Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Quade's Problem

This article was really effective to the reader, when it came to tone. The tone of this weeks article was a melancholy tone. The Quades are an elderly couple that are retired, and they want to enjoy the rest of their lives. With the whole situation of the garbage not being picked up, it should not have been their problem to deal with, since it’s not even on their lawn. The writer used facts about the Quades, to give us a feeling of what it’s like to be in their shoes. For example: “They've never gotten much help. But now they know what the city is willing to do for people like them -- people in their 80s, who've lived in the area for 60 years and do what they can to keep their house and the neighborhood in good shape.” This quote shows how much the city doesn’t care about the people who live in it. It shows the respect that a long term home owner gets in their area. I felt sadness and pity for the Quades from that quote on until the Neighborhood Update at the end. The writer also did a good job at showing how this problem not only effected the Quades, but also effect others on the block. “Just around the corner from the Quades, Charles Jackson, another Brightmoor resident, is celebrating city government, at least for now…I came home from work one day, and it was gone," he said. Unfortunately, two weeks ago, Jackson's good news was spoiled by mid-day burglars who trashed his house. Now he's wondering whether he should even stay.” The problem and it’s a effects, made the tone of the article.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Darnell's article

As I was reading this article, I noticed that Darnell used a lot of diction. When he started his writing off with “bigotry” and “lynching-mob mentality”, he was trying to get across to the reader that he is stating his opinion, but he’s not going to be angry at what had happened to Detroit. He’s going to be angry with the guy who destroyed the city. By using those words, he clearly wanted to tell the reader before hand that his article was not meant to be a rant about what Kwame has done, he said that it was an article of mourning for it’s aftermath.
The next word I saw throughout the article was “gem”. He never called Detroit a “living hell” or anything like that, but he called it a “gem”. Darnell saw this city as a lost puppy or someone that lost their way in life, and never got back on the right track. When I saw the word “gem”, it made me think of the phrase “a diamond in the rough”, which is exactly what he thinks of Detroit. The name, “gem”, shows Darnell’s devotion to the city, even when it’s in shambles.
Darnell used “dilapidated” and “crumbled” as ways to describe the city, to show Detroit’s state of disrepair and how demolished it really is. He wanted the reader to have a mental picture of the city in shambles, and to have a sense of how much Kwame’s actions were not helping its rebuild. By using this strong diction, he made his emotion come out even more about how he feels about his decrepit home.
“Pleading” is used when he talks about his feeling of Kilpatrick’s resignating. Darnell could have used wanting or praying for, but he used pleading. This word displayed his strong feeling and point of view towards the mayor’s actions, and how much he feels that Kilpatrick is really needed in the city of Detroit.
Darnell talk’s about how he went to private schools to get other views of his “gem city”, and he says their views were “stereotypical and warped…”. Seeing his word choice throughout the whole article, made me think of how some not as powerful words would not have shown his opinion clear enough for the reader to understand him, but he chose not to, for the sake of effectiveness. The word “warped”, showed how he truly feels about the views others. He showed his sad opinion, by getting straight to the point, with only a couple words.
This article gave the reader a strong impact all the way through, and he got his point across very effectively. Without Darnell’s strong use of diction he would have lost his readers at the very beginning. His point was to show his devotion to Detroit, and how Kilpatrick’s actions have made many others lose their devotion and faith in this “gem city”. Darnell has and still does believe in this city, and with his wonderful determination to stay true to his home, he wrote a powerful article that has many people talking.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Important laws and rules to remember...

“Oaths mean something. They are critically important. They matter. They matter when jurors take their oaths; they matter when lawyers, judges, and elected officials take their oaths; they matter when new citizens take the oath of citizenship; they matter when doctors take the Hippocratic Oath; they matter when anyone swears before a notary public. They must matter and that is why witnesses take them - every witness in every case. And it is do important; it is perjury if there is lying and perjury is a crime…
Even children understand that lying is wrong. If a witness lies, innocent people can go to jail or prison, people can literally get away with murder, civil litigants who deserve money may not get it or may get money they don’t deserve. And lying cannot be tolerated even if a judge or jury sees through it.”.
After I read this speech, I chose this portion, since it seemed to “jump out at me”. In this paragraph, I saw some good examples of logos and ethos. The first paragraph above was all logos. She explained the importance of taking an oath, and about how oaths taken outside of court are just as important as the ones taken in court. Well, I don’t mean to be rude, but isn’t obvious. Oaths were created for a reason, and if people are not going to swear by them, then they don’t have a purpose. This a great example of logos, because it shows how people need to be reminded of the obvious things, since something like this which is redundant must be important enough that it should be known by all.
The second part of the quote, seemed to be a little bit logos and ethos wrapped up into a couple sentences. This part talks about lying, and the effects of lies. The logos was clearly shown in the effects of lying on the witness stand, and also when she said how children understand that lying is wrong. Everybody knows that lying is wrong, but that does not mean that everybody will follow the rules, by not lying on the witness stand. That’s when temptation comes into play, and it causes the lying to happen very often. Lying does not just happen only in court, but it happens everywhere, in all aspects of life.
The ethos comes in with the line about how causes consequences of losing or gaining money, and losing or keep an innocent alive. If someone has enough integrity and morality then they will understand that quote completely, but sadly, not everyone does understand and listen. Since the economy in some parts of the U.S. is really bad, some people are willing to do anything to get money or kill someone to survive. When I first read this speech, I thought why is this so important, but then I looked at it again. I realized that of course I think this speech is not important, since I was raised in such a safe and privileged environment that I don’t need to steal or kill somebody to stay alive.
Without these rule and their repetitiveness, the world would be more corrupt then it already is, which I cannot even imagine it that way.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Kwame's Speech

