English Symposium, Edgar Allen Poe

English Symposium

Academic Session-Edgar Allen Poe

            Jared Pence spoke on how Sherlock Holmes was based off of Poe’s character Dupin. Dupin has the same emotional isolation as Holmes does and also the whit and intelligence to solve crimes. Detective Dupin is efficient and effective because of this lack of emotional connection. Bethanie Sonnefeld spoke on Poe and the Will, and the debate on whether Poe’s poem should be read literally or physiologically. She argues that Poe wanted his poem to be read both literally and physiologically. Much of what was said in the academic session that I went to was way over my head. The speakers, mostly graduate students, have a much higher plane of thought than mine. This made it hard for me to understand and analyze what they were talking about Poe and his writings. If I ever go again, I will read in preparation some of the poems or essays that the speakers will be analyzing. 

Intro and Thesis!

Thesis Statement: The LDS King James Version of the Bible is more effective for study than any other English translation because it provides a more accurate rendering than most English Bibles, contains study helps, and encompasses the most extensive cross references of this sacred text ever.

Working Introduction

The LDS KJV Bible has so many study helps, more than any other text. The question is whether or not more modern translations could be of use when trying to understand more of the culture, doctrine, and history contained in the divine book. I believe that the LDS KJV of the Bible is still the cream of the crop among other modern translations. Many people cannot understand the KJV’s old English, so many turn to the NIV, known as the New International Version. The LDS King James Version of the Bible is more effective for study than any other English translation because it provides a more accurate rendering than most English Bibles, contains study helps, and encompasses the most extensive cross references of this sacred text ever.

Taking time to understand what the Lord is trying to tell us through the scriptures takes work. But it is this work and study that allows us to feel the Holy Ghost. Putting effort toward reading the scriptures and deciphering what these ancient prophets are trying to tell us will help learn the scriptures better. 

Issues Paper

I chose prompt #2 for my issues paper. I will be researching specifically on how different translations may possibly enhance one's understanding and background knowledge of the Bible. Also, I might touch on why we, as the LDS church, have been commanded to use the King James version. There is so much information, specifically academic and quite scholarly information, that I could sort through.  But after listening to Elder Oaks's talk, I will focus on analyzing just a little bit of information instead of trying to go through tons of information. Below are the questions I will be answering in my research paper.

What about the research on ancient Greek and Hebrew texts that has been done since 1611? Has that research created a more accurate rendering of Biblical teachings, and provided more cultural context (which scholars believe is the case for translations like the NRSV or the JTS)? 

Thesis Proposal-Ashcroft and Friends Versus Washington and the Framers

Ashcroft and Friends Versus Washington and the Framers Thesis Proposal for Rhetorical Analysis

          Of course I hate the topic that she is arguing, but Ms. Robin Morgan does an excellent job of portraying her view on the subject of the founding fathers and their religious beliefs. She uses actual quotes from the founding fathers themselves for evidence to support her claim. Because of this technique, logos is her main rhetoric method.

In the beginning of her paper though, she writes like the whole nation is about to perish from this “theocracy” taking over the government and the United States of America. If it was really that bad, more people would be writing about this problem. She overdramatizes the problem making her credibility diminish. Furthermore, this essay was written in 2004. I think she was motivated to write this piece because George W Bush, a right wing, religious, southerner from the Bible belt was in office. Ms. Morgan is obviously a feminist and atheist, so of course she thinks that the president and the government are trying to enforce religious authority. Because she did not even mention the president or party that was in office, or her party for that matter, she skillfully attacked the government’s regime without actually talking about the party that took office.

At the conclusion, she abruptly cuts it short. After reading tons of quotes from the Founding fathers, she only has one paragraph to sum up her whole essay. The reader was left wanting a little more meat near the end of the paper. Ms. Morgan should have gone in a little more depth with her conclusion, and this undermines her ethos or credibility as a writer.

When the author refers to female citizens and Abigail Adams, she cuts down on the founding fathers because they did not even think of women’s rights. Also, throughtout the essay, she uses rhetoric that has  negative connotation toward the founding fathers. First of all, even though the founding fathers were not perfect, which she mentions, they were still our founding fathers. They were the leaders and makers of our great nation today. They deserve a little more respect than what they received in her paper. Secondly, if she cuts down the founding fathers throughout the paper, how are we supposed to believe any quotes that they may have said? Ms. Morgan destroys the credibility of the founding fathers, but also uses quotes from them to support her paper. What kind of writer would try such a tactic?

Faith in America-Ethos, Pathos, Logos

In Governor Romney’s speech, his purpose in giving the speech on faith was to inform voters that he would not let his Mormon faith impede or determine his abilities as President of the United States. Furthermore, he wanted future voters to know that he being Mormon would not affect his ability to be a great candidate and possibly great president.

            Mitt Romney refers to people that believe that Romney straying away from his commitments as a Mormon would be morally wrong. This builds to his credibility because he defines himself as someone who keeps commitments. Someone who keeps commitments regarding one’s faith or moral belief should be trusted and kept in high regard. Because he is faithful and loyal to his religion, he reasons that he will be faithful and loyal as an American, candidate, and future president. This obviously builds to his credibility or ethos as a writer/speaker. Also, he used a authoritative voice to give himself credibility, because he was a high government official who had to be elected to office. As a former governor of Massachusetts, this has immense authority and presence. 

