Using the knowledge gained from the reading, I want you to critique the following statement, which comes from a well-known column:
"They say nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style."
I'm looking for you to critique this quote using some of the same rhetorical strategies learned in the reading, so this means that your critique is informed--not simply your own opinion.
And you should still engage with one another.
Shoot for 250-450 words.
Due: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 by class time.
One of the main ideas I received from my high school psychology class was the idea of phenomenology. This long word simply means that everyone sees things differently based on their own personal phenomena, or what they’ve experienced thus far in their life. No two people are the same, and no to people have experienced the exact same things which is exactly why opinions exist. When a person writes an editorial, rhetorical situation comes into play. Why would a person write an opinion based piece, unless they had a situation or problem that deeply concerned them. “Editorial and opinion pieces help us communicate with each other about what we ought to do, about what specific actions we ought to take.” This quote states that because of a rhetorical situation people write editorials. In regards to our quote, I believe the writer is telling us that our friends will be with us together, and by are side through the thick and thin. Unlike trends and dreams, friendships are real, and necessary to be a happy individual. In relation to Ethos, this writer wants to persuade us that the idea of friends will be ever present in our lives, and there is no way to get around the fact. Even if a person is hurt by one of their closest friends and never talks to that person again, the person will still have many other friends to keep it real and help them through difficult situations.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with Jacy in that no two people are the same, and no two people have experienced the exact same things. That is what I believe the entire point of an editorial or opinion column is about. As far as the quote goes, I do understand it, but I think that the syntax and grammar used is absolutely dreadful. However, context is nearly one of the most important things in an edit or critique, so perhaps this is an excerpt from a poetry magazine. If that were the case, I would say that it's fine. But if it's something from the New Yorker or not, I feel as if the author if the quote has not established proper ethos. The semi-colon, at least the way I was taught, is used improperly and instead, it should be a colon. Currently, the quote would read "They say nothing lasts forever, yet (FANBOY) dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style." Grammatically inaccurate and simply difficult to read. Now, if a colon were used, it would read "They say nothing lasts forever, for example, dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style." Quite a bit easier to understand and read. However, due to a simple error, the author has lost quite a bit of credibility for me and I wouldn't be unable to connect with he or she's writing nearly as much. However, does this diminish his or her philosophical credibility? Not at all. With a philosophical authority, the author is wanting the reader to take action by having them do their best to maintain their friendships and to accept the fact that dreams and trends may change. I would say that with the help of the rest of the article, I would possibly agree with his or her statement, but the authors pathos in just this quote is indeed apparent, just not enough for me to take action. And logos can't even been touched upon with this little of writing to work with. It is true that trends come and go and that dreams have the potential to change, but that's as far as the argument can go.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacy such that whenever a person writes, rhetorical situation will always come into play as men and women who write editorials write to express their opinions in order to reach out and communicate with a larger audience. The New Yorker has a large audience of readers so I started to think with an open minded and began to ask a few people around the house. Everyone had a different opinion when I asked my friends about this quote. I realized the author’s rhetorical strategy was well thought it. He was able to reach an audience that normally wouldn’t have been in his demographic of followers and could produce an argument that can’t be determined by the right or wrong answer.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Jacy and CJ, I think that it’s simply impossible for two people to be the same, although I disagree with CJ and I would have to say that people could experience the same things in many different ways that may change any aspect of your life in a totally different way than another’s. In my opinion I don’t think this quote makes sense and its something I initially didn’t expect from the New Yorker. Dreams always change as we grow up and trends may always go but to say the friendships never go out of style is just a ridiculous statement. As many people could agree I’m sure you’ve seen many of your own close friends or even relatives fall out of relationships that you might have never seen coming to an end.
Since we have no context for the quote and no background information about the author it is hard to understand if the author is genuine and worth listening to in the first place. I don’t know if the main article is about friendship or struggling relationships or if the author gave any credible reason for us to believe that he or she is from a group that is struggling with relationships, or has a great group of friends that supported them through a tough time, that would compel me to agree with them. That being said I think that the quote is trying to play off of people’s emotions, so the author is making good use of pathos. Everyone has friends, hopefully, and that allows the author to connect with the audience on a general basis. Without any other part of the article people may be hard pressed to agree with the author, however he or she could be counting on the reader’s reflection over previous experiences to get the reader to agree with their opinion. The word choice seems to give a tone of a parting wisdom given by a mother, I say mother because of the use of “trend” and “style” that I doubt would come from a father, would give to their child after they were struggling with a new fad at school or a new group of friends. I think the quote would be affective in getting it’s point across if only there was some contextual support from the column preceding it, on its own however, it is rather weak.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacy and CJ when they state that no two people are the same. Everyone in the world is different and everyone likes and dislikes different things. I think this quote is stating that everyone is different and things in life never stay the same. This quote is also saying that your friends will probably change but having relationships with friends will never get old. “ This is public writing, meant to bind us together more strongly, for some length of time, into one of the particular communities in which we circulate so that we will act together.” I agree that this quote is a form of public writing. I think it was written for people to see, and for people to form opinions on this quote. In the article it also states “In such editorial and opinion pieces, we are addressed always as members of some community.” This quote is an editorial and opinion piece because it is addressing the community. I think whoever wrote this quote was meaning for people to see, and to have them form opinions on the quote. I can see how some people disagree with this quote though. I believe that some people think that something’s lasts forever. Some people come into this world with a dream and they will do anything to get to that place in their life. I agree with CJ when he says he needs to see the rest of the article to see how the author explains it. I think it will give it more of a backbone and I will truly know what this quote means.
