First two pages of rhetorical analysis

The gut-wrenching internal struggle which individuals face when engaging a moral question can often be undeniably intense.  This conflict only becomes significantly magnified when that individual is of a firm religious background.  I know that this is a true incidence through my personal experiences.  When I was younger, I often felt that it was an undeniable necessity to bring forth punishments according to the Law of Moses (“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”).  However, throughout the years, I have been influenced by church teachings which deliver statements along the lines of “Ye have heard it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5: 38-39).  Through such teachings, my moral understanding has been altered and heightened, for I feel that this religious study has shaped my being in such a way that I now have the ability to grasp higher concepts.  Of course, religion is based around the field of Pathos, which the author uses in his article to almost force the reader to listen to his argument.  Along with this, he applies facts to his article which serve to strengthen his viewpoint and hit a more personal tone in his primary audience.  The author also preys upon a sense of guilt that might arise when considering the occurrence of Osama Bin Laden’s death.

Despite creating intense and difficult statements for many Americans to agree with, Patrick Clark creates a general argument which many would find difficult to disagree with.  The author first includes information that appeals to his primary audience.  He says “should we consider it anything more than a blind coincidence that this momentous attack was carried out on Divine Mercy Sunday?”  This may seem obscure to some readers, but for the intended audience of Catholics a point becomes struck home.  Divine Mercy Sunday was created by Pope John Paul II on the second Sunday of Easter in the year 2000.  Its purpose is to recognize and celebrate the divine mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The author makes this connection in order to draw out the thoughts and emotions associated with their memories of this holiday.  In doing this, he applies his argument to something that they are used to and generally have respect for.  This will help the thought of mercy to in the conscience of his audience.  This moral foundation is a way for Patrick Clark to effectively establish his position in such a way that it will be difficult for an argument to arise later in the paper.  

The conflict of justice and mercy

The article that I found the most persuasive and the most thought provoking was the Osama Bin Laden piece.  For this reason, I will be writing my rhetorical analysis paper on it.  While reading it, I found myself to be deeply conflicted, for while I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (so I have mercy-oriented morals), I am also a Patriot, and so I found that justice had been done in Osama’s death. 

            Overall, I still believe that the death of Osama Bin Laden was a completely necessary occurrence, but I do agree with the writer in the sense that we shouldn't celebrate death.  Part of me does desire to rejoice in his destruction, but I also know that I need to remember that he is still a child of God (despite making horrible choices and being a terrible person…).  These are the feelings which will make this piece enjoyable to analyze, for it will be forcing two of my passions to combat each other:  my deep love for the justice of America, and my desires to continually be like Christ.

            I feel like as I work on this paper that I will be able to find a good amount of weak points in his argument, as well as find areas where his own words can be used against him.  It seems like I will have an enjoyable time with this assignment, and I look forward to trying out different methods for analyzing this piece. 

Opinion Editorial Reflection

I feel that my paper went fairly well.  While writing it, I made sure to use enough Logos to create a solid backbone for my argument.  I did this through citing sources with sturdy backgrounds and bringing professional opinions into my paper.  I worked to establish Pathos as I recounted a story of my own, and also as I brought up passionate points such as rights and liberty.  My Ethos mainly came from the professional sources which I cited, but also in the example that I gave through a personal story.  Generally, I did my best to recall the things which I have gained from past experiences as well as things learned in my current class to apply them to my essay.  I paid extra attention in the section of our supplemental guide that discussed how to format essays.  Another thing which I believe that I did well was going through my paper several times to edit it.  I believe this greatly increased the value of my opinion editorial.  One other process that I took the time to perform was acting on some of the revisions which my peers gave me.

Although I feel that I did well on this assignment, I probably could have improved it in a few ways.  For one thing, I feel like I could have planned out the general theme and structure of my opinion editorial better.  By this, I mean that my process as I began working was to form the general ideas of what I would write down, and then begin writing.  This is a decent process since it helps me to get my thoughts down on the paper, but I also feel that I could have been more effective if I had established main points in each paragraph, and then elaborated and filled in the gaps.  What I would do if I had to do the assignment again is create a more detailed plan for my paragraphs.  

"Faith in America" Analysis

Purpose:  I feel that the purpose of this article was to persuade the general public of America to vote for him (Mitt Romney), and to convince America to believe in committing to a more religious-friendly nation.

            Ethos:  One way in which the author establishes his credibly is through informing the audience of his religious standings.  Along with this, he also is a governor which means that he has been committed to serving his country throughout the years.  Another point that this prominent position provides is that he is at least somewhat trustworthy as well as effective.  During his speech, he pledges to put America as his foremost important duty.  This causes an audience to trust the speaker more.

            Pathos:  Several instances of Pathos can be seen in this speech.  One of the points in which this can be seen is when Mr. Romney mentions the goodness of the United States following World War 2.  He talks about how the U.S. didn't seek for land or treasures among the countries which they had conquered.  These statements bring about a sense of pride to be in this country.  Also, he brings the founding fathers and the constitution into his argument; which most Americans tend to be fairly passionate about.  Yet another thing which he provides to strengthen the emotion in his argument is to seek the support of other faiths by making remarks in which he shows respect and admiration to other denominations.

Logos:  The speaker uses Logic as he brings up the history of the country.  He makes mention to events which occurred regarding religious and physical freedom.  Mr. Romney touches on segments of American colony history in which there was religious persecution against people, ironically, the people coming to escape discrimination caused the persecutions. He also brings up the fact that religion was a huge part of the culture of people in the days of the founding fathers.