From Friday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r31X6g5mH3U&feature=related
Ch. 4 "Rhetorical Analysis"; Ch. 5 "Fallacies"
Rhetorical Analysis
"Rhetoric" as it is meant in an English class does not carry the usual negative connotation meant when someone refers to a speech as being "nothing but rhetoric"- empty words and phrases that are calculated to confuse and manipulate listeners. On the contrary, rhetoric refers to how various elements work together to form a convincing and persuasive argument.
A rhetorical analysis is a systematic examination of the strategies a writer employs to achieve his or her purpose. Analysis involves a consideration of the argument's rhetorical situation, the writer's means of persuasion, and the rhetorical strategies used to make the argument.
**The chapter uses Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" as an example.
When you read an argument that you are being asked to analyze, consider the following:
The Writer's Purpose: Is it stated directly or implied? Is it to convince or to encourage action? Is it emotion or logic driven? Is there a hidden agenda?
The Writer's Audience: Who is the intended audience? Does the writer view the audience as friendly, hostile, or neutral? What values does the writer think the audience holds? Does the writer see the audience as informed or uninformed?
The Topic: What is the topic of argument? Why is the writer addressing this topic? Is the argument developed fully?
The Context: What situation(s) set the stage for the argument?
What social, political, and cultural events triggered the argument?
What historical references situate this argument in a particular place or time?
Means of Persuasion: The most effective arguments combine (at least 2 of the following): logos (appeal to logic), pathos (appeal to emotion), and ethos (appeal to authority). What means does the writer use?
You must also be able to identify the following in the writing you are attempting to analyze, and you must employ these components in your writing: [Page 78-79]
1. The Thesis: The position that the argument support? Why is it stated the way it is? How effective is the placement of the thesis?
2. Organization: How the writer arranges the ideas. Is there a refutation of opposing ideas?
3. Evidence: Any thesis must be supported with evidence- facts, observations, expert opinions, etc. Historical and personal examples are often included.
4. Stylistic Techniques: It isn't enough just to make your argument-- you must make your argument memorable. Here are some techniques for doing so.
--Simile (figure of speech that compares two unlike things using like or as).
--Metaphor (comparison in which two dissimilar things are compared without the word like or as).
--Allusion (a reference within a literary work to another work-- a connection.)
--Parallelism (use of similar structure in the repetition of pairs or series of words, phrases, or clauses that emphasizes related ideas and makes the passage easier to follow).
--Repetition (Repeating a word or phrase carefully for emphasis, clarity, or effect.)
[Example is Obama's inauguration speech; he continually repeated the phrase, "we, the people."]
--Rhetorical Questions (a question asked to encourage readers to reflect on an issue, not call for a reply).
Finally, you must assess the effectiveness of the argument. Is it persuasive? Has the author achieved his or her purpose? When writing your analysis, It is easiest to begin with an assessment then go onto support it.
See checklist on page 80 and example essay on pages 82-84.
Assignment for Monday: I want you to read the following article and fill out the "Analysis Map" for it. Bring this to class on Monday.
Response to "Media Violence" by Marilyn Manson; Media Violence Article by Marilyn Manson
Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? by Marilyn Manson
It is sad to think that the first few people on earth needed no books, movies, games or music to inspire cold-blooded murder. The day that Cain bashed his brother Abel's brains in, the only motivation he needed was his own human disposition to violence. Whether you interpret the Bible as literature or as the final word of whatever God may be, Christianity has given us an image of death and sexuality that we have based our culture around. A half-naked dead man hangs in most homes and around our necks, and we have just taken that for granted all our lives. Is it a symbol of hope or hopelessness? The world's most famous murder-suicide was also the birth of the death icon -- the blueprint for celebrity. Unfortunately, for all of their inspiring morality, nowhere in the Gospels is intelligence praised as a virtue.
