Rhetorical Analysis

Before I start, don't you hate that awkward moment when you find mistakes in your Op. Ed., after you turned it in?

Now to the real deal. For my Rhetorical Analysis post, I decided to write on the essay, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" (which it seems many of us are choosing). It interested me the most, because it seemed to present a quite compelling argument...

Question 1:
In the case of this essay, the author is trying to persuade the audience that the internet is changing the way we all think. In his essay, Nicholas is showing that because of the internet's style of information flow, we are all beginning to think more sporadically, limited to ever shorter bursts of attention within single topics. Of course, there's more to the essay, but that's the gist of the intent.

Question 2:
This essay to me appears to be flowing with pathos. The whole essay is riding on emotion, using many examples to convey it. Imagery is a big one, by providing examples of how the mind changes with changing technology. More importantly for pathos, it uses all of us as an example. It shows us just how we're changing through different forms of media. And it works really well, since I began to notice it myself. Along with pathos is great logos. Not only do the multiple examples within the essay convey great emotional vibes, it also gives the essay more logical sense. With examples and stories, it's much easier to see the author's point through-out the whole essay. Quotes are also present within his essay, and that's a great way to display logos.

Question 3:
It's hard to judge an audience's reaction, since I haven't seen many people read this and tell me what they think. But judging by how many people chose this to be their article, I'd say it's a very interesting, attention-grabbing article. As far as I'm concerned, I think the article was very effective. It was able to convey a believable message that I had never thought of before. And it used great examples, along with imagery, pathos, and logos, to help convey the message. Not to mention the fact that while I was reading the article, I was literally beginning to notice the effects of the internet while simultaneously reading the essay. I found my attention jumping from place to place. It was a  bit creepy, to say the least...

Bonus Question:
I'd do the bonus question, but it's late, and I want to sleep. Sorry to disappoint.

Assigned to Edit, So I Must Edit

Let me just start off by saying how hard it is for me to find grammatical errors within my own papers. It's the weirdest thing: I only catch them while reading other people's papers, but I'm oblivious to my mistakes. It stinks. But I digress...

Error 1:
"I soon learned I was unable to sign up for any classes, the reason being that Freshman Mentoring requires you pick at least one bundle before signing up for any other classes."
I'm saying this is a run on sentence (hard to catch), as well as just a down-right confusing sentence. Here is my solution:
"I soon learned that I was unable to sign up for any classes, because Freshman Mentoring requires you to pick at least one bundle before signing up for other classes."

Error 2:
"Fixing this could be as simple as making bundles optional but recommended."
This appears to be a comma error, specifically because I did not set off the coordinating conjunction with a comma. Here is the revised sentence:
"Fixing this could be as simple as making bundles optional, but recommended."

Error 3:
"Along with requiring students to sign up for bundles comes problems with classes that some freshman don't want to sign up for intentionally, but end up up doing it anyway."
I believe this is an error similar to Error Two. It's missing a comma. And it also does not set off the introductory element with a comma Here is my revision:
"Along with requiring students to sign up for bundles, problems arise when some freshman enroll in classes that they don't want to register for, but end up registering anyway."

Error 4:
"The problem begins when these classes that would be best saved become freshman bundle."
This sentence isn't technically a grammatical error, since the word "that" makes the next phrase "would best be saved" an essential phrase. Problem is, it's a confusing sentence, so I counted it as an error regardless. Let's make the essential phrase non-essential, and then offset it with a comma:
"The problem begins when these classes, which are best saved for after a mission, become freshman bundles."

Error 5:
"This could be changed by not making the one visit to a Freshman mentor required,..."
The error here is capitalization; The word, "mentor" needs to be capitalized. This is really just because I have been throughout my entire paper, and not capitalizing it would be inconsistent. The error is obvious, so I feel the need to type the revision is a bit counter-intuitive, since we all have eyes.

Peer Mentoring:
I won't lie, when I heard that we would be reviewing each others papers, I became a bit worried. I was worried that I would be no help to everyone, I worried that my paper would be torn to shreds with how horrible it was, and I thought it was a lot of work (I'm lazy). After the whole experience, however, I found it to be quite enjoyable. The process has helped me edit my paper tremendously, for there are things that I would have never caught before. And I also felt pretty darn cool reviewing the other papers. It was like being an editor for a newspaper business, or a publisher. The only thing I didn't like was the work. It felt a little short-noticed, and it was quite a bit of reviewing. Overall, though, I enjoyed myself.

Good night everyone!

