The Rhetoric of Captain America. . .

Okay, I've been telling you that I would put some pictures of the old and new Captain Americas up here so that you could compare the visual rhetoric of the two. Now remember, there is a lot to the rhetoric of these two pictures besides just the costumes, but take a look at them: what do you think that each suggests about The United States, the nation this character is meant to represent?

Original Cap. . .





















And the new Cap. . .
















Now, the stories themselves have quite a rhetorical slant as well--y'know, one was frozen in time to be revived by a future generation, the second was the first one's sidekick and spent some time brainwashed and working for the USSR--but just look at the images themselves right now.

Fascinating. . .

Logical Fallacies

LOGICAL FALLACIES are arguments that look rational but aren't. The following is a list of some common INFORMAL fallacies, and the only ones I'll make you responsible for knowing.
Remember: there is power in knowing both how to persuade others AND how others are trying to persuade you; get to know these techniques and you will better able to keep from being deceived.

Begging the Question

Complex Question

Equivocation

Hasty Generalization

Sweeping Generalization

False Analogy

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc (After This, Therefore Because of This)

Slippery Slope

Oversimplification

Stacking the Deck

Appeal to Ignorance

Non Sequitur (It Does Not Follow)

False Dilemma

Strawperson

Another Article on the Election

Check this out. . .here is someone who thinks BOTH candidates are wrong! What do you think? How does he make his arguments?

http://blog.oregonlive.com/community_writers/2008/09/both_obama_and_mccain_are_wron.html


(notice the use of questioning. . .)


MR R

"Oh, give me a home. . ."

I was singing that old song "Home On The Range" recently (don't ask!), and I was remembering that, when I was a little kid, I completely misunderstood the line "where seldom is heard/ a discouraging word". I though it meant "where 'seldom' is heard/ a discouraging word"--that is, that, on the range, the word "seldom" itself is understood to be a discouraging word (that things are meant to be done, and done often, not "seldom"), rather than that discouraging words are seldom heard. I was much older--high school, I think--when I finally understood what the song was saying. 

In retrospect, I think my confusion is understandable; if you consider the inflection/emphasis that the pauses place on the word seldom (sing it to yourself: "where sel'DOM is HEARD/ a dis'COUR'a'gin' WORD/"), I think the confusion, in the mind of a child, is understandable.

What stood out to me as I was considering this--what I found interesting rhetorically, I guess--is how important inflection and rhythm are to understanding.

MR R 

Palin's Privacy

Here is something from the LA Times that supports Palin's right to keep private her family business and family decisions (such as the unwed pregnancy and the marriage of her teen daughter), but which suggests that her potential policy platform would deny that right to others.

What do you think? Consider the tone he uses, and how he presents both sides of the issue. what are his values? Does he share the same values as Palin and those who think like her? Does he define the issue the way that a person who agrees with Palin's socially-conservative platform might actually define the issue, or is he interpreting her position through his own? Explain.

 http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/elections/la-oe-rutten3-2008sep03,0,862499.column

Thank Stephanie Osborn for this one!

MR R

Op-Eds not just about politics

I wanted everyone to notice how op-eds don't necessarily have  to be about politics. Here are some selections from the op-eds you sent to me that have little to nothing to do with politics:

This one is about lessons learned from using voting machines:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/opinion/31observer.html

This one is about how the government allows certain vegetables to be "zapped" with radiation to make them cleaner:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/opinion/28thu3.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

This one is about recent discussions to lower the legal drinking age

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1812397,00.html

For those of you disinterested in "politics", consider some of these as examples of where your mind might wander, and where your ideas might find a home.

MR R

"Op-Art" from the NYT

Here is an example from the New York Times of "Op-Art;" I think the argument here is pretty obvious (Republican=Bad), but how is the "argument" made?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/01/opinion/20080901_opart.html

Take a look and discuss. . .