A lot of people forget or never realize that I started my band as a criticism of these very issues of despair and hypocrisy. The name Marilyn Manson has never celebrated the sad fact that America puts killers on the cover of Time magazine, giving them as much notoriety as our favorite movie stars. From Jesse James to Charles Manson, the media, since their inception, have turned criminals into folk heroes. They just created two new ones when they plastered those dipshits Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris' pictures on the front of every newspaper. Don't be surprised if every kid who gets pushed around has two new idols.
We applaud the creation of a bomb whose sole purpose is to destroy all of mankind, and we grow up watching our president's brains splattered all over Texas. Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised. Does anyone think the Civil War was the least bit civil? If television had existed, you could be sure they would have been there to cover it, or maybe even participate in it, like their violent car chase of Princess Di. Disgusting vultures looking for corpses, exploiting, fucking, filming and serving it up for our hungry appetites in a gluttonous display of endless human stupidity.
When it comes down to who's to blame for the high school murders in Littleton, Colorado, throw a rock and you'll hit someone who's guilty. We're the people who sit back and tolerate children owning guns, and we're the ones who tune in and watch the up-to-the-minute details of what they do with them. I think it's terrible when anyone dies, especially if it is someone you know and love. But what is more offensive is that when these tragedies happen, most people don't really care any more than they would about the season finale of Friends or The Real World. I was dumbfounded as I watched the media snake right in, not missing a teardrop, interviewing the parents of dead children, televising the funerals. Then came the witch hunt.
Man's greatest fear is chaos. It was unthinkable that these kids did not have a simple black-and-white reason for their actions. And so a scapegoat was needed. I remember hearing the initial reports from Littleton, that Harris and Klebold were wearing makeup and were dressed like Marilyn Manson, whom they obviously must worship, since they were dressed in black. Of course, speculation snowballed into making me the poster boy for everything that is bad in the world. These two idiots weren't wearing makeup, and they weren't dressed like me or like goths. Since Middle America has not heard of the music they did listen to (KMFDM and Rammstein, among others), the media picked something they thought was similar.
Responsible journalists have reported with less publicity that Harris and Klebold were not Marilyn Manson fans -- that they even disliked my music. Even if they were fans, that gives them no excuse, nor does it mean that music is to blame. Did we look for James Huberty's inspiration when he gunned down people at McDonald's? What did Timothy McVeigh like to watch? What about David Koresh, Jim Jones? Do you think entertainment inspired Kip Kinkel, or should we blame the fact that his father bought him the guns he used in the Springfield, Oregon, murders? What inspires Bill Clinton to blow people up in Kosovo? Was it something that Monica Lewinsky said to him? Isn't killing just killing, regardless if it's in Vietnam or Jonesboro, Arkansas? Why do we justify one, just because it seems to be for the right reasons? Should there ever be a right reason? If a kid is old enough to drive a car or buy a gun, isn't he old enough to be held personally responsible for what he does with his car or gun? Or if he's a teenager, should someone else be blamed because he isn't as enlightened as an eighteen-year-old?
America loves to find an icon to hang its guilt on. But, admittedly, I have assumed the role of Antichrist; I am the Nineties voice of individuality, and people tend to associate anyone who looks and behaves differently with illegal or immoral activity. Deep down, most adults hate people who go against the grain. It's comical that people are naive enough to have forgotten Elvis, Jim Morrison and Ozzy so quickly. All of them were subjected to the same age-old arguments, scrutiny and prejudice. I wrote a song called "Lunchbox," and some journalists have interpreted it as a song about guns. Ironically, the song is about being picked on and fighting back with my Kiss lunch box, which I used as a weapon on the playground. In 1979, metal lunch boxes were banned because they were considered dangerous weapons in the hands of delinquents. I also wrote a song called "Get Your Gunn." The title is spelled with two n's because the song was a reaction to the murder of Dr. David Gunn, who was killed in Florida by pro-life activists while I was living there. That was the ultimate hypocrisy I witnessed growing up: that these people killed someone in the name of being "pro-life."