            Mitt includes how John F. Kennedy, who was a Catholic running for president, was an American running for office. The Governor made this comparison to himself as an American running for office, not a Mormon running for office. This was a logical claim because he was using a past example that worked very well, and applied it to himself. It is logical to use an example that worked great for a secular faith president and apply it to his candidacy. By referring to JFK, this provides relevance to his logos appeal. Mitt, who is a non-Protestant, is running for president, and Mitt's example of JFK was also a non-Protestant who was running for president. 

            Lastly, Mitt Romney used pathos by referring to the prayer example in the First Continental Congress near the end of his speech. This example of praying among different faiths as patriots connected the audience to their traditional American values. As an American, I am patriotic because I love my country and the things that the United States of America stands for. By referring to this patriotic reference, Romney connected the audience to these emotions of love for their country. Also, he was able to connect this patriotism to religion in America, further arguing his point about being religious as well as being a patriotic president. This example of the First Continental Congress provides a concrete example to the pathos appeal. 

Mormon Housewife Blogsss

1) Matchar mentions the "New Domesticity" as a way for young women to live happy, stay home lives like in the 1950s which appeals to logos.

2) The first paragraph goes in detail about the Mormon housewife blogs and provides a perfect, cute, lovable imagery of their lives. This relates to pathos.

3) Ethos was harder to find, but Matchar that she obviously was the total opposite of these young, Mormon, married women making it less one sided. 

1) The "New Domesticity" principle applies to logos because young women want to live happy lives just like everybody else. To get that happiness, society has looked back to a successful time in our nation's history: the 1950s. Families were quite happy, or at least it was exaggerated that way, so families today have been modeling their activities and plans similar to those in the 1950s. These young, Mormon women sew, crafts, and jam making much like they did in the 1950s. And this new trend of domesticity has, according to these blogs, made them and their families happier. This is a logical assumption helps the reader understand that it is logical that women are happier and living better lives because of this possible "New Domesticity."

2) Matchar in her first paragraph provides imagery in which she explains and details how adorable and beautiful these Mormon bloggers' lives are. Because she uses words like "Baby Gap models," "cute lumberjack shirts," and "cool vintage dresses," the audience, who are probably also aimed toward women, can relate to how their lives are like that or at least have a desire to have some of these adorable things. The imagery enables the writer to directly appeal to the reader's emotions. 

3) The author explains how she is as far away from being a Mormon, young woman with a handful of kids. This at first may seem not credible, but actually adds to the authenticity of the writer. At first, the reader would think Matchar would not be favorable towards this Mormon lifestyle, but Matchar actually supports these fun and lovable blogs. In my opinion, this helps her argument in that a person not even of their faith or lifestyle loves their blogs, their families, and their lives. 

OpEd Analysis

In my paper I used personal examples as a strategy in my op ed. I think personal examples are a great way to connect with the audience through pathos. Personal examples are usually emotional or common experiences with an individual. Another strategy I used was using authoritative quotes. The beginning of my article started with a quote from the Family Proclamation. This is a great quote for BYU students, the audience of my paper, but for the few that are not LDS or do not believe in God, I also supported the Family Proclamation with facts. 

After writing it, I realized that I should have picked a very specific topic before even writing my first rough draft. Also, it was hard to come up with solutions to the problems I was addressing. I guess that is why they are problems because it is hard to find good solutions! Furthermore, it was difficult to provide counter arguments to those solutions that I did find. 

I was expecting the op ed to be easier to think of points to persuade my audience. Now, it is quite evident that sometimes it is quite hard to think of persuasive thoughts and compelling points of view. For the rhetorical analysis, I will spend more time coming up with thesis and a outline to make my paper flow more fluidly. I think my next paper will have many more drafts as well.  

Style Academy...Rocks

The Style Academy videos are a good resource for me because I have always struggled with grammar and writing a fluid paper. I am usually a choppy writer, so I think the Style Academy will help me smooth out my writing. I thought the sentence combining was an interesting technique especially because a lot of beginner writers' problems are using a variety of sentence structure such as complex, compound, and simple sentences. I also liked how imitation was not necessarily a bad thing. Great authors imitated their favorite writers before them. Imitation, liked the narrator said in the video, is a form of flattery. I will try to relate my writings to great authors to enhance my future writings. 

Alas, Mitt Romney is no Ronald Reagan

Thomas Lifson, in his article "Alas, Mitt Romney is no Ronald Reagan", explains how Mitt Romney, if he really did run for president in 2016 again, would not only lose the race, but by even a larger margin than in 2012.

Generalization-Mr. Lifson assumes that people reading this article probably voted for Mitt Romney last term or at least don't want a Democrat in office for the next term.

Analogy-He compares how Mitt Romney could possibly be like Ronald Reagan, if he cleaned up his act.

Sign-If Mitt Romney runs again in 2016, then he will lose even worse than he did in 2012.