ReplyDeleteI agree with CJ and Jacy about how no two people are the same so opinions will always differ. This goes back to that other article where it stated that human argument is inevitable. Regarding this quote, there are many ways to critique it, but it is difficult to do so where there is no context. I don’t believe anyone would find this phrase to be a fact, it is opinion based. However there is proof that no matter what day and age, everyone strives to have friends or companions. Looking at the different techniques for analyzing articles from the reading, the composer’s knowledge of the topic is mentioned. The knowledge here I believe comes from experience. No one chooses not to have friends. It is comforting, and although some people may claim they don’t want friends, it is only because of a past incident that tells them they must stay clear of companionship.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is difficult to critique…we do not have any other parts of the article. The quote itself is heart-warming, and inviting. This tells me the composer is addressing the audience in a way that can the words can connect to each and every person. Regardless of situation, this quote can speak to anyone. The other articles had a specific audience. The second one, about segregation, is a little more specific to a certain audience that the Hawaii one, but still, they are both directed at voters. Here, this quote could be for anyone form the most powerful CEO to the travelling man to the bum on the street.
The tone of this quote is gentle. The subject matter makes it this way. When we think of friendship, generally hate and disgust does not come to our minds. We think of fond memories, laughs, and hard times our friends helped us through. The gentle tone helps you absorb the quote and think about it. If something is harsh, it is less likely you want to think about it further than the initial reading. This quote is warm, it causes you to ponder your friendships and realize that friendship has been around since day one of civilization. Friendship is something that will never get old, and never be something to discard in the future.
I also agree with Jacy and CJ about how no two people are the same, but I also think Molly raises some good points as well about how it is hard to critique this quote when it is out of context. One thing that I think relates to what we learned in the reading is that it has a very gentle tone, and does not sound like it is attacking you with their beliefs. If I’m going to look at this quote very critically, I would say that it does not always hold true and it presents a false view on friendships. It is like the article about calling a Native American women squaw, saying one thing and acting another way. The argument is that in Arizona, the movement to remove Squaw as a name for things like city parks was turned down because it has been declared that Squaw just means a Native American woman, and is not derogatory. But then when the first Native American servicewoman died in combat, none of the news sources called her a Squaw, implying that it does have a derogatory connotation. It is the same with the friendship quote. When you first read it , it sounds good and warm and reminds you about how much you value your friendships, but then if I take a moment to think about it, do I still have the best friends I had in 6th grade? When I lived in Utah?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is no, I have gone through friend phases like I am sure most teenagers have, I don’t even talk to some of the people that I use to be inseperable from. I’m not undermining the value of friendship, but just saying that friendships do come and go, the same as dreams and trends.
I agree with Jacey that no two people are the same. We all come from different backgrounds and have a different understanding of the world than each other. The article states that in some editorial and opinion pieces, “we are addressed always as members of some community.” This may be true, but we are not all exactly the same. Thus it is hard to critique things in the same way. Like Dylan, I agree that it is hard to come up with a solid opinion about the quote due to the fact that it is not in context. Personally, I believe that friendships can come and go. You’re not always best friends with the person you hung out with constantly in Kindergarten. Like most things in live, friendships are ever changing. It is hard to understand the ethos of the quote because it stands alone and is not within an entire piece of rhetoric. The author, however, appeals to the pathos. The idea of friendship seems to have an emotional pull on people, along with dreams. This gets people to associate with the idea that the author is presenting on a level in which they understand. I agree with Molly that the tone is gentle, which can appeal to many people. It is presented in an approachable matter, rather than a forceful one. After thinking it over, I actually agree with the quote. I believe that even when friendships are over, that they live on forever because the fact that you were friends never goes away. I have fond memories of the friendships that I have had throughout the years. Although my friend groups have changed, the memories of my previous friendships are forever. They were an important part of my life, and always will be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacy and CJ that no two people are the same, too. A person who write editorial to express his or her opinions to make others to understand his or her ideas always is in the rhetorical situation. Different people have different characters, personality and interests. I think the quote is trying to tell us that friendships will last forever no matter how the situation is. Besides, the quote states that everything would change no matter how the situation is. For example, when I ask my roommate that how does him think about this quote, he answers is different from mine. He agreed with the quote. In the contrast, I do not agree with the quote.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to Ethos, the writer was trying to persuade us that friendship is a special thing, and nothing can change this relationship no matter how bad the environment around us are and how difficult the situation we were in are. In order to persuade us the friendship is very important, the writer stated an opinion that dreams and trends would changing when the time is passing, which is serve as a foil.
The writer did not show any example about how the friendship is unbreakable.
In my opinion, different people have different experiences; if the writer tends to persuade us that friendship is very important to our lifetime, writer should add some instances about how friendship is important to him. For example, the writer experienced a big problem with his friend, no matter how difficult the writer’s situation is, his friend still helped him get through it.
This can make the editorial more logical and emotional, which means the editorial was contain the other two rhetorical strategies. Therefore, the editorial could be more creditable and convincible.