The somewhat positive messages of these songs are usually the ones that sensationalists misinterpret as promoting the very things I am decrying. Right now, everyone is thinking of how they can prevent things like Littleton. How do you prevent AIDS, world war, depression, car crashes? We live in a free country, but with that freedom there is a burden of personal responsibility. Rather than teaching a child what is moral and immoral, right and wrong, we first and foremost can establish what the laws that govern us are. You can always escape hell by not believing in it, but you cannot escape death and you cannot escape prison.
It is no wonder that kids are growing up more cynical; they have a lot of information in front of them. They can see that they are living in a world that's made of bullshit. In the past, there was always the idea that you could turn and run and start something better. But now America has become one big mall, and because of the Internet and all of the technology we have, there's nowhere to run. People are the same everywhere. Sometimes music, movies and books are the only things that let us feel like someone else feels like we do. I've always tried to let people know it's OK, or better, if you don't fit into the program. Use your imagination -- if some geek from Ohio can become something, why can't anyone else with the willpower and creativity?
I chose not to jump into the media frenzy and defend myself, though I was begged to be on every single TV show in existence. I didn't want to contribute to these fame-seeking journalists and opportunists looking to fill their churches or to get elected because of their self-righteous finger-pointing. They want to blame entertainment? Isn't religion the first real entertainment? People dress up in costumes, sing songs and dedicate themselves in eternal fandom. Everyone will agree that nothing was more entertaining than Clinton shooting off his prick and then his bombs in true political form. And the news -- that's obvious. So is entertainment to blame? I'd like media commentators to ask themselves, because their coverage of the event was some of the most gruesome entertainment any of us have seen.
I think that the National Rifle Association is far too powerful to take on, so most people choose Doom, The Basketball Diaries or yours truly. This kind of controversy does not help me sell records or tickets, and I wouldn't want it to. I'm a controversial artist, one who dares to have an opinion and bothers to create music and videos that challenge people's ideas in a world that is watered-down and hollow. In my work I examine the America we live in, and I've always tried to show people that the devil we blame our atrocities on is really just each one of us. So don't expect the end of the world to come one day out of the blue -- it's been happening every day for a long time.
MARILYN MANSON
(May 28, 1999)
"Rhetoric" as it is meant in an English class does not carry the usual negative connotation meant when someone refers to a speech as being "nothing but rhetoric"- empty words and phrases that are calculated to confuse and manipulate listeners. On the contrary, rhetoric refers to how various elements work together to form a convincing and persuasive argument.
A rhetorical analysis is a systematic examination of the strategies a writer employs to achieve his or her purpose. Analysis involves a consideration of the argument's rhetorical situation, the writer's means of persuasion, and the rhetorical strategies used to make the argument.
**The chapter uses Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" as an example.
When you read an argument that you are being asked to analyze, consider the following:
The Writer's Purpose: Is it stated directly or implied? Is it to convince or to encourage action? Is it emotion or logic driven? Is there a hidden agenda?
The Writer's Audience: Who is the intended audience? Does the writer view the audience as friendly, hostile, or neutral? What values does the writer think the audience holds? Does the writer see the audience as informed or uninformed?
The Topic: What is the topic of argument? Why is the writer addressing this topic? Is the argument developed fully?
The Context: What situation(s) set the stage for the argument?
What social, political, and cultural events triggered the argument?
What historical references situate this argument in a particular place or time?
Means of Persuasion: The most effective arguments combine (at least 2 of the following): logos (appeal to logic), pathos (appeal to emotion), and ethos (appeal to authority). What means does the writer use?
You must also be able to identify the following in the writing you are attempting to analyze, and you must employ these components in your writing: [Page 78-79]
1. The Thesis: The position that the argument support? Why is it stated the way it is? How effective is the placement of the thesis?
2. Organization: How the writer arranges the ideas. Is there a refutation of opposing ideas?
3. Evidence: Any thesis must be supported with evidence- facts, observations, expert opinions, etc. Historical and personal examples are often included.
4. Stylistic Techniques: It isn't enough just to make your argument-- you must make your argument memorable. Here are some techniques for doing so.
