DAY 5 - CYCLE 2 - SEMESTER 2

HAPPY INAUGURATION DAY!
In class, groups 4 and 6 took the vocabulary quiz, discussed Katha Pollitt's major and minor premises and her overall conclusion. With what time remained, we continued to work on the Seagull Reader introduction. If you haven't finished it, you will definitely want to do so.

You must have a solid understanding of the three ways that speakers--through voice or written word--try to reach their audiences:

• LOGICAL: These are the appeals that describe the merits of the case, the reasons why you should act or behave in a particular way
• ETHICAL: These are the statements that add to author credibility. That which makes you trust or identify with the author is an ethical appeal.
• PATHETIC: This is an appeal to your emotions. It might describe someone else's emotional state or a situation designed to invoke your anger, fear, sense of protectiveness, patriotism, or love. A pathetic argument is said to be true when it invokes emotions that propel you toward logic, rather than encouraging you to act without a logical basis.

In discussing Katha Pollitt's work, I asked you to identify her

• major premise: gender differences result from environmental rather than biological differences (i.e. nurture matters more than nature)
• minor premise: parents find it easier, more convenient, and self-forgiving to believe gender differences result from "nature" rather than "nurture"
• conclusion: In choosing this belief, parents reinforce socially-constructed, gender-based behaviors.

Similar derivations are entirely acceptable. Once you have the larger ideas down, it's easier to ask questions of her (or any) assessment: does she ever explain why biological theories are inferior to environmental theories? Why should I believe her? Etc.

While she effectively gets her audience to reconsider how we nurture differences in children, does she effectively dispute biological theories? Not so much, and that's a weakness of the argument.

Go over the introduction to the Seagull Reader again to make sure you understand the basic issues at play in any appeal to you. Tonight, you'll be looking at the appeals our new President is making to us, as he seeks to have us share his vision and contribute in the work of bringing about a new America.

HOMEWORK

First, read everything above carefully: really, really carefully.

Download the printed copy of the inauguration speech from today and TYPE a one to two page journal in response to the following questions:
PART ONE: Assess what the speech attempts to do.

• What actions does President Obama want you to take? What beliefs does he want you to hold?
• What logical, ethical and pathetic arguments does he use to get you to act/believe?

PART TWO: Evaluate whether or not it does it well.

• Is this a good speech? Justify your assessment of it.

You might find it helpful (or confusing, so ignore this if you tend to be easily distracted/influenced) to see what other speechwriters have had to say about the speech.

Have fun with this. Talk about it over the dinner table. You are citizens (or respectful residents) of this nation, with a vested interest in its prosperity and peace. You have a role in creating that prosperity and peace; did he convince you to take that responsibility seriously?