Rhetorical Activities #3

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/24/hiding-evidence-of-global-cooling/

The issue here under debate is Global Warming. This argument is pro-‘Global Cooling’ which is amusing to say the least. The argument may exist that scientific evidence was doctored, which is a problem .This does not, however, eliminate Global Warming as an issue entirely. I would define the true issue here as scientific ethics and established credibility based upon them. In the event that documents were doctored this is an issue because it seriously degrades the integrity of the argument that Global Warming is a serious issue. I feel that the position being argued against here though is the whole idea of Global Warming. Is stasis a possibility? For the individual who clearly doesn’t believe in global warming? I highly doubt it.

Progymnasmata: Confirmation and Refutation

Would America exist had Columbus not discovered the ‘New World’?

CONFIRMATION

Christopher Columbus was a wonderful man, an explorer and cartographer of the world who shed light in even the darkest of reaches giving us our motherland: America. ‘In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue.’ He came to set up new trade routes, but unwittingly began the journey towards a new nation. A nation, a collection of cultures unlike any other the world had seen before. A nation bred of understanding and reason. Were he not to have endured the perils he faced as a near-directionless explorer, America would not even exist.

REFUTATION

Christopher Columbus was simply a guy who did his job. He may have been really good at his job but he was still nothing more than an opportunist seeking new trade routes. The journey of our nation’s spirit was building up long before Columbus’s little operation. Our nation’s spirit existed before; it was made of genuinely obtainable success for the common man coming at the simple cost of true grit and honest labor. It was inevitable that from every corner of the world people would migrate to a land where an individual’s worth could truly be compensated with a harmonious balance of justice and liberty. No matter the circumstance America would have come into fruition.

“The root of education is bitter, but sweet are its fruit.”

Let us consider for but a moment that age old tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. We know that in the tale Jack trades his family’s cow for some ‘magic’ beans. But Jack was supposed to have sold the cow so that the family could be provided for. We know that eventually the beans greet soil and grow straight up into the sky. We know that after a very creepy series of events Jack loots the palace in the sky (numerous times) and comes up with enough scratch to provide for the family forever and ever. Well let’s just consider ourselves as though we are all jack. At the bottom of our beanpole (root of education) things may not have seemed all that glorious. But eventually we near the top, we peek in, we explore, and eventually we loot the booty of education (the sweet fruit). We can only hope that some psychopathic giant doesn’t chase us back down the stalk, and force us all to become murderers. Seriously though education is just like the story, and the saying as well… it may seem like a long bitter climb to the top, but once there the sweet rewards of success await the persistent.

Now the way Apthonius would have it…

Encomium: A similar proverb states that “When life gives you lemons make lemonade”, I will draw an adequate comparison.

Cause: Education, at the cost of intense focused effort, frees one from ignorance and opens the door for success…not to mention, education ensures that one makes more money in a given lifetime than that of those who gave up on it.

Comparison: If you cannot make it through the trenches you will never be able to claim your due reward. Can you take a decent dive if you only hang your toes over the edge?

Ancient Testimony: A wise man or woman (hard remembering) once said, “Education PAYS!”

Example: Why do people even pursue higher education? Because they seek a higher purpose and position in life.

Contrary: Would one rather drift through the world like a leaf in the wind, both ignorant and naïve? Gullibility and weightless opinions are the cost of leaving education behind.

Conclusion: Invest in education, it is a tough trade but it’s guaranteed to pay off in the end. Education is/are the lemons so go ahead and squeeze them and enjoy the delicious lemonade that they have to offer.

As We Drive We Will Not Text

196,165,667 drivers licenses were active in the U.S in the year 2003. As many of you who have driven on the road know, at least thirty percent of those drivers cannot properly operate a motor vehicle. Compounding with the problem of general bad driving there is often another factor of distraction. Whether plucking their nose hairs, or digging through a bag of food people who drive poorly almost always find a way to fill of their driving time with another activity that further reduces their ability to drive properly. The days of simple distractions have been over for a few years now since our cell phones became like living breathing extensions of our being. Now an individual can navigate the public roadways while cruising myspace comments and texting friends, lovers, or KGB. The problem is that this issue is far more common than one would suspect. I assure you that if I put to test your honesty and posed the question of whether or not you had at one time or another engaged it texting or other activities on your cellphone while driving, the vast majority would have some confessions to make. In recent years many fatal accidents have occurred due to texting while driving, and the number keeps growing. In recent years, the awareness of this issue has risen but not quickly enough. In recent years many states have passed legislation on the issue and imposed stiff penalties for texting while driving. But is this enough? No. With a simple bit of good sense, compassion, and responsibility when it comes to driving the problem vanishes altogether. We must all remember that when we get behind the wheel it is not only our life we are looking out for; it is also the lives of the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters that occupy the streets around us. We must consider the power which we are given when we are allowed to drive. We must grant that power an equal measure of responsibility. While this issue will continue to burn on into the horizon for a great deal of time, we can all proactively join an effort to stop this sort of dangerous habit in our own lives by issuing a pledge to ourselves and to those around us that as we drive we will not text.

This is Me

My name is Mick Heberly. I'm a Junior level English major pursuing a Professional Writing minor as well. I recently graduated from PCC with an Associate of Arts in Psychology. After working in the mental health field for over 2 years I decided to go back to what came natural to me and what I had passion for. I made it out here to CSUP and I absolutely love it so far.

What I hope to gain out of this class is a better understanding of rhetoric, it's purpose, it's uses, it's successes, and it's failings. Since I love to argue then this is the class for me. I have extensive coursework in Philosophy and Ethics that I think will fold nicely into the material of this course. Not only do I want to learn the subject at hand over the course of the semester, but I wouldn't mind meeting some new folks along the way.