--Simile (figure of speech that compares two unlike things using like or as).
--Metaphor (comparison in which two dissimilar things are compared without the word like or as).
--Allusion (a reference within a literary work to another work-- a connection.)
--Parallelism (use of similar structure in the repetition of pairs or series of words, phrases, or clauses that emphasizes related ideas and makes the passage easier to follow).
--Repetition (Repeating a word or phrase carefully for emphasis, clarity, or effect.)
[Example is Obama's inauguration speech; he continually repeated the phrase, "we, the people."]
--Rhetorical Questions (a question asked to encourage readers to reflect on an issue, not call for a reply).
Finally, you must assess the effectiveness of the argument. Is it persuasive? Has the author achieved his or her purpose? When writing your analysis, It is easiest to begin with an assessment then go onto support it.
See checklist on page 80 and example essay on pages 82-84.
Assignment for Monday: I want you to read the following article and fill out the "Analysis Map" for it. Bring this to class on Monday.
Response to "Media Violence" by Marilyn Manson; Media Violence Article by Marilyn Manson
Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? by Marilyn Manson
It is sad to think that the first few people on earth needed no books, movies, games or music to inspire cold-blooded murder. The day that Cain bashed his brother Abel's brains in, the only motivation he needed was his own human disposition to violence. Whether you interpret the Bible as literature or as the final word of whatever God may be, Christianity has given us an image of death and sexuality that we have based our culture around. A half-naked dead man hangs in most homes and around our necks, and we have just taken that for granted all our lives. Is it a symbol of hope or hopelessness? The world's most famous murder-suicide was also the birth of the death icon -- the blueprint for celebrity. Unfortunately, for all of their inspiring morality, nowhere in the Gospels is intelligence praised as a virtue.
A lot of people forget or never realize that I started my band as a criticism of these very issues of despair and hypocrisy. The name Marilyn Manson has never celebrated the sad fact that America puts killers on the cover of Time magazine, giving them as much notoriety as our favorite movie stars. From Jesse James to Charles Manson, the media, since their inception, have turned criminals into folk heroes. They just created two new ones when they plastered those dipshits Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris' pictures on the front of every newspaper. Don't be surprised if every kid who gets pushed around has two new idols.
We applaud the creation of a bomb whose sole purpose is to destroy all of mankind, and we grow up watching our president's brains splattered all over Texas. Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised. Does anyone think the Civil War was the least bit civil? If television had existed, you could be sure they would have been there to cover it, or maybe even participate in it, like their violent car chase of Princess Di. Disgusting vultures looking for corpses, exploiting, fucking, filming and serving it up for our hungry appetites in a gluttonous display of endless human stupidity.
When it comes down to who's to blame for the high school murders in Littleton, Colorado, throw a rock and you'll hit someone who's guilty. We're the people who sit back and tolerate children owning guns, and we're the ones who tune in and watch the up-to-the-minute details of what they do with them. I think it's terrible when anyone dies, especially if it is someone you know and love. But what is more offensive is that when these tragedies happen, most people don't really care any more than they would about the season finale of Friends or The Real World. I was dumbfounded as I watched the media snake right in, not missing a teardrop, interviewing the parents of dead children, televising the funerals. Then came the witch hunt.
Man's greatest fear is chaos. It was unthinkable that these kids did not have a simple black-and-white reason for their actions. And so a scapegoat was needed. I remember hearing the initial reports from Littleton, that Harris and Klebold were wearing makeup and were dressed like Marilyn Manson, whom they obviously must worship, since they were dressed in black. Of course, speculation snowballed into making me the poster boy for everything that is bad in the world. These two idiots weren't wearing makeup, and they weren't dressed like me or like goths. Since Middle America has not heard of the music they did listen to (KMFDM and Rammstein, among others), the media picked something they thought was similar.
