Appearing Credible

In Thank You For Arguing, the book's author discusses the necessity for a rhetor to appear virtuous, even if not actually a good person. What this means is that a speaker or writer's virtue is determined by their audience, rather than themselves. What the speaker deems a virtuous quality may be seen as heinous by a specific audience, which is why knowing one's audience is so vital as a rhetor. However, it does raise concern as to whether any rhetor you see actually believes in what they are talking about - after all, if the goal is to appeal to their audience, what's stopping them from just saying what their listeners want to hear?

This concern can be met by the counterpoint that it isn't the rhetor's job to believe in what they say, which is a rather unfortunate truth. The rhetor's job is to convey a message in a way that moves their audience, and that doesn't have to mean they support their own message. The responsib bility of a wholesome message being delivered is in the hands of those employing the rhetor to spread said message.

Techniques of Ethos

In Chapter 6 of Thank You for Arguing, more useful tips and tricks to winning over an audience was given. To do this, you must make the audience receptive and attentive to the point you are trying to make. The audience must like and trust the rhetor for the most part.

According to Heinrichs, there are 3 traits of persuasive leadership. They include virtue, practical wisdom, and disinterest. Now these things all sound great, but what do they really mean and how can we use them to our advantage. Based on this chapter I learned that virtue means embody the values of your audience, and different settings have a major impact on the audiences values. Practical wisdom is appearing to know the right thing to do with different occasions. Disinterest is the lack of bias in what you are trying to persuade and showing care towards the audiences interests. Other ways to pump up your virtue is to brag, get a witness to brag for you, reveal a tactical flaw, and switch sides if the argument is doomed against you. All these ideas for arguing are great tools that can make any group of people listen and believe what you have to stay. This class is really teaching us a lot about giving great speeches as well, and I think it will become quite handy someday for many of us with future classes and careers.

Should we be using GMOs?

The use of GMOs is inevitable due to the growing population in the United States, but should we be using them?
There have been no studies done to determine the effects that GMOs have on human health. Many consumers are concerned with the ingredients in the products that they are consuming. This concern has led to a rise in consumers purchasing organic foods. The manipulation of the genetic makeup of food has become so common that packaging now indicates whether or not it has been gentically modified. I feel that since this has grown so common in America, studies should be done in order to determine whether or not it is safe to keep consuming. Although the use of this genetically modified food allows more to be produced and allows it to be grown in many different climates, is it safe to keep consuming? 

Different Types of Animal Abuse

Throughout history there has been many different forms of animal abuse. Most people just classify this abuse all together, however there is actually specific elements that make each type different and in my opinion worse than other types. The main types of animal abuse and the ones I will be referring to in this post include factory farming, ownership abuse, animal experimentation, hunting for fur, and animals used for entertainment.
These are all harsh however in my opinion the worst is factory farming and animals used for entertainment. Factory farming is intensive methods of creating food fast and productive without almost any care for the animal. Animals in this case are confined to very small spaces and are always put in the same horrific conditions. Entertainment use of animals is when animals are in a zoo or at a place like sea world. This is also one of the worst types of abuse because of their confinement. Animals who are in these spaces tend to live a very short life compared to their relatives in the wild.
                             
In your opinion what is the worst type of animal abuse? Would you agree with the ones I put or choose one from the other topics I listed? Even though here we are debating which form of animal abuse is the worst, I still want you to understand that I believe all of these types are unjust and wrong.

Animal testing: right or wrong?

We have always been told that animal testing was necessary for things that we use everyday, and even for medical usage. But is this right?
Animals don't have the ability to respond to things the way that humans do, so people think that it is okay to perform harsh long tests on them. Statistically 95% of pharmaceutical drugs that are tested on animals aren't safe for humans to use, or they don't work on humans. With this being said, why do people think that it is necessary to keep using animals for testing and torturing them?
The use of animal testing is unethical, inefficient and inhumane. Animals are tortured in labs and die everyday for things like pesticides, cosmetics, and human medication. There should be a more efficient way to test the products we need without harming other living things, just because they can not respond back to it. As technology is advancing, hopefully a different method for testing products is found.

Understanding Dangers of Alcohol

The past few weeks, my group has been focused on the appeals of rhetoric used to talk about alcohol. I believe that once alcohol is introduced to a person, they are more apt to want to drink it. Alcohol is used for recreational purposes and to "take the edge off".
Majority of the articles I read while reviewing the rhetoric used to talk about this topic, I realized advocates for drinking simply used pathos. This drug is not harmful if being responsible, everyone does it, it is fun; therefore, it speaks for itself. The benefit of drinking is to have fun. Everyone wants to have fun.
The dangers of alcohol are severe, especially to those who are genetically predisposed to alcoholism. Logos and statistics clearly shape alcohol as dangerous. There are more dangers to drinking than benefits. Moderate drinking benefits specific cardiovascular diseases, yet drinking too much may danger your liver, cardiovascular system, etc.
Personally, I think anything can be dangerous if not moderated or tamed by regulations. The laws and regulations pertaining alcohol is very helpful in the process of preventing accidents due to drinking. I also grew up in a family with alcoholics who let it tear down the relationships they had with immediate family. Overall, rhetoric and discussion over alcohol will always be controversial in my opinion.

