An Analysis of Effectiveness Essay -- Martin Luther King Toni Morrison

An Analysis of Effectiveness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martin Luther King Jr. and Toni Morrison are two of the many great writers of the late twentieth century. Their styles follow rhetorical guidelines to create persuasive arguments and clear writing. To show how they accomplish this I will be comparing the rhetorical style used by King in 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail,'; with that of Morrison in 'Friday on the Potomac.'; Each of these works result from strong opinions surrounding the issue of racial equality in the United States, and each appeals to the desire of achieving that equality. In order to address a sensitive topic such as racism and achieve the desired results, the authors had to implement various methods of persuasion. While each author chooses different manners with which to accomplish this, each forms clear writing with convincing arguments. They achieve this clarity due to their understanding and use of ethos, pathos, and logos as the foundations for creating these arguments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before we can examine the writing on the basis of these three elements, we must first understand the meanings of each. They were conceptualized by Aristotle as the keys to persuading an audience. Ethos, directly translated, means 'worthy of belief,'; and deals with establishing credibility. Pathos involves 'putting hearers†¦into the right frame of mind with regard to certain issues and the speakers persuasive intent'; (Smith 83). Logos includes the arguments that are used to make a point, and involves the basis upon which the arguments were made. The use of these three elements in harmony with each other will produce a persuasive argument according to Aristotle. Being that he did 'write the book on rhetoric,'; I will be using the ideas of Aristotle as the blueprint for effective writing to which I will compare the works of King and Morrison.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First I will examine Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter which embodies all of the characteristics outlined by Aristotle. The most clearly presented element in King's article is the use of ethos. King establishes himself as a credible and learned man early in the letter so that the reader has an immediate connection with him, and then he carries the thought throughout the letter's entirety. Within the first paragraph he uses this tactic when he writes, 'If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would h... ...How could the notion of union, nation, or state surface when race, gender, and class†¦dominated every moment and word of the confirmation process?'; (Morrison xii). The answer to the question lies within itself and forms the basis of her argument to follow throughout the essay. She then begins to demonstrate how race, gender, and class played into the hearings, in order to substantiate the argument. The reader then has no choice but to agree with her ideas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thus, we see that both Morrison and King were both admirable in their abilities to persuade their audiences, though each did so using different tactics. King focused mainly on establishing his own credibility so that his statements would bear the appropriate weight necessary for effectiveness. Morrison, however focused her strategy on the manipulation of the audience by using their emotions and empowering them to confirm her arguments. Regardless of the individual focus of each author's style, they both contained the necessary elements of successful writing as defined by Aristotle: ethos, pathos, and logos. These elements form the backbone upon which all good writing should form, and these two passages verify that.