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Fallacies of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

One fallacy that is very prevalent in today's politics is the fallacy of ethos, known as Ad Hominem. This fallacy is used to describe a personal attack that has nothing to do with the argument on hand. I think one very obvious example of this fallacy is within Mitt Romney's campaign, specifically because he is a Mormon. Here is one example of an article that displays this fallacy: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-12-28/romney-mormon-christian/52257162/1. The issue is about the difficulty of Romney winning votes in states that have a high percentage of Evangelicals. Now why is this an issue, exactly? Looking at the arguments and issues at hand, faith has very little, if anything at all, to deal with them. The fallacy comes in when the prejudice against Mormons, held by the Evangelicals, begins to affect voting. Though Mitt Romney's faith has nothing to do with the issues at hand, attacks on this aspect of Romney are still very prevalent.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos from King Henry V

These examples were found from King Henry V's speech. First is Ethos. One example comes from these lines:

"If we are mark'd to die, we are enow

To do our country loss; and to live,

The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more."

The ethos is slightly difficult to see, but it is there, I assure you. To me, these lines display credibility. Ethos is used when recognizing the opposing viewpoint. Here, King Henry V is recognizing the opposing viewpoint by saying "if we die, then we die and lose this battle." He's not saying that they will win just yet, but he's recognizing that they could die. This makes him sound more credible to me.

I also believe this displays powerful Logos. Logos is logic, and logically, the less people who fought, the more honor each man will receive in turn,

The second Ethos comes from these lines:

"By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,

Nor care i who doth feed upon my cost;

It earns me not if men my garments wear;

Such outwear things dwell not in my desires."

Here, Henry is making himself more credible by telling his audience that he isn't battling for riches. He does not desire to make himself more wealthy. He's battling for different reasons.

The first Pathos comes from these lines:

"That he which hath no stomach to this fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made,

And crowns for convoy put into his purse."

This is powerful Pathos because he is letting his audience know that they need not fight if they cannot handle it. They will be allowed to leave if he so desires to. It's almost as if Henry is calling those who do leave not manly at all, and no man wants to be called a wimp, emotionally speaking.

The second Pathos is from here:

"But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his bloom with me

Shall be my brother;"

This is great pathos because it is relating to the audience's emotional connection of brotherhood. Henry is stating that anyone who fights together today shall be so close to one another, that they shall all be linked together as brothers, even unto death. This displays a powerful connection of affection and brotherhood for all of Henry's comrades there with him.

The first Logos is stated above

The second Logos is found in these lines:

"Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember, with advantages,

What feats he did that day."

Logos is logic. And this is logic because it tells quite accurately of what men will do when they're older on St. Crispian's Day. They will be able to recall what they did for their country, and he will be proud of it.

And this concludes my blog...

Have a great day!

Blogging, eh? Then here's about me.

Excuse me if my blogs sound pretty lame to everyone. I always thought blogging was a little odd (no offense), but I never imagined myself doing it. Hopefully, I learn to like it.
Anyways, let's get down to the nitty gritty. My name is Christian Rock. I come from Grand Junction, Colorado, from a family of 6 boys. And yes, I have no sisters. I am also a triplet, so three of my family members count as one person. We like to tell people that as triplets, we can hear each others thoughts all the time, which may or may not be true... I myself am the "outcast" of my family. While my family walked the path of athleticism, I went to the opposite side of the spectrum, and took up music. I was never good at sports, or maybe I just didn't put enough effort, but I quit early on regardless. I don't regret it, I love music. And I'll always be about to carry it around with me, no matter how old I get. Plus, it doesn't hurt amongst the dating scene.
I guess I'm supposed to put a story now, but I have a pretty good one. Back when I was in seventh grade, my oldest brother, Crosby, had recently sharpen an arrow I received after earning my Arrow of Light years before. We went out to shoot it, and we were having a good time. Seeing as how we were young, immature kids, Crosby looked at me and said "Christian, we're gonna play deer hunter. Start running." I played along and started running away. One second later, I found myself doing a somersault, landed on my back, and wondered what just happened. After I sat up, I looked at my foot. Crosby had shot me on my left foot. The Jerk! Luckily, the arrow only bounced off the bone in my foot, and did not penetrate all the way through. Regardless, we were both worried about what our mom would think, so we kept it secret. We told each other that the incident would not be told to our mom for 5 years. Let me tell you, that is no easy feat. But we managed, until Crosby spilled the beans 2 years later. Looking back, I'd say it was a fun experience, and it also gave me one of my best memories of Crosby later that night.