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.

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.

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.