As much as I frickin' hate Thoreau...
Mitch
English 1301
There’s three types of persuasion in essays, they are pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos deals with emotion, ethos with ethics, and logos refers to logic. Each of the following stories/exerts have each of these persuasive strategies in them, “Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard, “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner, and from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” by Henry David Thoreau. Each of these writings use persuasion to introduce the reader to new outlooks on life, and different ways to live. Though all of them basically have the same theme, they use different examples and such which makes them differ in their own respective ways.
Annie Dillard’s “Living Like Weasels” first uses ethos. She speaks of documented stories of weasels, and gives a description of what a weasel is, as if written in an animal dictionary. After that, she explains she had been reading up on weasels because of an experience she had with one. When she tells of the experience, she uses pathos a lot as she writes about the experience. Using examples such as “Our look was as if two lovers, or deadly enemies, met unexpectedly…”. Among other choices of words, this can be classified as extreme word choice, because she’s not just telling an emotion, she’s giving strong words as definition and example for what she felt when she met the weasel. In the final parts of her short story, she begins to describe the theme to her story more, that you should live life the way you want to, and never let go of that path. She uses logos in this part, which is especially evident paragraph 14 when she writes, “We could, you know. We can live anyway we want.” Of course we can live anyway we want, it’s just a matter of how much effort we put into living that way, which is what one of her main points in how to live.
Lars Eighner’s “On Dumpster Diving” begins with citing authority on the definition of the word, dumpster. This of course is ethos, and he goes on throughout the writing to give ethos in his different experiences as a scavenger, but right after the definition he begins to give a detailed bit about what he learned from dumpster diving, from which is goes on for two pages about what is safe to eat. Giving examples, definitions, and logical thinking about what is safe to eat. He gives out the signs about when something isn’t safe to eat, and gives the possible dangers, and what to look out for. For the most part, the whole eating section on his writing can be described as a mix of ethos, and in part, logos. He uses logos to further the decision to whether food is still good, or not. Though there are many parts in his story, in my opinion one of the strongest uses of words come in paragraph 41. Comparing maggots to pieces of rice, and “the stigma of eating garbage” uses words and examples to give an exact way to feel on that particular part of the story. This of course is extreme word choice, and an ideal example of pathos.
Thoreau’s “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” has many examples of persuasion in it. Right off he says he wants to live, and gives such detailed examples and words that you can clearly understand what it is that he desires. This is an excellent extreme word choice and emotional example all in just the first paragraph. So basically the first paragraph is a good example of pathos. Throughout his story, he cites a lot of authority giving him plenty of ethos strategy, though that‘s not his only source of it. He sets common ground in many parts by describing feelings and situations. Like the use of the railroad sleepers, using them as an example of how we have all become part of one big machine. Then he takes comfort in saying “I’m glad to know it takes a gang of men for every five miles to keep the sleepers down and level in their beds as it is, for this is a sign that they may sometime get up again.“ The whole sleepers section can be described as pathos for giving an example of situation, clearly, and also set common ground for ethos on the basis it can relate to the working man stuck in a rut of life. He also uses the newspaper as an example for a logical use. Pointing out the same events eventually repeat themselves, and if you’ve seen it once you’ll see it again, therefore there’s no reason or need to read the newspaper, a perfect example of logos.
There’s no doubt that I didn’t get all the examples of each and every form of persuasion in these writings, especially Thoreau’s. Each one gave a decent detailed description of what it is to live, and what to go for, and each of their persuasions helped to define their themes that much better. Over all though I’d have to say that the one that moved me the most would be Thoreau’s work, possibly because he uses a lot of pathos in his work. It helped define it’s meaning so clearly, along with all the citing, and examples, plus the logical thinking on the way we live our lives.
Think this 1 1/2 hours of crap will get a passing grade?
English 1301
There’s three types of persuasion in essays, they are pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos deals with emotion, ethos with ethics, and logos refers to logic. Each of the following stories/exerts have each of these persuasive strategies in them, “Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard, “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner, and from “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” by Henry David Thoreau. Each of these writings use persuasion to introduce the reader to new outlooks on life, and different ways to live. Though all of them basically have the same theme, they use different examples and such which makes them differ in their own respective ways.
Annie Dillard’s “Living Like Weasels” first uses ethos. She speaks of documented stories of weasels, and gives a description of what a weasel is, as if written in an animal dictionary. After that, she explains she had been reading up on weasels because of an experience she had with one. When she tells of the experience, she uses pathos a lot as she writes about the experience. Using examples such as “Our look was as if two lovers, or deadly enemies, met unexpectedly…”. Among other choices of words, this can be classified as extreme word choice, because she’s not just telling an emotion, she’s giving strong words as definition and example for what she felt when she met the weasel. In the final parts of her short story, she begins to describe the theme to her story more, that you should live life the way you want to, and never let go of that path. She uses logos in this part, which is especially evident paragraph 14 when she writes, “We could, you know. We can live anyway we want.” Of course we can live anyway we want, it’s just a matter of how much effort we put into living that way, which is what one of her main points in how to live.
Lars Eighner’s “On Dumpster Diving” begins with citing authority on the definition of the word, dumpster. This of course is ethos, and he goes on throughout the writing to give ethos in his different experiences as a scavenger, but right after the definition he begins to give a detailed bit about what he learned from dumpster diving, from which is goes on for two pages about what is safe to eat. Giving examples, definitions, and logical thinking about what is safe to eat. He gives out the signs about when something isn’t safe to eat, and gives the possible dangers, and what to look out for. For the most part, the whole eating section on his writing can be described as a mix of ethos, and in part, logos. He uses logos to further the decision to whether food is still good, or not. Though there are many parts in his story, in my opinion one of the strongest uses of words come in paragraph 41. Comparing maggots to pieces of rice, and “the stigma of eating garbage” uses words and examples to give an exact way to feel on that particular part of the story. This of course is extreme word choice, and an ideal example of pathos.
Thoreau’s “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” has many examples of persuasion in it. Right off he says he wants to live, and gives such detailed examples and words that you can clearly understand what it is that he desires. This is an excellent extreme word choice and emotional example all in just the first paragraph. So basically the first paragraph is a good example of pathos. Throughout his story, he cites a lot of authority giving him plenty of ethos strategy, though that‘s not his only source of it. He sets common ground in many parts by describing feelings and situations. Like the use of the railroad sleepers, using them as an example of how we have all become part of one big machine. Then he takes comfort in saying “I’m glad to know it takes a gang of men for every five miles to keep the sleepers down and level in their beds as it is, for this is a sign that they may sometime get up again.“ The whole sleepers section can be described as pathos for giving an example of situation, clearly, and also set common ground for ethos on the basis it can relate to the working man stuck in a rut of life. He also uses the newspaper as an example for a logical use. Pointing out the same events eventually repeat themselves, and if you’ve seen it once you’ll see it again, therefore there’s no reason or need to read the newspaper, a perfect example of logos.
There’s no doubt that I didn’t get all the examples of each and every form of persuasion in these writings, especially Thoreau’s. Each one gave a decent detailed description of what it is to live, and what to go for, and each of their persuasions helped to define their themes that much better. Over all though I’d have to say that the one that moved me the most would be Thoreau’s work, possibly because he uses a lot of pathos in his work. It helped define it’s meaning so clearly, along with all the citing, and examples, plus the logical thinking on the way we live our lives.
Think this 1 1/2 hours of crap will get a passing grade?