Good vs Evil Q#2

Can Evil Characters Engender Sympathy?

Yes, evil characters can engender sympathy if their cause is what most of us recognize as the 'greater' good. An example of this is Ozymandias, from Watchmen. He is an excellent example of an evil character who can garner sympathy from the readers/viewers. During Watchmen, Ozymandias orchestrates what appears to be a sinister plot to kill all of the vigilantes, retired or not. Near the end of the movie, Ozymandias detonates several, powerful, weapons of mass destruction in major easter cities in the United States, pinning the blame on Dr. Manhattan. The Watchmen believe he has gone man and when confronted, Ozymandias reveals that by turning the world against Dr. Manhattah, he is uniting them to stop a nuclear apocalypse. Even though Ozymandias did a clearly evil thing, we the audience feel sympathetic towards him and his cause. This is a great example of an evil character engendering sympathy.

Good vs Evil Q#1

Is it subjective or a universal truth about what constitutes “good” and “evil”?

 What constitutes good and evil now days has significantly changed from what it used to be; what constitutes good and evil. Heroes use to swoop in and save the damsel in distress, catch the bad-guy and save the day; today they blow-up British Parliament ('V' from V for Vendetta), they drop people, who clearly need help, down elevator shafts (Rorshach for Watchmen), and they murder and maim because their country needs them (Edward Hyde from League of Extraordinary Gentleman). While the need for good remains the same, how it’s achieved is subjective; we expect anti-heroes.

Reflection: Persuasive Pieces

Writing a persuasive piece can be difficult, regardless of what you're trying to be persuasive about. There are three, main difficulties that I can identify when writing a persuasive essay, these being; The person reading or listening to your persuasive piece may already have preconceptions about your topic, making it extremely difficult to persuade them over to your side, espescially if they have held these preconceptions for a long time. The second difficulty that I identified was the difficulty in writing a persuasive piece without using any logical fallacies; it's not always easy to back up your opinion and information with hard facts, a credible source, or even arguments that make sense. The third, and final, important difficulty with writing a persuasive piece would be if whoever listened or read your piece had a radically different opinion compared to yours, and not just a misconception. People can be stubborn and will sometimes cling to their beliefs, even when presented with a credible and possibly true source. It can be difficult to overcome the beliefs of a reader if they're uninterested in keeping an open mind. These are all difficulties in writing a persuasive piece.

Some ways these difficulties can be overcome is through practice, preparation and proper editing. When giving a speech orally, it is vital that you are able to captivate the audience's attention within the first 10 seconds, or else you will have completely lost it. It is important to be a strong speaker when presenting a persuasive piece orally, and sometimes it can have such an impact that the audience may miss a flaw in your piece, like a logical fallacy or a contradiction; meaning if you don't have your editing and preparation skills down, this has the potential to save you from the equivalent of pulling something out of your rear end during a presentation. Strong oratory skills are a neccesity when presenting a persuasive piece orally and the best way to improve this is to practice your speaking. Another way to overcome the difficulties of presenting a persuasive piece is to have your piece thouroughly edited to ensure that all your information is correct and there are no logical fallacies presented. To improve your editing skills, or to ensure your piece is properly edited, it would be a good idea to edit your draft first then find someone else to edit it after, then finish it off by editing it once more to ensure accuracy in your claims. These are important in ensuring your persuasive piece will give you the highest chance to be successful.

I believe the best way to practice these skills without hindering the class would be to incorperate these skills into our daily classroom routine. An example of this would be if we were given a speech in class, after completing what is require of us we could take the time to point out the logical fallacies found, if any, and also by editing them to ensure there are no errors in the text.

Obama's Victory Speech in Chicago

"This is your victory."

During the first opening minutes of Barack Obama's victory speech, he was quick to acknowledge all of those who had voted him; he believed this to be not just his victory but the voter's victory.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

While he talks about these different groups of people who voted for him, he ties them all together by saying,

We are, and always will be, the United States of America

I noticed a pattern in the way Obama spoke, and it was ever few paragraphs reminding the views that it wasn't his victory, it was their victory. He used rhetorical devices to spread this message across, and the most used were inclusion, repetition, anecdotes and a few chiasmus.