Preschool for all

As a father of three boys, ages four, two, and most recently, a two month old, I have been Interested about the education options available for them. It was not until I attempted to conduct my own research on the early childhood education, specifically preschool for my oldest son, then three years old, did I realize the difficulty In doing so. Having been a member of The united States Air Force, I was afforded the opportunity to enroll my children into the robust, yet sometimes frustrating, Child Development Center that is established on each Air Force base.Living in a world of checklists and constant inspections, I did not worry about the quality of the program. As I transitioned to be a civilian, my head began to swim at what is considered high quality education for my growing boys. I thought that I knew about preschools, it seemed like common sense to me. After the first few classroom discussions into our exploratory research papers, the overarching topic for my fellow students wa s â€Å"Twenty First Century Families†. I knew that my recent struggle would fit perfectly.Starting with only a question and without a clue, I set out to find out why here were not any affordable options for high quality preschools. The Investigation began with a conversation with my wife about the topic. She reminded me that President Obama spoke about this very topic In the â€Å"2013 State of the union Address†. In a speech that took just over an hour, President Beam's address to the nation set forth many challenges for Congress as well as the citizens of The united States of America. One challenge in particular came about half way through the speech.Obama noted that although the secondary and collegiate education is something that should be pursed, the education of our youngest citizens would not e ignored by his administration. He goes on to state, â€Å"Every dollar we invest in high- quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime† (â€Å"Remarks†). I fully support this Initiative by the President. It seems easy for law makers to get wrapped up In meeting the demands for their constituents, but what about the youngest constituents?It did not take me long to realize that what I thought I knew about the subject was about to get more complicated. However, for the future of my three boys, I looked deeper into the debate. To my surprise, President Obama brought up the same topic in the â€Å"2014 State of the Union Address†. Buried about one third of the way into the speech, President Obama transitioned into the early childhood education topic yet again. At first, I thought to myself, â€Å"If he cannot push this forward, this issue must run even deeper than I thought†. President Obama explains that the best investment in young child's life is one of a high-quality education.As he brought the topic to a clos e in his speech, President Obama states that despite Congress stalling, â€Å"thirty states have raised pre-K funding on their own† (â€Å"President†). He added, â€Å"As Congress decides what It's going to do, I'm going to pull together a coalition of elected officials, business leaders, and philanthropists willing to help more kids access the high-quality pre-K they need† (â€Å"President†). This put me at ease, but I was convinced that President there were going to be several political gains to be made if each state were to follow through with their end of the bargain.Although it seemed like a strong use of taxpayer funds, I was not convinced that the expenditure was worth it. While I still support his proposal, I felt there were more layers to the onion that needed to be led back. I still did not have an answer as to why there were not any affordable preschools that I considered to be high quality. While I was sifting through dozens of abstracts throu gh the Academic Search Complete database, there was one in particular that caught my eye from the Congressional Digest, entitled â€Å"Early Childhood Education†.As the third source for my exploratory research paper, this article shed some light on the history of the Universal Preschool debate. The origins of the universal preschool debate began in 1965 with President Lyndon B. Johnny's Head Start program. This eight-week summer course was aimed at low-income families with children in the kindergarten age group. It did not take long for this program to become popular both as a political topic, but also as a tool for social change. The program came at a time in America that was plagued by the war in Vietnam.Head Start grew in size over the next 40 years. Today, there are forty-five different Federal programs that provide assistance and services to families with children under the age of five. However, there is still a long-standing debate over the continuing performance in ter ms of supportive services and curriculum for children ender the age of five. There is, however, no standing debate to the powerful remarks made by President Johnson in 1965 regarding the newly developed Head Start program, â€Å"Children are inheritors of poverty's curse and not its creators.Unless we act, these children will pass it on to the next generation† (CTD. In Early). My thought process began to shift a little. While I did know that the Head Start program existed, I did not know that it was so closely related to preschool age children. In my experience, the Head Start program was intended for those with difficulties adapting or learning in a public school setting. Still, I peeled back another layer from this debate. Using the discovery that a large number of separate Federal programs are involved with assisting families, I sought out a source from the opposite end of the debate.The forth source I selected to help me understand the debate of â€Å"Preschool for Allâ €  was from the National Affairs Journal. David Armor and Sonic Souse wrote the article, â€Å"The Dubious Promise of Universal Preschool†. Both authors are professors at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. I read the article with an open mind already knowing the opposing conservative lean on the Journal. David Amour and Sonic Souse recapped a brief history of the debate, also mentioning President Johnny's initial Head Start proposal in 1965. But they quickly moved on to statistics and interpreting surveys that had been conducted.I found myself taking notes as I learned about the rapid growth in the asses of the Head Start program that ballooned from 400,000 in the asses to nearly 900,000 children (Armor Souse 37). The authors soon dive into concerns over the quality of the program, citing again the forty-five different Federal programs that support Head Start. They further explain hat the locally developed curriculums are frequently pointed out as the weakness in the overall program (Armor Souse). Additionally, â€Å"most Head Start teachers do not background in childhood education with an associates degree (Armor Souse, 39).I was taken back by this discovery. The quality of instruction seemed to be directly related to the experience of its instructor. The history of the Head Start Program is indeed a remarkable one. As one of the longest running Federal Government programs that attacks one of the poverty issues that exist in our country, Head Start surely has it's merits and drawbacks. The idea of â€Å"Preschool for All† started from a modest attempt to help low-income families with small children prepare for kindergarten. It later grew into the national debate we see and participate in today.Knowing that there were indeed instances where states have had promising success, I aimed my focus at the state of Oklahoma. According to an article I found in The New York Times using the database tool Lexis's, â€Å"Oklahoma! Wh ere the Kids Learn Early', two time Pulitzer Prize winning author Nicholas Kristin depicts a story about two young girls, ages three and four aiming to break the cycle of poverty which is about so much more than a lack of money' (Krzysztof. The girls' great grandmother had a baby at 13, their grandmother followed with a baby at 15, â€Å"the mom had her first baby by 13, born with drugs in his system† (Krzysztof.I was shocked as I keep reading. The inequality of these innocent children Jumped out at me. Suddenly, the debate took a different shape. In an interview that the author conducted with Republican Tulsa City Council member Skip Steele, â€Å"This isn't a liberal issue,† he added, â€Å"this is investing in our kids, in our future. It's a no- brainier† (Krzysztof. While I had researched nearly a dozen sources and discussed several of them here, none put the face to the story quite like this article. It is a stark reminder that there is a face behind all th e numbers, figures, and charts that make up statistics.The exploratory paper I began soon did not feel like an assignment anymore. It seemed like I was apart of a movement for the future of our nation. After conducting the research and having time to analyze the information, I still feel that Preschool for All is absolutely the right thing to do. With it's earnest beginnings during the Vietnam War, to the humble town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, my Rooney throughout this exploratory paper was very interesting. I was surprised to find out that about the number of Federal government programs that have oversight in the Head Start program.

