Rhetorical Analysis #3: Source for Paper B

I forgot to do #2. :(

The article I am analyzing is this one:
Golub, Lester S. “The New American Revolution: Multi-Cultural Literature, in the English
Program.” The English Journal 64.6 (Sep. 1975): 23-26. Web.

#1: What is the article's goal?
The article's goal is to persuade the reader that literature written in English by ethnic groups who didn't originally speak English should be taught in secondary schools.

#2: What is the article's argument?
Literature written in English by different ethnic groups should be taught in high school classes because it reflects the mutlicultural roots of our society, validates other cultural groups, and helps students live in and deal with a pluralistic reality.

#3: Who is the audience?
The narrowest audience is readers of The English Journal. In other words, the main audience is high school English teachers across America who have the power to change their curricula to include multicultural literature.

#4: How?
The author appeals to logos by presenting a clearly outlined map of how teachers could change their curricula to include other English language literatures in their courses. One of the biggest arguments against including multicultural literature in the high school English classrooms is that it would take a very, very long time for individual teachers to rearrange the course curriculum and to figure out how to teach literature from a culture the teacher isn't familiar with. By presenting a clear outline for how the teacher should teach this literature and by outlining literary and psychological concepts that the teacher should consider while teaching this literature, the author makes it clear that teaching so-called "ethnic" literature isn't as hard as it appears. His logical outline of how to apply the concepts he lists appeals to the reader's sense of logic. It also establishes his credibility as an educator and leads the reader to trust him more, thus appealing to ethos. Finally, it also plays on the reader's emotions by making them feel more at ease with this topic, thus appealing to pathos.

The author also appeals to the reader's sense of logic by emphasizing that this literature deserves to be a part of the high school teaching canon by virtue of history. He quotes Chinua Achebe as saying, "I have been given this language [English] and intend to use it." The author continues that for many cultural groups, English is not their original language, but it has of necessity become the tongue that many of them use. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to exclude other literatures from high school English classes--all groups who write in English ought to be taught in English classes, rather than solely American or British writers. This also appeals to the reader's sense of injustice, since he argues that other writers should be included in the canon because, he says, "Fifty years ago, no African literature was discussed in the school and universities of the Western world." By emphasizing that many African writers write in English and therefore should be included in the English language canon, Golub implies that it would be unjust to continue to exclude and neglect them, as they have been for so many years.

STAR:

Sufficient: I think the evidence the author gives is sufficient for his audience. His outlined curriculum, his quotes from authors like Chinua Achebe, and his examples of multicultural works with themes that are important to high school students but that aren't usually taught in high school all evidence his main point: that this literature needs to be taught in high school.

Typical: I think a reasonable person would accept this evidence, especially in his section on "national and ethnic literature," where he lists several authors and works of note that should be included in high school curricula. The author establishes himself as credible and provides, I think, enough evidence to support his claim.

Accurate: He's fair. He addresses the counterarguments, especially that changing the curriculum of any class takes time and that Western readers might not identify as readily with non-Western literature. He doesn't set these up as easy questions to topple over easily; instead, he spends the majority of the paper addressing these questions and proposing viable solutionsl.

Relevant: I think everything in this article applies. It's short--only 5 pages long--and stays on-topic the whole time.

#5: Effective
Yes, I think the piece is effective. It outlines viable solutions and addresses the counterarguments in a logical way, making his way seem very smart and very doable.

The end.

Rhetorical Analysis #1

The ad I'm advertising comes from the back of the May National Geographic and is an advertisement for the iPad. In the ad, the iPad is in the foreground. On the screen is a page from Nicholas Sparks' novel The Last Song. A woman is holding the iPad on her lap and has her feet up on the couch while she reads the electronic book.

#1: What as the ad's goal?
-To sell the iPad.

#2: What is the argument?
-You should buy the iPad because it's classy, fashionable, and comfortable, allowing you to do relaxing things around the home, like read a book, with greater ease.

#3: Who is the audience?
-The broad audience is people, mainly women, who are reading National Geographic; the narrower audience is people reading the magazine who are 1) women, 3) middle-class, 2) enjoy doing things associated with relaxing around the house, like reading romance novels, and 4) perceive the iPad as something that only businessmen would want to buy and use.

#4: How? What rhetoric does the ad use?
The ad uses pathos to sell its argument by appealing to the reader's sense of comfort, relaxation, and ease. The woman in the ad has her feet up and is obviously relaxing in her own home; we can see the curtains billowing in the window by her feet and light streams into what is presumably her living room. She is wearing fashionable shoes and a classy skirt but is relaxing on the couch, enjoying her romance novel. Her hands are smooth and she holds the iPad up easily. By making the ad so we can't see the woman's face, the reader automatically becomes the viewer and steps into the woman's shoes, making the reader feel like they, too, can enjoy this sense of peace and relaxation by holding the iPad in their hands and relaxing in their own home. The ad also uses pathos to appeal to readers of romance novels by putting Nicholas Sparks' novel on the computer screen; the romance-obsessed reader (or the reader of pulp fiction or the viewer of popular movies) is thus automatically hooked and feels connected to the iPad right off the bat. The novel also uses pathos by establishing that the iPad isn't just for computer geeks or for people who need to work on some computery project. Instead, it's also for people who just want to relax and read a book.