I believe this rhetorical devices were used because they reinforce the feeling of reader inclusion, and allow the audience to relate more with Barack Obama. Obama mentions realistic scenarios that many people in American are facing today, and by doing so his is able to form a strong connection with the audience.

Obama's Acceptance of the Candidacy Speech

Tonight was the first time I listened to one of Barack Obama's speeches from start to finish, and I must say that I am very impressed with what I heard. Barack Obama is a powerful speaker and was able to instill feelings of pride and happiness towards a better future, and I'm not even American. While we all know that Obama is now the President of the United States, seeing him win the nomination just now made me feel something that I haven't felt since June, 2008.

What I find effective about Obama's speeches are the ways he is able to include the audience, and adress them so well. When Obama accepted the nomination, it made me, as a watcher, feel as if it wasn't just him winning the nomination, but everyone who voted for him, everyone who wanted change. Barack Obama uses inclusion incredibly well in his speeches and I found it had a very powerful impact on me.

What I find impressive about Barack Obama's speeches are not just how he uses inclusion, but how humble he came off while giving his speech. Obama reminds us all how none if this could have been accomplished if not for the stellar support of his friends, family and collegues, and is quick to thanks those around him.

Listening to this speech, compared to reading it, had a much greater impact on me. His words were much more powerful and meaningful than I thought he would have sounded, and listening to him giving his speech, full of emotion, was a treat.

Review

Dramatic Devices

Dramatic devices are techniques used by a writer to
add interest to their work or make the audience feel a
certain way. These can be used to show contrast
between two scenes, shocking the audience, or to create dramatic irony.

Rhetoric & Rhetorical Devices

From what I was able to gather, rhetoric is the art of persuasion through the act of conversing or writing to another person to influence or persuade them. Rhetoric seems like an over-the-top adornment of verbal or written speech and often 'dresses up' a sentence through unnecessary but ornate sounding words. Rhetoric looks as if it is the perfect tool for liars and suck-ups, but also has practical purposes other than deceiving others. Rhetoric can be useful for breaking bad news to someone, or 'sugar-coating' it, so that others don't take offence to it, or to make it bearable for them to hear. Examples of rhetoric are; "You smell great! As fragrant as a flower."

A rhetorical device it used to create an image or instill and emotion in the reader through the use of descriptive words or phrases. Rhetorical devices are great for drawing us into a book or conversation and many if not all great writers and speakers use rhetorical devices to give depth into their books or speeches. While many people can use rhetorical devices, I've only read a few books where a writer has instilled a certain emotion in me but regardless it seems as if it is a good tool to enhance the writing or speech of someone who is looking to do that. An example of a rhetorical device would be; "Ian heard the horrible car-crash, it sounded as if as hell had broken loose and was headed straight for him."


An argument is a tool used in persuasive conversation, or writing, that at its simplest form, contains a premise and a conclusion. Well thought out arguments are structured, and are used to persuade or change the mind of other people. A premise is defined as 'A claim that a reason, or statement, is presumed to be true within the context of an argument towards a conclusion.' Arguments also contain an inference which, through the use of statements, will link the premise to the conclusion.

Example of a well structured argument;

"You should go to english class."
"But why?"
"Because if you don't get your english credit you won't graduate."
"So?"
"Well if you don't graduate then you can't get into university/college, so going to english class and getting your credit is a good idea!"

The premise/thesis is "You should go to english class." The inference is "Because if you don't don't get your english credit you won't graduate." The conclusion would be "Well if you don't graduate then you can't get into university/college, so going to english class and getting your credit is a good idea!"

MLA Citation stands for 'Modern Language Association', is used to identify research notes, and to briefly credit sources with citations in the text.

For example:

A study shows teenage romances last, on average, two to three months. (Teenage Romance, 2009)

A literary device is a technique, or device, that produces a certain effect in the reader or listener. An example of a literary device would be an allegory, pun, metaphor, etc.

A narrative technique is a method used while telling, or writing, a story that allows you to tell it from a different perspective. Examples of a narrative technique would be point-of-view, third person, or a soliloquy.