Hidden Intellectualism

Gerald Graff's article was clearly written that could be related to because he provided his own personal experience to the paper. He compares the intellectual to the "anti-intellectual" and the only reason that the intellectual succeeds in schools so much there is little basis for people who are given assignments that don't fit their interests. Most of the article reflected on his past experiences, and don't offer much more information. When I first read the article, it seemed to catch my eye because it related to my life. I am very sport/physically oriented and analyzing and copying the movements of others is a tool I use to learn. Graff on the other hand, was very interested in sports stats, players, and all kinds of sports.

Graff continues to offer the idea of implementing this system in schools to promote a more active student body and allow them to study what interests them. Much logos and ethos were used in this article and not cold hard facts or information to sell the paper for others to be interested. The paper was well written with an informal tone that kept the reader attentive. The ending needs to be set up a little better offering more information to persuade others to be interested.

Three Days to See

Helen Keller's piece was well written with many details and examples that seem unlikely that she is blind. Her thesis was written in the beginning and kept rather simple. The article was basically what she had planned to do if she could see and hear for three days. While reading this article I had a habit of getting myself to reading and not really analyzing it. The article made me realize how much I rely on sight and don't know what would become of me if I was in her situation.

Throughout the paper she spoke in a comforting and relaxed tone that kept the audience in a calming mood and made the paper easier to read. Logos was very prevalent in the paper because of everything was based of her opinion and considered all important aspects. My favorite part was the fact that for her last night she decided to attend a comedy show, and I couldn't think of anything else to ease the pain of returning to a world of darkness.

Crack in the Box

The article has no thesis statement to be found, it just portrays a general idea to the reader. The author begins the article speaking about drugs in todays society and how they are highly addictive and could potentially control a person's life. Not until the fifth paragraph of the paper does he create the correlation between the addiction to television and drugs. The author continues to create a line between these two and provides supporting information. Yet the statistics he used seemed to only have one connection and that is the time period of the two. Examples such as 31.7 million t.v.'s were sold during 1955 and during the same time felonies took an increase.

The author uses lots of facts but very little emotion during the paper. There is some logos spread around the paper, but most of the information provided seem too far fetched. As a result I was not favorable to this article, maybe because of my position.

They Say, Drugs Kill

The thesis is the very first sentence, because it tells exactly what you should expect in the article. The article continues with the author talking about a traumatic experience when she saw someone die in front of her during a party. The details are excellent and the emotion from all the other people at the party are conveyed well. The real question is what was she doing during this whole ordeal, writing?

There was mostly pathos in this article, mostly because it was brought up from a real life, traumatic experience that she underwent during her lifetime. She showed ethos because of how most people react to "accidents" such as when a person dies from an allergy from a drug, but it wasn't from the drug itself. There was no shape of logos because most of the paper was written from her own perspective and biased opinion. The article was strong and could definitely pull a reader in, but I couldn't see it being a persuasive essay. The fact that almost all of the article was ver story made me believe it was just a story and not tell me to do anything.

Don't Blame the Eater

The thesis in the paper was not in standard MLA format where it is presented in the introduction paragraph and restated in the conclusion. Towards the conclusion of the essay is where the thesis is actually presented to the reader, but Zinczenko's position is obvious throughout the persuasive essay. He covers his basis well with many facts about the increase in rates of children with diabetes, and gives an example of some fast food joints that advertise towards children.

The paper shows a good balance of ethos, logos, and pathos in the reading but it wasn't a very long article to begin with. If any of the three, he shows the most pathos. At the beginning of the reading, he tells his fight with childhood obesity and talks about how these obese children are picked on all the time. Several facts were thrown around such as the calorie count of a chicken salad with a coke. Zinczenko talked about whether or not we should, including the government, regulate the fast food industry and the lack of nutritional information.

The format of the paper was pleasing because the story brought me in and he continued with his message including some interesting facts. Overall I don't believe it is the fast food companies fault but more so the parents responsibility to teach there children about eating right. However I am all for mandatory nutrition classes in public schools, because I honestly ate what I was given and luckily most of it was good for me; exercising and sports helped too.