Biography of Olympe de Gouges, French Activist

Olympe de Gouges (born Marie Gouze; May 7, 1748–November 3, 1793) was a French writer and activist who promoted womens rights and the abolition of slavery. Her most famous work was the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, the publication of which resulted in Gouges being tried and convicted of treason. She was executed in 1783 during the Reign of Terror. Fast Facts: Olympe de Gouges Known For: Gouges was a French activist who fought for womens rights; she wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female CitizenAlso Known As: Marie GouzeBorn: May 7, 1748 in Montauban, FranceDied: November 3, 1793 in Paris, FrancePublished Works: Letter to the People, or Project for a Patriotic Fund (1788), Patriotic Remarks (1789), Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791)Spouse: Louis Aubry (m.  1765-1766)Children: Pierre Aubry de GougesNotable Quote: Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights. Social distinctions can be based only on the common utility. Early Life Olympe de Gouges was born on May 7, 1748, in southwestern France. At the age of 16, she was married against her wishes to a man named Louis Aubry, who died a year later. De Gouges moved to Paris in 1770, where she started a theater company and became involved in the growing abolitionist movement. Plays After joining the theater community in Paris, Gouges began writing her own plays, many of which dealt explicitly with issues such as slavery, male-female relations, childrens rights, and unemployment. Gouges was critical of French colonialism and used her work to draw attention to social ills. Her work, however, was often met with hostile criticism and ridicule from the male-dominated literary establishment. Some critics even questioned whether she was the true author of the works to which shed signed her name. Activism From 1789—beginning with the French Revolution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen—until 1944, French women were not allowed to vote, meaning they did not have the full rights of citizenship. This was the case even though women were active in the French Revolution, and many assumed that such rights were theirs by virtue of their participation in that historic liberation struggle. Gouges, a playwright of some note at the time of the Revolution, spoke for not only herself but many of the women of France when in 1791 she wrote and published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen. Modeled after the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen by the National Assembly, Gouges declaration echoed the same language and extended it to women. As many feminists have done since then, Gouges both asserted womans capability to reason and make moral decisions and pointed to the feminine virtues of emotion and feeling. A woman was not simply the same as a man; she was his equal partner. The French version of the titles of the two declarations makes this mirroring a bit clearer. In French, Gouges manifesto was the Dà ©claration des Droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne―not just woman contrasted with man, but citoyenne contrasted with citoyen. Unfortunately, Gouges assumed too much. She assumed she had the right to even act as a member of the public and to assert the rights of women by authoring such a declaration. She violated boundaries that most of the revolutionary leaders wanted to preserve. Among the most controversial ideas in Gouges Declaration was the assertion that women, as citizens, had the right to free speech, and therefore had the right to reveal the identity of the fathers of their children―a right that women of the time were not assumed to have. She assumed a right of children born out of legitimate marriage to full equality to those born in marriage: this called into question the assumption that only men had the freedom to satisfy their sexual desire outside of marriage, and that such freedom on the part of men could be exercised without fear of corresponding responsibility. It also called into question the assumption that only women were agents of reproduction―men, Gouges proposal implied, were also part of the reproduction of society, and not just political, rational citizens. If men were seen sharing the reproduction role, perhaps women should be members of the political and public sphere of society. Death For refusing to be silent on the rights of women―and for associating with the wrong side, the Girondists, and criticizing the Jacobins, as the Revolution became embroiled in new conflicts―Olympe de Gouges was arrested in July 1793, four years after the Revolution began. She was sent to the guillotine in November of that year and was beheaded. A contemporary report of her death said: Olympe de Gouges, born with an exalted imagination, mistook her delirium for an inspiration of nature. She wanted to be a man of state. She took up the projects of the perfidious people who want to divide France. It seems the law has punished this conspirator for having forgotten the virtues that belong to her sex. In the midst of a revolution to extend rights to more men, Olympe de Gouges had the audacity to argue that women, too, should benefit. Her contemporaries were clear that her punishment was, in part, for forgetting her proper place and violating the boundaries set for women. Legacy Gouges ideas continued to influence women in France and abroad after her death. Her essay Declaration of the Rights of Woman was reprinted by like-minded radicals, inspiring Mary Wollstonecrafts Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. Americans were inspired by Gouges as well; during the 1848 Womens Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, activists produced the Declaration of Sentiments, an expression of female empowerment that borrowed from Gouges style. Sources Duby, Georges, et al.  Emerging Feminism from Revolution to World War. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1995.Roessler, Shirley Elson.  Out of the Shadows: Women and Politics in the French Revolution, 1789-95. Peter Lang, 2009.Scott, Joan Wallach.  Only Paradoxes to Offer: French Feminists and the Rights of Man. Harvard University Press, 2004.