Best argument

One of the most inspirational speeches I have ever heard was while I was in the Navy during a Disciplinary Review Board (DRB). The DRB was convened because a sailor refused to be part of the Ships self defense force. His position was, he was not allowed to handle weapons since he was convicted of domestic violence. The flaw in his reasoning was that his job as a SONAR Technician required him to handle torpedoes’, which would also be a violation of not being able to handle a weapon. When he was recruited he did not reveal this fact. This omission made his enlistment falsified. He was brought up on charges of false enlistment and was facing a dishonorable discharge from the military after 16 years of service. His leading division chief was pleading in front of the board that this was a great in justice to do to this sailor and his family. That in fact we would only be hurting our selves by letting his knowledge leave the Navy. If this happened he would be more than likely in need of social help for him and his family, thus our taxes would be supporting him.

            The chief continued by saying he could understand if this was a single sailor and had only been in for a few months. Instead, this sailor was a tremendous asset to the ship and the Navy with the extensive training and experience he had.  He continued by saying his wife should not be made to suffer for her husband’s lack of judgment so many years ago.

            This was a compelling argument because of the emphasis on why it was in our best interest to handle the situation internal, and keep the sailor in the Navy. Not to mention keeping him out of social reform which would more than likely put his family in financial ruins. The board and I were swayed by the chief and we developed an alternative plan to keep the sailor in the Navy. Because the chief implemented a well thought-out argument and delivered it with passion, he was able sway the board to his side.

rhetorical triangle

The rhetorical triangle consists of logos, pathos and ethos.  Just as in the case of a triangle if one side is incomplete then the triangle is unfinished. The same is true for a rhetorical triangle if one side is missing then your argument is deficient.

            Pathos plays on the emotions of the audience and the presenters side of the argument. Emotions are a driving force of how people react to the situation. You must know the audience you are talking to. For example, the argument for selling get rich schemes is going to play on your emotions of feeling poor and living pay check to pay check. Then I will show how someone like you made it big buying my product. I feel Pathos is the strongest part of the triangle, the base if you will.

            Ethos is the credibility of the writer or speaker. Both in his stature as a subject matter expert and the way he present himself. If you stumble through your writing or speaking who in the world is going to think you know what you are talking about. If you cannot articulate what you are trying to say you, will not keep the audience's attention.

            Logos is the architect of the triangle. Logos makes the foundation of the message. First, does it make sense that the roof goes on the house, then the walls. No, you build the foundation, then walls, then roof.  Before all of that, you must decide where to build. Of course you need strong ground for support. In other words, can I build the evidence that supports my topic on this issue?

Unit 2 review

On review of the readings assignment, I have learned that the logo in argumentative writing is the blueprint. That is, it has to makes sense in the way it is laid out. The Toulmin system is the architect for the blueprint which contains four steps enthymeme, grounds, warrants, and backing. Adhering to these four steps will help you ensure have laid out a strong argument and incorporated anticipated rebuttals.

            The Ethos part of writing an argument is the creditability you have on the subject. In order to give yourself creditability, you need to become what I call a SME, or Subject Matter Expert on the subject. One way to establish this is the effective use of evidence. There is also a good blue print for effective use of evidence. It is called STAR or Sufficiency Typicality Accuracy Relevance. There are different kinds of evidence; data for personal experience, surveys or questionnaires, field research, research, testimony, statistical data, hypothetical examples, reasoned sequence, and angel of vision. Most of these are self explanatory and the best way to incorporate the evidence is to check your angle of vision or perspective. This can be seen thru the following exercise. Place a pen in your left hand and put it above your head turning it in a circular close wise motion. Now while continuing to motion bring down below your waist. Now which way is the pen turning?

            The last but certainly not the least important part of the triangle is Pathos. This is the emotion or feeling of the audience. Emotions and feelings are powerful drivers in human response. When you have an Alfa personality in a room full of people looking for answers, he can easily lead the room where he wants them to go by playing on their emotion. In addition, the use of images goes a long way for emotional appeal.

Work Cited:

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean and June Johnson. Writing Arguments:  A Rhetoric with Readings. New York:  Longman, 2010.

Responce to Myron

            Myron, I liked the way you present the information. Your use of metaphors was great. Especially the one "If logos is the vehicle, pathos is the engine." But what good is a vehicle that has a broken or out of tune engine? If you want a Chevy truck you do not go to the Ford dealership. Pathos is the strongest side of the triangle, emotions are a powerful thing and if you try to sell a Ford to a Chevy guy your word will fall on deaf ears.

Unit 1 reading

Unit 1 reading assignment was of tough cookie for me to swallow. I am not talking about the views of the writer, interpretations of where he is coming from or the stance he is taking. I did particularly enjoy the sample of free lance writing and not worrying about grammar and punctuation, or even about getting writer's block. Using blalalalalala to get you through the thought processes. I am talking about the liberal stance view about illegal aliens. The Mexican migrant worker in particular.

            One of the first thing that caught my attention was the fact that they talk about the lower

wage these illegal's are willing to work for. Farmers fall under different laws especially when it

comes to wages. They have a different minimum wage set than the rest of normal industry.

 "Agricultural employers who did not use more than 500 man days of labor during any calendar quarter of preceding year are exempt from minimum wage law during the current year." retrieved from: http://www.ces.uga.edu/Agriculture/agecon/pubs/AGECON%2008-002.pdf. While this is not to say that there are employers who illegally employ these aliens or that they are willing to work harder for less pay than their American counter parts. What I am really saying is they are only hurting themselves and the American economy.  They are hurting themselves by not paying taxes, therefore not putting into social security, they are hurting the economy by not paying taxes but taking advantage of free medical care and sending their children to school for free here. So who is really hurting from this? What happens when they get old and cannot work anymore? If they are still illegal who suck up the bill to take care of them then?