embedded in our culture, I believe the effects would last many years into the future. I also believe it possible if we all put in a little bit of a contribution, which is what I hope to do with the paper that I am going to write on this topic.