RA Reflection

I would probably give myself a B to a B+ if i had to grade my paper.  Looking through the rubric, i think i did some things well like addressing the audience and doing more analysis than summary.  There were, however, several things i also needed to do better.  I should have gone deeper with my analysis, but i found it hard to really dig in to this article.  If i were to change something, i think i would actually just pick a whole new article.  I picked it originally because it was long and i figured there would be a lot to analyze in it.  In reality though, the author was pretty repetitive with his points and kept attacking the same group of people.  As i said previously, my biggest struggle was digging into the article and getting good analysis from the things that the author said.  My biggest strength was probably being able to see who the author was directing his comments toward throughout the article.  Overall, it was a hard paper for me to write, but i think i learned a lot about analyzing other's writing.

Presidential Debate

1.  Red Herring:  President Obama was complaining about Romney's tax plan, then said that we need to invest in education instead.
2.  Diction:  Romney used the term "trickle down government" to describe our government's regulation.
3.  Overstatement:  Obama overstates the money that Romney plans on spending to scare people into supporting his plans.
4.  Straw Person:  Romney says obama did nothing to raise local energy, but that it happened in spite of his policies.  Then he went on to say how he would implement plans to improve energy even more.
5.  Imagery:  Obama talks about specific things to be done with saved tax money such as buying a new car or paying for a child's college.
6.  Analogy:  Romney said Obama and democrats keep trying to give their ideas which are false and he compares it to his five boys trying to convince him of something he knew was false by repeating it.
7.  Tone:  Romney brought out a very serious tone when he said that he saw a poll refuting the poll that Obama was quoting, and that he saw other polls that were saying Obama would raise taxes.
8.  Hand Gestures:  Obama was very charismatic with his hand gestures throughout the debate.
9.  Eye Contact:  Romney was very direct with his eye contact both at the camera and at Obama, whereas Obama had a hard time looking Romney in the eyes.
10.  Irony:  Despite the protection of the secret service Obama still managaed to get his butt kicked at the debate last week.  :)

Globalization Analysis

The article that i chose to analyze was Wal-Martian Invasion.  This article was written by a woman named Barbara Ehrenreich.  She is a feminist and a supporter of the Democratic socialist movement.  She definitely has credibility among some people, because she has written over twenty one books about the economy.  Her directed audience is at the people who are unemployed or who aren't making very much money at the job she says.  She is telling them tat wal-mart is to blame for job problems, and for not paying their workers enough.

The author's initial purpose is to show how Wal-Mart came out of nowhere.  She describes how it started out as a little company, but grew into a massive empire that for a while seemed to be growing exponentially.  She later on talks about how people at Wal-Mart do not make enough money to support themselves or a family.  The author uses good logos and facts abou Wal-Mart to help support her audience.  She also tries to use a bit of humor, although i didn't think that it was very effective.

Overall, i think that the article had some strong arguments, but that it also had a lot of flaws.  The woman failed to address several major counter arguments that are a big deal in this argument.  She has good facts at the beginning when she is talking about the growth of Wal-Mart, but i think she could do a better job of the voice se uses in the editorial.  I think that she was trying to come off in a witty, humorous way, but that she failed to pull it off.  It was definitely an informative piece of writing, however style and voice need to be improved to help make her argument more effective.

Ethos Pathos Logos Analysis

For my analysis i chose to read Mr. Collin's Proposal from Pride and Prejudice.  Mr. Collins shows Pathos when he tells Elizabeth that her modesty adds to her other perfections.  He is touching her emotions by telling her that he thinks she is perfect.  Then later on in his speech he says how much happier she would make him, which is also clearly an appeal to her emotions.  Then right at the end after she refuses him, he says that she is uniformly charming, which is his last effort to change her heart by complimenting her.  Mr. Collins shows Logos by giving logical reasons why they should get married.  He says that every clergyman should get married to set an example for his parish.  He also uses logos by saying how he is wealthy, and she should want him because of that.  Lastly, he also uses logic when he says that a woman told her he should marry a gentlewoman.  He then contributed that Elizabeth is a gentlewoman, and comes to the conclusion that she is the one for him.  He tries to build credibility by playing up his prior achievements to show ethos.  First he asserts that he has plenty of money and resources to support the both of them.  Then later on he mentions his connection with the noble family of de Bough.  Then finally toward the end, he brings in Elizabeth's parents, and says that they will help to persuade her to marry him.

My paper had a good amount of ethos and logos, but it was somewhat lacking in pathos.  I had plenty of good facts for logos.  I said that chemicals in the brain allow you to be less stressed out.  I also said that sports put you into a more positive mentality, which was proved via a scientific experiment.  I showed ethos by having plenty of credible sources that i used.  I used researchers such as Livestrong and mayo clinic to give facts and support my arguments.  I also told them where to get involved in intramural sports, which shows that i know a good amount about the program.  I need to find a way to put more pathos into my paper.  I can't give examples because i don't really have any, but i'm thinking of adding a personal story of a time i played sports or something of that nature.  If i can get some more emotion into my paper i think it will turn out well.

Opinion Editorial Proposal

For my opinion editorial i decided to encourage people to get involved with activities provided on the BYU campus.  My main focus will be to influence students to try out an intramural sport.  There are countless arguments in favor of joining this type of sport.  It is a less competitive atmosphere designed more for students to have fun than to seek victory.  Some people didn't play sports back in high school or when they were younger, but you do not have to be skilled at all in intramural sports.  They have everything from Flag Football to Dodgeball. Because it isn't very serious, intramural sports don't take up a ton of time, allowing us busy students to be able to balance school with the rest of our lives.  There are many more benefits that i will go into in my editorial, but i see having fun and playing sports as nothing but a positive for the students here at BYU.