The two rhetorical stratagies I found in Kwame's speech, were tone and ethos. In his speech, Kwame's tone was one of the first rhetorical stratagies I noticed, since his attitude was so blatantly obvious. He had a very angry and "ticked off" sort of tone throughout the reading. Kwame used this tone to show how the actions of others towards him, has effected his family, and then he later added how these actions can harm the children of Detroit. "I've heard these words before but I've never heard people say them about my wife and children.
I have to say this because it's very personal to me. I don't believe that a Nielsen rating is worth the life of my children or your children.". The other rhetorical strategy, which also stuck out in the speech, was ethos. This stratagy is about integrity and morals. Since I couldn't remember what integrity really was, I looked it up, and I found one defintion which stuck out the most to me, which was "... soundness of moral character.". Kwame obviously used ethos to get across to the people of Detroit the truth of how great and hardworking he really is as mayor. He also used this strategy to get people back on his side, to keep his position. A man like this, who has not only been a part of texting scandals, but also has wasted around $9 million to save himself from being kicked out of place as the mayor of Detroit, is not a stable enough person to be a mayor. Since Kwame has lost his stablity as a husband, a father, and a mayor, what will be the next to go off his plate of life?

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Open Minded Liberals?

The columnist this week had very good views politically, but apparently some people see the world differently than he does. The "they say" line I chose is this, "I then learned that somebody intentionally ruptured a levee in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina; that Bush simply serves as a puppet for others; and that they wish to destroy the little people in the middle class. Finally, I sighed and simply asked, 'How do you function day by day?' ". He uses this "they say" to make the guy feel stupid for what he said about Bush, because if you are a fan of Bush would you seriosly think that he would get the presidency just to make big, tragic events happen? Anyway the way the columnist describes it he's saying that liberals complete hate and disagree with Bush. The liberal seems to have the idea that Bush is the antichrist, and the world is coming to an end, if that person is a believer in Christ (not to be rude). The liberal basically set himself up when he said all those thing, and the columnist could have said a lot of horrible things to the liberal. It's a good thing that he didn't, because the disagreement could have gotten very ugly in that barbershop.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

This cartoon talks about the different types of "wine". We know that there is wine that you drink, and we know about "whine", which is when there's something you don't want to do. The man in the cartoon owns the wine storr of course. The boy is whining about his math homework, and the cat just looks sick in the picture. You could take this cartton two ways. You could take this as a cartoon talking about how kids whine about certain things, because they are not happy about doing something. My mom would tell me when i whine " would you like some cheese with that wine". People whine about stuff. Everybody has at least whined once, but it's not a very good habit to have. This cartoon could be talking about how people are drinking at such a young age. It shows how much people can really care about this issue, or not care at all. The cat is a symbol of people who don't really care about the issue, and just keep drinking. The boy represents a person who has not been a part of this issue, but is willing to give it a try to see what it's like. I think this cartoon gives two very good messages, and both of these make think about things before we do them.

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/heathcliff;_ylt=Ao1VEtK8S876wWdJGakYMg7rcLQF

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Fueling the Dream

Laura talks about how she was involved in a camp for kids who have cystic fibrosis. She mentions somone she couldn't forget named Debbie. Debbied lives in Shelby, shes married, and she has an oxygen tank which she uses 24hrs a day. Laura talks about how Debbie wants a lung transplant and is on a waiting list. Debbie is a fan of the Barenaked Ladies, and she wanted to get tickets to go to their concert. So a Carl Galeana, who owns a Dodge car dealership in Warren, wanted her to be happy. So he got her the tickets, and made her dream come true. I think Carl was so nice to get her those tickets. Even though he took all his time to get her the tickets and put back the auto show, at least this made someone happy who can feel alive again while she is enjoying the concert.
4th grade: Debbie Hennemeier is a woman in Shebly Twp. who is very sick, and she wishes she could do much more then she can do right now. She goes throughout her whole day carrying an oxygen tank on her shoulder. Debbie wants to get a lung transplant, to make things better for her, but there are some problems that make it hard for doctors to take care of her. She is a strong person, having to fight this sickness, but she has gotten stronger each year. Carl Galeana wanted to do something for her to make her happy. so he got her tickets of her favortie bands concert, and this made her very happy. By doing this he was able to fulfill her dream, of seeing The Barenaked Ladies, and this is just another little thing that will make her even stronger to deal with her illness.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/TWIST01/801130306/1128/TWIST&GID=FJ6Ifxl2jOblVYDGLdKFkK2FE1R368Ae0O1aK0QmpRA%3D