Thursday, April 17, 2008

That's No Way to Treat Responsible Residents

For Stephen Henderson's article the main literary tool he uses to make his article most effective is ethos because he appeals to the reader's emotion by stressing the unfairness of the situation the Quades are in. The author's use of ethos makes the article more effective because it makes the reader pity the Quades because the City of Detroit is unfairly punishing the Quades. Even though the Quades did break the law, the reader feels sorry for them because it was a simple mistake and a one-time occurrence. The reader's emotions are stirred up because the Quades are old and are doing the best they can in an area where they are a light with darkness around them because their neighbor hood is improved compared to the houses just a few blocks down. This use of ethos make the column more effective because it makes the reader feel outraged at what else the city is doing corrupt, besides all the big stories you see on the news of what the mayor has done wrong now. The author's use of ethos throughout the article makes the article more effective because throughout it, again and again, it shows all the ways in which the Quades have been wronged. By repeatedly showing the unfairness of the ticket the author uses ethos to make the reader angry at how old people are treated in Detroit.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Darnell Gardner Jr.

Gardner's essay brilliantly outlined the problems with the city and the reasons Kilpatrick needs to step, while still being brief and using well supported arguments. Two of the most important writing techniques Gardner uses include diction and compare/contrast. Many different techniques are used throughout his essay, but these two are used most predominantly to help him emphasize his main points.

First dictions appears all over through the essay, to put special emphasis on the points in the essay he wants the reader to remember. Picking out the specific words Kilpatrick used in his speech helps strengthen Gardner's argument by using Kilpatrick's words against him. Gardner also uses the words "appalling" and "devastatingly" to describe the gigantic problems the city currently faces, in the school system as well as in many other areas. He also uses the word disenchanted to describe the displeasure he felt for the mayor's State of the City address.

Throughout his essay Gardner used diction to bring out certain words and highlight the parts of his essay he believed to be most important. Even more though he constantly compared and contrasted ideas throughout his essay. He starts of by contrasting the mayor's harsh words to his own thoughts and opinions that are "drenched in tears" for the city. Next, he compares how destroyed has decayed so much from its original greatness and now has become a city full of abandoned homes. He compares his peers' writing skills to his own in fourth grade, and describes how pitiful it is for a child to be born without a full family. He contrasts the future of this country with the kids growing up now and wonders where in the world good leadership will come from.

In conclusion, Darnell's speech was very good because it was well organized and well supported with lots of facts. He got to the point quickly and used strong counter arguments.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Kim Worthy's Prosecution of Mayor KK

Kym Worthy deliberately and meticulously researched this case before making her charges. She has thoroughly studied this issue and has now made her charges against Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty. She has charged them with lying under oath. For lying under oath they have committed perjury, and now if convicted will face probable jail time.

Kym Worthy's makes her message perfectly clear, that, besides charging Kwame with perjury, she will not tolerate lying under oath, and she fully intends to charge Kwame and not settle out of court with his lawyers. She carefully planned out this speech to show that she was not making groundless charges, and that in her process of researching the city has fought her and Kwame's
lawyers have fought her and documents that would help her case have been misplaced, hid or destroyed. She shows that no shortcuts were taken and that an entire team of prosecutors have worked together on this case to get accurate results.

Throughout her speech Kym Worthy uses logos to strengthen her implicit message of her intolerance of perjury, because without truth our whole justice system collapses. She specifically appeals to the people of the City of Detroit using appeal to logic by using facts and stating the due process she has followed. She also tells why these charges have to be made. In her address to the City of Detroit, Kym Worthy explains why it has taken so long to make her charges. She wisely shifts the blame to the mayor by blaming his offices for city lawyers blocking the investigation. She also points out that "some of the documents have been turned over, but we have been told that others have been destroyed or lost. We don’t know when or by whom." Worthy also says that her team, and herself have gone through 40,000 pages of paperwork before making her charges. By telling the process she has used to obtain information and form her charges, she uses logos to support her argument. Other processes she has followed, include forming a team of six prosecutors, with many years of experience, to support her in this case. She also states that they "had to file Motions to Compel Production of Records; we have had to appear in Circuit Court, respond in the Court of Appeals, and last Friday we had to file paperwork in the Michigan Supreme Court in an attempt to fight to get documents that we subpoenaed on January 31st that still have not been turned over." Kym Worthy make sure she emphasized the importance of truth in the justice system in her speech. She says that oaths matter and that oaths are the basis for many events in this country. She also gives the fundamentals of what the jury system is based on (few of which Kwame has kept):

