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.