Post-writting blog #2

So essay number two did not turn out as well as I had hoped. I know where my two main issues are; the length of my essay and the thesis paragrah. I need to do a better job of figuring out a claim so I can use that to help support a thesis. Once I get the thesis taken care of, I think that will just about solve my essay length problem as well. I also need to do a better job of not having my paper be so broad or ramble so much. I feel tend to that so I can help myself in reaching the word count goal. Essay number three seems to be coming along better, so hopefully I can save myself with this one. But only time can really tell!

Pre-writting blog Essay #3

For my third essay, I will be using the first prompt. This prompt appeals to me more in the sense that, I found that in watch the political debates, there were many uses of logical fallacies, as well as the candidates using pathos, ethos and logos to better reach out to the viewers. Having previously watched some of the debates, I feel that it will be easier to view them again to pick up on what fallacies are used, because I know in advance what some of the responses will be.

In my essay, I will be discussing different sides of the rhetoric used, and which side is more informable over the other. I will be using both chapters four and five from Jacoby's book, as well as the political debates to help support my findings that I will be including in my essay. Any of the logical fallacies that I mention, and/or any use of pathos, ethos and/or logos, will include a defintion so that any reader can better follow and understand what I am saying, and how each of those terms is used.

Reading Blog

In the early 20th century, Americans were very much against the ideas of communism, as it was seen to be against the American philosophy. In fact, according to Jacoby in the beginning of the fourth chapter, "...the Soviet Union, became a superpower and America's chief international rival" (82). Over the years, however, it appeared that many more Americans were taking to the ideas of communism, and after a time, no one really knew who was a communist and who was not. During this time in American history, the Great Depression had taken place, and many people were looking for changes to make life better. In looking for changes, some people became communists, hoping that they would find the changes they were looking for. When it comes to the words "liberalism" and "intellectualism", it appears that if a person is a liberal, they are also an intellectual. On the bottom of page 91 in her book, Jacoby seems to imply that any person who gave up on liberalism were clearly not intellectuals because it could not be possible.