My RA Essay

My paper was on the Conan O'Brien commencement speech given to the graduating class of Stuyvesant High School. I found the process of writing this rhetorical analysis enjoyable. It gave me the opportunity to practice my skills in identifying and understanding the rhetorical appeals used by the author. I think that this is a very important skill to master for a number of reasons. First, it helps me in my everyday writing, no matter the subject. Secondly, it helps me to better understand other writers and what their purpose might be for their audience. I was relatively happy with my understanding of the speech, but more analysis could have been applied to explain my ideas in further detail. There were several elements in my essay that could have been improved further.
I feel that I could have put more emphasis on my thesis within the opening paragraph. Although it was vaguely stated in the last few sentences of the first paragraph, a single and final sentence to pull my ideas together would have helped the reader to better understand my purpose. A more thorough and detailed reading of the speech may have also given me a different perspective on Conan's purpose as well as my thesis. For example, perhaps Conan's purpose was not to give them any practical advice, but to just make them laugh to relieve some of the pressure in the air. Or perhaps his story of his past experiences had a completely different purpose then what is primarily seen at first glance. Further analysis could also have helped me in lengthening my essay to the proper size. It may have me to be more detailed with my explanations as well as my summaries of the speech.
My transitions needed some work in my first draft, but with a little rewriting and reorganizing, they seemed to flow into the next paragraph much smoother. Also, my editing does not seem to be as strong as I had previously thought. Even though I read over my final draft several times, I missed a few obvious grammatical errors as well as a sentence fragment. With better peer editing as well as self editing, this can easily be alleviated.
Overall, I enjoyed reading Conan's speech as well as working on this essay. Although I had a vague understanding of Aristotle's rhetorical appeals, learning about them in class and doing this assignment especially, gave me a new perspective on what they really mean. When I sit down and read anything now, I can't help but notice the authors appeals. I seem to constantly see how well, or how poorly, is appealing to his audiences' emotions and how they explain their logic.

Plato and Freire on the "Truth"

Plato and Paulo Freire approach the concept of education and ignorance in very different ways. Yet they are both able to explain their ideas with descriptive language and powerful imagery. Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" is a parable of a man who is freed from a cave where he has spent his entire life and knows only the shadows on the walls. His freedom from this cave brings about a new enlightenment in the way he views the world and what he understands as the truth. Freire's essay called "The Banking Concept of Education" is more of an analysis of learning between the teacher and the student. Freire focuses on the idea that students can sometimes be oppressed by the system that is supposed to be an avenue for knowledge. Although these authors have different writing styles, their purpose is the same.
It is the purpose of both of these authors to explain to the reader the importance of questioning authority as well as reconsidering what is known as the "truth". Freire does this by using logos to appeal to the audiences logical side. He gives concrete examples as well as factual information to explain his opinion on the subject. Plato plays to his audience in a very different way. Plato uses strong imagery and rhetorical questioning to keep the reader engaged in the story. He does a wonderful job of using pathos throughout to appeal to the readers emotions. Both authors' writing skills show their abilities to thoroughly communicate their purpose to the reader.
So what is to be said about this idea of questioning authority as well as our perceived reality? How do we know that what we know is truly knowledge? Is there an absolute truth? What is the truth? These philosophical questions have been asked for thousands of years. What we must understand about these questions is that they may never be answered by man. Our perception of what we call "reality" or the "real world" can change on a daily basis. It is understood differently by every person. The only thing we really can do is keep an open mind and learn to communicate with each other to best of our ability. Because when people look at issues from several different perspectives, thay can get a better view of what they are trying to see.

Who's to blame in Flint?

Moore suggests in his film that it is the responsibility of corporations to make a personal and trusting relationship with its employees. Evidence of this can be seen during his interview with one of GM's lobbyists. Moore asks him this question and the response of the lobbyist is that it definitely is not. He says that the only responsibility of the corporation is to make money.
Bill George of the New Straits Times states in his article "Coping well when downsizing hits" that "management has a responsibility to make sure that the company remains profitable, so sometimes drastic measures are necessary"(George). But does this explain GM's reason for closing the plants in Michigan? According to Moore, the company was generating a profit in the billions when it made this decision. Whatever the company's motives may have been, the effects of these job losses are made clear in Moore's film.
So who is to blame for the degradation of Flint, Michigan? Moore would claim that the blame lies solely on the shoulders of the C.E.O. of GM, Roger Smith. Bill George might say that it is the responsibility of the former employees to come to terms with the changes when they arise and understand that change is a main component in the corporate world. Also, the government of Flint, Michigan can be held partially responsible. Their inability to adapt and create successful economic policy was also a factor in the decline in tourism and loss of business in the city. But perhaps all of the parties are partially too blame for such a collapse in one community.
It is certain that the plant closings caused an economic depression and put many people out of work. On the contrary, how long can this one corporation be blamed for such a lasting poverty in one community? Perhaps it is necessary for the ex-employees as well as the local government to adapt to the changes and learn to create new opportunities for themselves, elsewhere if necessary. It is the responsibility of the entire community, not just one entity, to create a successful and prosperous society.

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Moore's Roger & Me

Although I am of the opinion that many of Michael Moore's documentaries may be somewhat bias, he does make some strong points in this film to support his viewpoint. First of all, the shutdown of the GM plant in Flint, Michigan definitely did have a hugely negative impact on the economy as well as the people of the community. This largely explains the increase in crime, poverty, and welfare in Flint. Moore does an excellent job of showing how seemingly incompetent officials making bad choices can feed the flames even further. On the other hand, Moore seems to go out of his way to make it seem like GM is the sole reason for the depravity within the city.I think that Moore is making an effort in the film of finding the poorest and lowliest people in the worst neighborhoods and then drawing connections between these people and GM where there might not necessarily be a direct connection.
There were some very powerful images in this film that showed the extent some people go to in order to survive. Although I found the "rabbits for pets and meat" a bit disturbing, the reality is that it's not such an unusual thing. In our culture, this may seem very base and primitive, but humans have been farming animals since our beginnings. Many cultures would not find this unusual at all, but in America we seem to be used to our food being bagged and tagged for us. One thing I did find very unusual was the entire "Jail House Rock" grand opening. The idea of paying $100 to stay in a place where people are sent to pay for their crimes is just a little weird. On the other hand, if it raised money for the city, who knows? I guess you could consider it a good thing.
Don't get me wrong, it was surely a tragedy to have so many jobs lost in one city. But the truth is that the sole purpose of a corporation IS to make a profit. GM did this by moving their factories elsewhere. Moore said it himself, "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer". This is the essence of capitalism. The rich do the things which make them richer, while the poor tend to do the things which make them poorer.

The Southland

This essay by Henry Miller is ripe with descriptions of cities and famous landmarks which provides the reader with fantastic visual stimuli. Although these descriptions are eloquently written, many of the references Miller makes are to other stories, which could possibly confuse the reader if he or she has never read these stories. His numerous references to the Civil War make me wonder when this article was written and what kind of background Miller came from. Was he from the South? What are his opinions of the Northern part of our country? What in his life caused such a passion for the South?
Drawing this conclusion completely from this essay, Miller seems to be a lover of the "South" and doesn't seem to look on the "North" with much favor. This is evident in his reference to the "slave culture", which he says was not necessarily a bad thing and could have possibly provided the world with some sort of great work if it were maintained. Although this idea seems a bit odd, the author has an obvious passion for the South and has a great ability to describe it in a very intriguing way. The strongest imagery, in my opinion, but also the simplest to understand can be found in the last few sentences of the essay when he says..." It is all over now. A new South is being born. The old South was ploughed under. But the ashes are still warm."