The Last Lecture: Randy Pausch
I just started reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and I am already close to being done. Despite it being a rather short read, it is an extremely intriguing story. It is an autobiography about Randy Pausch's life after he was diagnosed with cancer. The book is a serious of stories about his life that he wants to pass down to his children since he knows he will not be alive for the majority of their childhood. The variety of rhetorical devices used in the Last Lecture are astonishing to me. The way Pausch uses pathos is unlike anything I have ever read. The point of his lecture is not to make the audience pity him or feel bad for him, and he's not trying to gain sympathy from his readers. He uses pathos in a way that's so realistic, and it really tug at my emotions without me even recognizing that he's using a rhetorical device. When you're reading for the purpose of finding rhetorical devices, and you don't pick up on one when it's right in front of you, to me, means that the author's writing is so genuine and sincere. His diction and the way he organizes his sentences is what makes this book so fascinating to me. He is able to tell a story in a serious yet comical, emotional yet stable, and calm yet loud way. I think his purpose is not only to have something to pass down to his children, but also to allow readers to see how important life is, and how important it is that you cherish your life every single day because one moment it all can change. His purpose is to allow readers to reassess the "important things" in life. And to me, that is a very difficult yet very powerful task, and Pausch completed it with perfection.
Rhetorical Devices:
Metaphor
Diction
Tone
Pathos
Ethos
Parallelism (having everything one day to dying the next: differences in his life)
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
TOW #2: (Text) Obama Campaign Redesigns American Flag
Obama Campaign Redesigns American Flag:
In the upcoming election, both candidates have been persuading American voters to vote for them in the election this winter. Although some methods of persuasion are acceptable, is redesigning the American flag taking propaganda to a new level? The Obama Campaign has replaced the stars on the American flag with his campaign logo. Todd Starnes, host of Fox News and Commentary, and the author of the article, 'Obama Campaign Redesigns the American Flag' states that critics are calling the flag un-American and creepy. Obama claims that the flag is used to show how "there are no red and blue states, just united states. Although his explanation seems reasonable, many people are upset with his campaign decision.
Fox News is generally biased toward Republicans, therefore I don't find it surprising that this article would be posted on a Fox website, instead of a CNN website which is mainly democratic. I don't think that Todd Starnes was trying to support Mitt Romney, but I definitely think he was appalled at Obama's choice. Starnes accomplished his goal in a way where I was able to completely view his point clearly and not even think about any other perspective.
Rhetorical Elements:
Ridicule
Style
Erudite (tone)
URL: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/the-united-states-of-obama.html
In the upcoming election, both candidates have been persuading American voters to vote for them in the election this winter. Although some methods of persuasion are acceptable, is redesigning the American flag taking propaganda to a new level? The Obama Campaign has replaced the stars on the American flag with his campaign logo. Todd Starnes, host of Fox News and Commentary, and the author of the article, 'Obama Campaign Redesigns the American Flag' states that critics are calling the flag un-American and creepy. Obama claims that the flag is used to show how "there are no red and blue states, just united states. Although his explanation seems reasonable, many people are upset with his campaign decision.
Fox News is generally biased toward Republicans, therefore I don't find it surprising that this article would be posted on a Fox website, instead of a CNN website which is mainly democratic. I don't think that Todd Starnes was trying to support Mitt Romney, but I definitely think he was appalled at Obama's choice. Starnes accomplished his goal in a way where I was able to completely view his point clearly and not even think about any other perspective.
Rhetorical Elements:
Ridicule
Style
Erudite (tone)
URL: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/the-united-states-of-obama.html
Sunday, September 16, 2012
TOW #1: (Text) Sugary drinks ban begs the question-- who has the right to decide what you consume?
Sugary Drinks Ban Begs Question-- Who has the right do decide what you consume?
This opinion article was written by Michelle Minton who is the Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. She writes articles for FOX news. Her latest article is about how New York banned selling big cups of soda at restaurants, grocery and convenience stores due to the number of obese Americans. With this new policy, people are not allowed to purchase sodas that are greater than 16 ounces. What she believes the policy doesn't understand, is that there is no limit on how much soda a person can buy. For example, a person cannot buy a 20 ounce cup of soda, but they can purchase multiple 8 ounce sodas. She believes that this is not doing anything to the obesity in America except making it worse. Since the policy goes by ounces, not sugar content or fat content, all of the drinks that are considered healthy that are over 16 ounces can no longer be sold. Minton believes that this is not only going to decline the consumption of "healthy" drinks, but she also believes that small business companies are going to struggle because of it. Companies like "Honest Tea" that are only 80 calories, but are in a 16.9 ounce bottle, can no longer be purchased by residents of New York City.
I think that she was obviously prompted to write this article because she does not agree with the legislatures of New York City, and she does not think that the solution to obesity is banning certain drinks. In my opinion, her purpose of writing this is to show people (specifically those living in the New York area) who agree with the banning of drinks, the other side of it. Those who most likely agreed with it probably never understood what it actually meant. I think she did a good job at convincing me to look at the other side of the law, therefore I think most people probably did too.
Rhetorical Elements in the text:
Perspective
Diction
Argument
URL: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/14/sugary-drinks-ban-begs-question-who-has-right-to-decide-what-consume/
This opinion article was written by Michelle Minton who is the Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. She writes articles for FOX news. Her latest article is about how New York banned selling big cups of soda at restaurants, grocery and convenience stores due to the number of obese Americans. With this new policy, people are not allowed to purchase sodas that are greater than 16 ounces. What she believes the policy doesn't understand, is that there is no limit on how much soda a person can buy. For example, a person cannot buy a 20 ounce cup of soda, but they can purchase multiple 8 ounce sodas. She believes that this is not doing anything to the obesity in America except making it worse. Since the policy goes by ounces, not sugar content or fat content, all of the drinks that are considered healthy that are over 16 ounces can no longer be sold. Minton believes that this is not only going to decline the consumption of "healthy" drinks, but she also believes that small business companies are going to struggle because of it. Companies like "Honest Tea" that are only 80 calories, but are in a 16.9 ounce bottle, can no longer be purchased by residents of New York City.
I think that she was obviously prompted to write this article because she does not agree with the legislatures of New York City, and she does not think that the solution to obesity is banning certain drinks. In my opinion, her purpose of writing this is to show people (specifically those living in the New York area) who agree with the banning of drinks, the other side of it. Those who most likely agreed with it probably never understood what it actually meant. I think she did a good job at convincing me to look at the other side of the law, therefore I think most people probably did too.
Rhetorical Elements in the text:
Perspective
Diction
Argument
URL: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/14/sugary-drinks-ban-begs-question-who-has-right-to-decide-what-consume/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)