Analysis on chapter 7

In Thank You For Arguing chapter 7 displays the second element of ethos which practical wisdom. Practical wisdom is not a technical or artistic skill, its a moral skill. The elements of ethos supplies the characteristic spirit of culture, era or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations. in Chapter 7 the main character John Belushi was a fraternity brother. Although, he was liked by his friends and fraternity brothers, many people did not trust John. Here the author demonstrated the difference between likeability and competence. People tend to gravitate to likeable people because they most likely are going to have a good time but might not always be trustworthy. On the other hand some people tend to gravitate towards competent people because they can learn from them.

Columbus Day

In class this week, we talked about the story of Christopher Columbus and what the truth was of what actually happened when he sailed across the ocean to find the new land. No one ever told the full story about what happened. No one saw the true face of Christopher and how he and his people killed the native Americans on their voyage to find land. No one talks about the part of the story that shows how the Americans actually survived when they found land. If it had not been for the Indians that were already there, the Americans never would have survived through a winter.

After learning about that we discussed whether Columbus Day should still be considered a holiday after knowing the truth about everything he did. Would you want to celebrate the life of someone who killed so many people? If we are going to give a holiday to someone who killed people to get what they wanted, might as well give a holiday to Hitler too.

Can't Fight the Past

So here's my take on the reading on Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress reading -

When I finally read it  - I was a bit surprised, only for the fact that it went more into depth with what I already thought about the subject. I knew Columbus did horrible things to the indians and that was clear enough in his reports. It definitely was horrible and people will get angry and disgusted about it just like I was - but what can you really do? You can't change what happened in the past. A war against it would solve nothing and would be a waste of time. Instead - maybe we should just push this information out to the public's eyes to give them another take about this man and about what actually happened. Though it is kind of misleading since they completely removed the horrible things done to the Indians from the textbooks - they literally don't even teach about it. But is that at all surprising when it comes to America? We just want ourselves to look good compared to everyone else - leaving out the stuff that would be detrimental to our image of "Freedom".

I guess this is such a touchy subject to some people- me included because it just kind of makes you mad doesn't it? In fact it's quite irritating to think that the information to the public is being altered and not giving the full story of things. But like Howard Zinn said - there's really no point in trying to fight the past. All we can do is learn from the compassion of the past and push that forward towards the future rather than focusing on our nation's gruesome history and the horrible things our ancestors did. That's not to say we should forget about it though because it too is an important part of our history.

Columbus Day

During class this week we discussed Christopher Columbus and how he really treated the natives when he met them. We also talked about if this should affect the holiday, Columbus Day.
When Columbus met the natives he wrote back to the king say ing how friendly and kind they were and how willing to help they were. When in reality he was forcing them into slavery and working to the point of death to find gold.
After knowing this information the class then looked at the holiday, Columbus day and looked at if it should still be a holiday. What was interesting to me was that I did not know that some states instead of celebrating Columbus day they celebrated indigenous peoples' day. This to me shows that some people do want to move away from Columbus day and if enough people start doing this then at some point in time there may not be a Columbus day.

What I’ve learned so far about rhetoric

This year so far ENG 103 has learned quite a bit about rhetoric, yet it is still sometimes confusing to me. When I look back on everything we learned, it starts making a lot of sense to me. Some important thinks that have really stuck with me is how rhetoric can be used in a fight or an argument. In a fight, the goal is to win, where as an argument, it is to persuade and achieve a goal. Rhetoric has some vital functions in society such as testing ideas, assisting in advocating for something or someone, distributing power, sharing facts, shaping knowledge, and building communities.

According to Aristotle there is 3 types of persuasive appeals, also called rhetoric devices. Ethos, pathos, and logos are the main 3, but there is a few others including authority, popularity, beliefs or convictions, and ascetics.

Ethos- used to convince audience of your credibility by your moral character.

Pathos- appeals to emotion, provoking a feeling, used a lot in our age of mass media

Logos- logic or reasoning, using analogies, examples, citations, and stats, not always just facts and figures but can be the structure and content of speech itself, the more convincing the message is the better

Deciding which types of appeals to use is a matter of audience. Hopefully those that have taken this class have taken a lot away to use in writing great essays and using in everyday life.