Responsible journalists have reported with less publicity that Harris and Klebold were not Marilyn Manson fans -- that they even disliked my music. Even if they were fans, that gives them no excuse, nor does it mean that music is to blame. Did we look for James Huberty's inspiration when he gunned down people at McDonald's? What did Timothy McVeigh like to watch? What about David Koresh, Jim Jones? Do you think entertainment inspired Kip Kinkel, or should we blame the fact that his father bought him the guns he used in the Springfield, Oregon, murders? What inspires Bill Clinton to blow people up in Kosovo? Was it something that Monica Lewinsky said to him? Isn't killing just killing, regardless if it's in Vietnam or Jonesboro, Arkansas? Why do we justify one, just because it seems to be for the right reasons? Should there ever be a right reason? If a kid is old enough to drive a car or buy a gun, isn't he old enough to be held personally responsible for what he does with his car or gun? Or if he's a teenager, should someone else be blamed because he isn't as enlightened as an eighteen-year-old?
America loves to find an icon to hang its guilt on. But, admittedly, I have assumed the role of Antichrist; I am the Nineties voice of individuality, and people tend to associate anyone who looks and behaves differently with illegal or immoral activity. Deep down, most adults hate people who go against the grain. It's comical that people are naive enough to have forgotten Elvis, Jim Morrison and Ozzy so quickly. All of them were subjected to the same age-old arguments, scrutiny and prejudice. I wrote a song called "Lunchbox," and some journalists have interpreted it as a song about guns. Ironically, the song is about being picked on and fighting back with my Kiss lunch box, which I used as a weapon on the playground. In 1979, metal lunch boxes were banned because they were considered dangerous weapons in the hands of delinquents. I also wrote a song called "Get Your Gunn." The title is spelled with two n's because the song was a reaction to the murder of Dr. David Gunn, who was killed in Florida by pro-life activists while I was living there. That was the ultimate hypocrisy I witnessed growing up: that these people killed someone in the name of being "pro-life."
The somewhat positive messages of these songs are usually the ones that sensationalists misinterpret as promoting the very things I am decrying. Right now, everyone is thinking of how they can prevent things like Littleton. How do you prevent AIDS, world war, depression, car crashes? We live in a free country, but with that freedom there is a burden of personal responsibility. Rather than teaching a child what is moral and immoral, right and wrong, we first and foremost can establish what the laws that govern us are. You can always escape hell by not believing in it, but you cannot escape death and you cannot escape prison.
It is no wonder that kids are growing up more cynical; they have a lot of information in front of them. They can see that they are living in a world that's made of bullshit. In the past, there was always the idea that you could turn and run and start something better. But now America has become one big mall, and because of the Internet and all of the technology we have, there's nowhere to run. People are the same everywhere. Sometimes music, movies and books are the only things that let us feel like someone else feels like we do. I've always tried to let people know it's OK, or better, if you don't fit into the program. Use your imagination -- if some geek from Ohio can become something, why can't anyone else with the willpower and creativity?
I chose not to jump into the media frenzy and defend myself, though I was begged to be on every single TV show in existence. I didn't want to contribute to these fame-seeking journalists and opportunists looking to fill their churches or to get elected because of their self-righteous finger-pointing. They want to blame entertainment? Isn't religion the first real entertainment? People dress up in costumes, sing songs and dedicate themselves in eternal fandom. Everyone will agree that nothing was more entertaining than Clinton shooting off his prick and then his bombs in true political form. And the news -- that's obvious. So is entertainment to blame? I'd like media commentators to ask themselves, because their coverage of the event was some of the most gruesome entertainment any of us have seen.
I think that the National Rifle Association is far too powerful to take on, so most people choose Doom, The Basketball Diaries or yours truly. This kind of controversy does not help me sell records or tickets, and I wouldn't want it to. I'm a controversial artist, one who dares to have an opinion and bothers to create music and videos that challenge people's ideas in a world that is watered-down and hollow. In my work I examine the America we live in, and I've always tried to show people that the devil we blame our atrocities on is really just each one of us. So don't expect the end of the world to come one day out of the blue -- it's been happening every day for a long time.