The ad also uses logos by logically connecting the reader to the woman in the ad. The woman is relaxed and is obviously enjoying herself; by placing the iPad in the foreground and making the words on the page large enough for the viewer of the ad to read, the ad places the viewer of the ad in the place of the relaxed, comfortable woman with classy shoes who is relaxing in her home. We can't see any part of the woman but her hands, legs, and skirt, which makes us, the reader, her face; the iPad looks comfortable for the woman and thus logically looks comfortable to us. Therefore, the ad's use of logos connects the reader to the woman, making them feel (using pathos) that, logically, whoever holds the iPad will also experience the same sense of comfort and relaxation as the woman in the ad.

Evaluating the evidence:
Sufficient: I don't think the evidence the ad gives is sufficient. There isn't anything in the ad about the iPad itself; the ad relies wholly on pictures to sell its product. It portrays the product as being easy to hold and comfortable, and it demonstrates that the iPad can be used for more things than just business, and so it might seem credible to people who need to be persuaded that the iPad can be used to do fun recreational things, not just business-y things. However, the ad doesn't list any statistics or facts about how much the iPad costs, how to download ebooks, how much those cost, and what kinds of books are available to be read on the iPad. Thus, the evidence as for why you should buy the iPad doesn't seem sufficient for me.

Typical: I don't know that a reasonable person would accept this ad, because a reasonable person probably a) does not read Nicholas Sparks, and b) needs more evidence than just a woman with fashionable shoes reading a Nicholas Sparks novel to be persuaded into buying something as expensive as the iPad.

Accurate: There isn't really a counterargument presented here, except for the idea that only wealthy businessmen buy the iPad. In that case, I think it addresses the counterargument fairly by presenting a middle-class woman who is obviously enjoying herself. I don't know if "accurate" applies to this argument in other ways, though, since fashionable shoes doesn't automatically mean you want to read The Last Song on your iPad.

Relevant: I think everything in here is directly connected to the argument that middle-class women who like romance novels should also consider buying the iPad.

#5: Is it effective?
I think the argument would probably be affective for its target audience. However, I think it's trying to sell itself to too narrow an audience (i.e., women who like Nicholas Sparks) to be effective in any broader way.

YAY

I dropped my D&C class!
I am taking adolescent lit instead!

EEE!!

My life has improved dramatically.

I have to read thirty books for this class over the next seven weeks, so I'm going to try to keep track of them on here. So far I have read:



UNWIND, by Neil Shustermann. THIS IS ONE THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE READ IN A LONG TIME. GO FIND OUT ABOUT IT AND READ IT PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU. OH MY GOSH.

Also I have read



Guinea Pig Scientists, which was boring and gross but informative, I guess, and



Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World, which I've read before and which I love, and



I'll be seeing you, by Lurlene McDaniel. Guys. First of all I have to point out that in the copy I read, Kyle on the front cover has long, stringy, billowy Fabio hair. Apparently they later altered this physical feature. Sad.

"Carley Mattea never expected to meet a boy as handsome as Kyle Westin--certainly not in the hospital. Seventeen-year-old Kyle was blinded when a chemistry experiment exploded. His doctors don't know if he'll get his vision back, and he's deeply depressed. Sixteen-year-old Carley understands how miserable it is to be in the hospital. She's had plenty of experience. soon Carley and Kyle become good friends. But Carley is keeping a secret from Kyle. She knows that boys like girls who are pretty--and she is not. Scarred by a facial deformity, she has, over the years, used her sense of humor to cope. But now that she's become so close to Kyle, she's worried that once his bandages are removed...and he sees her, it will be the end of their relationship."

Here is an example of Carley's sense of humor: after Kyle flies over the school on Valentine's Day with an airplane trailing a banner that reads, "CARLEY, BE MINE, K.W.," Carley says, "I think I will make that call. I'd hate to leave that guy hanging." Following this statement, Carley's sister Janelle "groaned over Carley's bad joke, but Carley scarcely heard her. She looked up to see the plane cut a wide circle, dip its wing as if in greeting, and head off. The sign fluttered behind it in the wind, the large crimson letters stamped across the face of the sky, bright as the flare of a rocket."

I don't know if the final sentence was supposed to refer to the rocket that exploded and thus temporarily blinded poor Kyle. Also, Carley gets plastic surgery in the end, and thus she will once again be beautiful.

Yay!

I'll never get that half an hour of my life back.
Also, while typing this, I had to listen to a BYU tutorial about using the library. I learned all about internet safety. At long last! Thanks, BYU, for this valuable, timely information.

CHEERS.