The Strongest Tool

Rhetoric is an artform. It is an acquired skill that not really many people have. To master rhetoric it will take practice and the use of many tools used in rhetoric. The three main tools is logos, argument by logic; pathos, argument by emotion, and lastly Ethos, argument by character. With the use of these tools rhetors can further master their skill of manipulation. Although all of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos are great tools, I believe that one tool is stronger than the rest, Pathos.
I say that Pathos is the strongest of the three tools. Even though the other two are still effective they are not as resourceful. The strongest rhetors are trying to persuade the audience over the direct opponent they are going against. If you win the people, you will most likely win the argument. But, the big problem with aiming your rhetoric towards the people, they might not be as educated on the subject. So the use of logos might show the fact to audience but it does not ensure that the fact won't just go over their heads. With Ethos, argument by character, can also be effective but if the people do not like the speaker the odds are that they wont change their views and possibly rendering the rhetor as useless. But if the rhetor uses the tool of pathos and reaches to the heart of the audience. The emotional tie of the audience member to the point that you are trying to persuade will be enough to make them side with you. Even though you lack the actual evidence to the argument, the audience will let their emotions lead them to your side of the argument. In my opinion if you win the hearts of the audience you will win the argument.

Drinking Age: Netherlands (18) vs. United States (21)

In the Netherlands we have a drinking age of 18 years old, while in the United States the legal age to drink is 21. Also, in the Netherlands we think that people are mature enough to drink responsibly at the age of 18 and make smart choices. Obviously, in the United States the lawmakers do not think about this the same way, but you know what I think is weird? In the U.S., you can drive a car when you turn 16, by the age of 18 you are considered an adult, you can buy a gun (!), buy tobacco, vote in presidential elections, and then when you turn 21, you're finally old enough to buy and drink alcohol!
Doesn't this seem a little weird to you? Seriously, a gun when you're 18? And then the government says that people are not old enough to buy alcohol where they are 18, but a gun is okay at that same age??? Not in my book.
At the age of 18, people usually graduate from high school, maybe go to college or enlist in the army, live independently on campus or just in a house away from their parents. This is a lot of responsibility, but people can survive these circumstances. In the Netherlands, we are confident that if people are mature enough to live by themselves, they are also mature enough to make smart decisions when it comes to alcohol consumption.
I think the United States government should think about their rules about the drinking age again, and also about their gun policy. Maybe a ban on weapon possesion will change the number of deaths by shootings rather than worrying about an 18 year old adult trying to buy or consume alcohol.

What is Rhetoric?

There are many different ways to define rhetoric. Some may say it is the art of persuasion. Logos, ethos and pathos are three different ways to control rhetoric to persuade. When talking about persuasion you bring into question what is the difference between that and argumentative. It may also be seen as manipulative. The purpose of using rhetoric is to persuade an audience to their side. Persuasion is more of a single minded goal whereas an argument is making an assertion and then backing it up with evidence. An example of persuasion could be a salesmen trying to sell you on something based on it being a good deal or something such as a car. Some may say this is manipulation but the fact is that it wasn't harmful. These devices may be biased but these are useful tools used in everyday society.

Can Rhetoric not be manipulating or are we always being Manipulated?

It's a strange thing to think about when we go through are day when we are asked to do something for a friend or a family member we are being manipulated because we don't have to do this at all. A great example is myself every time I am in the presence of my sister Alex she always ask me to do things for her like get her water, feed her dog, take him on walks, help her up and other things. Now do I feel like I'm being manipulated when she ask me to do these things no she's my sister she needs things and I help she is my sister. But it dose remind me of a famous quote from a video game that came out 12 years ago called Bioshock "A man chooses, a slave obeys." Its an interesting line of dialogue in the ending because you realize that you have been manipulated this whole time from the beginning of the game everything is set up so you can kill the antagonist Andrew Ryan the man who rules this underwater city Rapture. He keeps talking about the difference between a slave and a man and mentions something very familiar "Would you kindly....A powerful phrase.A familiar Phrase" Would you kindly is the same phrase that your only ally atlas states every time he wants you to do something. Then it all comes to you your own birth, your family, the plane crash it was all created by the other antagonist Frank Fontaine so he could control Rapture and sell his chemicals all across America. A simple phrase is manipulation even as simple as would you kindly. 

The Art of Fitting In

The book "Thank You for Arguing," refers to the art of fitting in as rhetorical decorum. The word decorum is latin for "fit." The ancients wrote on decorum by covering voice control, gestures, clothing, timing, and even manners. It is a concept that will match the audiences expectations to be agreeable. This is a tool used when using ethos. Ethos is the argument by character and portrays the writer's personality, reputation, and values.

When going out in public with your friends vs your family, do you catch yourself acting different? This is because we feel a need to act a certain way in order to fit in. This results in acting "cool" around friends and "tolerable" around family, but there is a certain way to act in certain situations. Decorum also applies to the way you dress. Dressing the way everyone would want you to is like wearing camouflage. For example don't let your clothes make a statement unless the majority agree upon it. These concepts apply to the readers or audience. The next step is learning how to determine your character.