MARILYN MANSON
(May 28, 1999)
ANALYSIS MAP-- Type this up and fill in the blanks. Use the check boxes in Ch. 4 if you get stuck on a blank. Due Monday 28 January.
The writer's purpose is implied; it is to __________. An example of how the writer uses logic to make his point is ___________. An example of how he uses emotion to make his point is ______________. The writer's audience is_______________ and _____________.
The topic of the argument is____________. The writer chose to write about this because ______________. The social, political, or cultural event/situation that inspired this argument was_______________. One historical reference the writer uses is___________.
I can sum up the implied thesis as _____________________. One effective organizational tool the writer uses is _____________. One effective piece of evidence the writer uses to support his claim is ______________. One stylistic technique he uses is (choose one from pages 78-79 and elaborate, give example) ________________. Overall, the argument Marilyn Manson makes is (effective or ineffective) because ____________________.
The topic of the argument is____________. The writer chose to write about this because ______________. The social, political, or cultural event/situation that inspired this argument was_______________. One historical reference the writer uses is___________.
I can sum up the implied thesis as _____________________. One effective organizational tool the writer uses is _____________. One effective piece of evidence the writer uses to support his claim is ______________. One stylistic technique he uses is (choose one from pages 78-79 and elaborate, give example) ________________. Overall, the argument Marilyn Manson makes is (effective or ineffective) because ____________________.
Ch. 5- Logic & Fallacies
Logic: From the Greek LOGOS, roughly translated as "word", "thought," "principle," or "reason." Logic is concerned with principles of correct reasoning. By studying logic, you learn the principles that determine the validity of arguments. In other words, logic enables you to tell whether a conclusion correctly follows from a set of statements or assumptions.
The study of logic enables you to make valid points and draw sound conclusions, which in time, helps you to present your ideas clearly and effectively. It also helps you evaluate the arguments of others. It helps you to tell the difference between a strong and a weak argument. It helps you to communicate clearly and forcefully. Finally, it helps you to present your ideas in a coherent and compelling way.
Deductive Reasoning begins with premises (statements or assumptions on which an argument is based or from which conclusions are drawn). The process moves from general statements or premises to specific conclusions.
Inductive Reasoning begins with specific observations (or evidence) and moves to a general conclusion.
Deductive arguments can be judged in absolute terms (they are either valid or invalid), while inductive arguments are judged in relative terms (they are either strong or weak).
You reach an inductive conclusion by making an INFERENCE- a statement about what is unknown based on what is known. It requires you to look at evidence and try to figure out what is going on. This leaves you witha gap between your observations and conclusion, and to bridge the gap, you make an inductive leap. Therefore, inductive conclusions are never certain but only probable. The more evidence, the stronger the argument and the more probable the conclusion. If the gap is too wide, this can result in a hasty generalization.
Watch out for: Insufficient evidence (which is atypical or biased); Irrelevant evidence (it must support the conclusion); and exceptions to the rule (avoid words like all and always).
Fallacies (begin on page 113): [Inaccurate or intentionally misleading arguments]
Begging the question (assumes that a statement is self0evident when it actually requires proof)
Circular Reasoning (attempting to support a claim by simply repeating the statement in different terms)
Weak Analogy
Personal Attack or Ad Hominem
Hasty Generalization (jumping to a conclusion with too little evidence)
Either/Or or false dilemma (only 2 choices)
Equivocation (term changes meaning within an argument)
Red Herring (a diversion)
Slippery Slope (one thing will inevitably result from another)
You Also asserts that a statement is false because it is inconsistent with what the speaker has said or done.
Appeal to Doubtful Authority (people use the ideas of nonexperts to support their arguments)
Misuse of Statistics (data is misrepresented)
Post Hoc (2 events occurring close together must be cause/effect)
Non Sequitur or does not follow (conclusion does not follow from the premises)
Bandwagon (try to convince people that something is true because most people think it is)
*If you did not cover these in English 1301, then please click here for a review: http://compositioncafe.weebly.com/fallacy.html