Causality-Instead of a Republican president in 2016, we could have Hillary Clinton as our next president.

Authority-He is obviously knowledgeable about the political realm and about how the presidential race functions.

Principle-He admires Mitt Romney as a great presidential candidate and a fine person. For a Republican to win the next race though, it has to be someone better, for the sake of the country.

P.S. I would still vote for Mitt!

Prepared in a Manner That Never Had Been Known

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint's annual General Conference October session, General Relief Society President Lind K. Burton spoke on preparing for the temple and how preparing for such an event brings temple blessings. 

Generalization-President Burton assumes that everyone listening or reading her talk wants to go to the temple and receive temple blessings.

 

Analogy-She compares being ready for the temple to the parable of the ten virgins. Five of the virgins were prepared and wise while the other five were foolish and not ready for the coming of the bridegroom.

Sign-If you worthily prepare to enter the temple day by day, drop by drop, then you will be blessed above and beyond both temporally and eternally.

 

Causality-The more consistent we are in preparing for temple worthiness and blessings, the more at home we will feel when we actually are in the temple.

Authority-President Burton is the General Relief Society President and has been called and set apart as the Relief Society which gives her all the authority and much more on speaking to the women of the Church.

 

Principle-Going to the temple and preparing for temple attendance is the best thing that a righteous member of the Church can do, so this testimony has tremendous amounts of moral principle to it. Also, between good and evil, this talk represents the most righteous cause of the world.  

Wrestling at Its Finest

I thought Wrestling Dirty Secret was well written. Yes, the beginning was a bit sappy and melodramatic, but it did get the reader's attention. And I also think that you can be a little dramatic, especially when dealing with death. I had a few friends in high school who were on the wrestling team, and I always heard all the crazy workouts and intense regiments they had. The diets some of them did were outrageous. I can easily relate to the article's purpose because I have witnessed some of these dangerous habits that wrestlers take on.

Equality Among the Sexes Thesis Proposal

After thinking hard about a topic that I could actually persuade people on, I have come up with gender equality. I have a few specific topics of gender equality that I could cover in my paper: gender equality in romantic relationships, gender equality in performance, and gender equality in the home and in our nation. For me, it is extremely important for everyone to get a equal opportunity. For example, when my family and I make dessert at home, everyone is allotted the same amount of cookies, or whatever it may be, no matter the gender, weight (yes, even if they are fat or not), eating ability, etc. With gender equality, sometimes there should be differences, because men and women are different. That is a fact of nature. So how do we justify what a man should get over a woman, or vice versa? Just the other day, one of my roommates told me that girls who score in intramural soccer games get 2 points instead of the usual one. Is that not sexist or what? Both to men and to women! To men because why do girls get an extra point when they score. To women because that insinuates that women aren't as good as men at soccer!

Ideas, ideas, ideas

Why don't girls love manly men anymore? What happened to big beards, big muscles, and big jaw-lines? Why has fashioned for men turned into tight pants and warm colored shirts? When I think of a man, a real man, I think of a lumberjack. Lumberjacks are the definition of manhood. Tall, full of brawn, muscular build, hard-working, always carrying an axe, etc. In all seriousness, what does society describe as manhood? From a temporal view, I think there are many different perspectives on manhood. But from a higher level of thought, a spiritual side, manhood could be described much differently. Manhood is much more than physical appearance, if that at all. So, why don't girls love manly men anymore? It's because men are becoming the opposite of what the Savior wants His sons of God to become.


“The girl you marry will take a terrible chance on you. … [You] will largely determine the remainder of her life. …
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/let-us-be-men?lang=eng 

Ben, you can describe a man in inches, pounds, complexion, or physique. But you measure a man by character, compassion, integrity, tenderness, and principle. Simply stated, the measures of a man are embedded in his heart and soul, not in his physical attributes (see 1 Sam. 16:7). But they can be viewed in conduct and demeanor. The qualities of manhood are so often evident in this thing we call countenance. When Alma queried, “Have ye received his image [meaning the Savior—the true man] in your countenances?” (Alma 5:14), he, my friend, was talking about the attributes of true manhood.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1999/10/behold-the-man?lang=eng

My precious young brothers, may you understand that chastity is the source of virile manhood, the crown of beautiful womanhood, the foundation of a happy home, and the ultimate and perfect standard underlying all spiritual progression.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/10/chastity-the-source-of-true-manhood?lang=eng

A wee bit about AWESOMENESS

Hello world! My name's Ian, my friends call me Ginger (or ginge for short). Yes, I am a red head, but an awesome one at that. I'm from Dallas, Texas. You know...the stars at night are big and bright, etc.

My dream has always been to fly jets for either the Air Force or the Navy. Furthermore, after flying jets, I want to apply for a NASA astronaut position. 

I love coin collecting, playing basketball, and making other people happy! My favorite superheroes are Batman and Captain America. I don't have a favorite movie because I have too many favorite movies. One of my favorites is the Fifth Element. 

If I had to pick a T.V. show, it would be either Sherlock, Community, or the Finder. I love old music, which includes 80's pop, classics like Frank Sinatra, etc etc.