Tell the truth
Take responsibility for your actions
Admit when you are wrong
Be fair and play fair
Don’t take or use things that aren’t yours
There are consequences for bad behavior

These simple rules show to the City of Detroit that Kwame has broken the rules that govern this country and he needs to be punished. She also makes it clear she believes that Kwame should get no special treatment because as in the quote she uses: no one is above the law and no one is below it.

Through all these examples, Kym Worthy uses logos to strengthen her reasons for charging Kwame. She uses simple but effective examples to suppport her reasons for charging Kwame by appealing to the peoples logic.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame's closing remarks tried to pull the city together and get the media and press to lay off of him. Kwame uses ethos in the unscripted part of his speech to get the city to feel like and come together as "brothers and sisters" and to move passed the scandals that he has created, but yet to take the blame for. Kwame tries to appeal to emotion by making himself an innocent person while everyone else is out to lynch him. He feels insulted by all the death threats he has received and does not believe that people should have any reason at all to hate him. He does not seem to remember the scandals he was involved in. So, he uses ethos to make the reader feel sorry for him and the position he is in. He appeals to the city by saying that his wife and children are in danger and the ethos in his speech lessens people anger because the people feel like they are doing something wrong to Kwame's family. The diction and description he uses in the statement "This unethical, illegal lynch mob mentality has to stop" blames the people of Detroit for the current political problems Detroit currently has. The words unethical and illegal describe the type of mob mentality the city currently has, which make Kwame's speech accusatory and help shift the blame off him. Using lynch is diction , to tell the city that this has gone far enough and that it needs to stop. The word lynching makes the city feel they are to blame.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Larry Elder on Open Minded Liberals

Summary
Larry King compares liberals and conservatives to each other to find out if liberals are really more open minded than conservatives.

Main Point
The author's main point is that although liberals call themselves more open minded than conservatives, the reality is conservatives are really more open minded than liberals.

How Larry King Mocks Liberals by using a They Say Strategy
Larry King knows to support his point well he has to tell what the liberals say, so what better way to show liberals thoughts than to put a conversation with one in your article. Each time the liberal said something, Larry King would counter argue his "they say" with a better argument that disproved the liberal's "they say." Walter Cronkite said that liberal and open minded were the same. Then, through Larry King's article he goes against Walter's "they say" and makes Walter look like a fool for using the words interchangeably. King uses a survey to disprove his "they say" which showed conservatives were more open minded than liberals. When liberals described conservatives, they criticized the conservatives sharply and never supported their arguments. The liberals used a tone that wasn't open minded which allowed Larry King to mock them and rip the argument liberals were open minded to shreds.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Worst Movie Ever

Cloverfield must be the worst movie ever made! It was like watching someones bad home movies on a merry-go-round. Even though I hated the ending, I was just glad it was over.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080123/BLOG2401/301230009/1214/BLOG24

Mr. Brandt, I hope I do this assignment right because it was not on the A.P. Language Blog and I do not really know what the assignment is beyond finding a cartoon and talking about it.

Anyway, Kwame is in some deep trouble now, slightly more than the cartoon suggests. The stains from blackberries representing the text messages that were found between him and Christine Beatty, which could serve as evidence he lied in court under oath that he had not had relationships with her, when in fact the text messages made sexual references, are going to leave a permanent mark on his record. Those text messages and the lies he told could cost him time in prison. The guy saying the blackberries left a permanent stain, as Kwame tries frantically to get the out with sundry cleaners, speaks true to his word as the Mayor of Detroit may have made his final mistake.