Clinton Vs. Palin speeches (redone)

The two sets of remarks prepared by Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, both women, have interesting differences in style and writing, however this essay shall concentrate on the former more than the latter.

Hillary Clinton tends to use pathos, attacks on the republicans, and a bit of logos as her main points. Her idea of pathos is becoming close to the common citizen, even becoming the common citizen's friend. A great example of this can be found within the first page when Mrs. Clinton describes her trip around the country: "You taught me so much, you made me laugh, and... you even made me cry. You allowed me to become part of your lives. And you became part of mine." Thus, one of the appeals of choosing Hillary Clinton as president would have been the pathos idea that she is a good representative of the people of the United States. Along with the copious amounts of pathos Mrs. Clinton uses, she also uses some logos, or logical arguments, against the Republican Party, or more specifically, John McCain. These arguments she probably deems as true, hence why she endorsed Barack Obama, can be found on the fourth page of her notes. "More economic stagnation... and less affordable health care. More high gas prices... and less alternative energy." are just a few of the things she says that "four more years... of the last eight years" would bring us, accusing McCain of being just like Bush. This is the third of Mrs. Clinton's strategies, attacks. A good example of this can be found as in the fourth paragraph, where she states: "I haven't spent the past 35 years [...] to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of out people." This is funny, because 35 years ago, Barack Obama would be in his teens, so either Hillary Clinton is saying she's been preparing Obama since he was a child to be in office, or a direct attack on McCain.

Palin's techniques are quite different however. She uses about as much pathos as logos, again with little ethos. Most of her pathos is when she talks about McCain's past experience, such as when she tells of an anecdote of Mr. McCain's experiences in Vietnam, or when she describes her family, a subject where emotion is appropriate. Another thing that Palin does is address the attacks sent from Hillary Clinton, without attacking Obama as Clinton attacked McCain. This can be found when Palin says: "There are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.", telling the reader that McCain will not be like the previous president, contrary to Clinton's beliefs. Palin also appeals to women across the country. For example she states: "This is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity." It is peculiar that although both Palin and Clinton are women, only Palin appeals to the women listening to her speech.

However, there are also some points/audiences that both women address. One of them is autistic children or children with special needs. Clinton addresses this by connecting with one of her citizen-friends during her trip around the country, and Palin has a child with down syndrome, which she talks about.

Questions from the packet

1. These words define the tone of the speech by using powerful words to show that this is not only a speech, but a call to help from Kennedy to the people of America.
3. "a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself." Tyranny is an especially commonly used ever since the Constitution was put in place, for it states that the government should protect the people without being tyrannical. The paragraph that starts with "the trumpet summons us again" is fresher, however, and this is repeated throughout the paragraph.

1. They keep the listeners' attention without distracting them away from the cause.
3. The complex sentences suggest hidden energy because they are longer and thus more powerful and suggest a strong point.
5. Because they are almost like a call to arms, and tell people that the government will work and actually do things to help the people.
7. There are four paragraphs that start with "Let both sides", that come right after a paragraph that starts: "So let us begin anew".
9. Hortative is less powerful, somewhat like a suggestion, however imperative is a command, something that you must do.

In-class Precises

Nicholas D. Kristof, an official editorialist, published an Op-Ed, “Need a Job? $17,000 an Hour. No Success Required.” (September 18, 2008) claims that CEOs should not be making as much money as they currently do. The author illustrates her thesis by using several examples of real life. The author’s purpose is to get people aware of this problem in order to help change the salaries of CEOs. The intended audience is the shareholders of companies, since they are the ones paying for the expenses of the CEOs, who have a bond with the author through the common hatred of overly-well paid CEOs.
Reuters Wired Service, a large news corporation, was published in a small article in the New York Times: “Britain: 4 Government Laptops Stolen in Another Data Breach”, asserting that the British government has lost another 4 laptops due to thefts. The author supports this point by elaborating on the thesis and giving details. The author’s purpose is to make the public aware of this in order to have them send letters to their government to secure the data security system in the UK. Reuters establishes a formal tone with her audience consisting of citizens of the UK, and more specifically, Britain.

My letter to the President of the U.S. of A.

Hello Mr. President,

First of all, say hello to the Missus for me. After all, from what we’ve seen from this election, women are starting to gain more and more political power these days. However, that’s not the only reason I’m writing to you. There are many issues wracking the very core of this country.

Two good examples are gay marriage and abortion. Both of these issues are greatly opposed by religion. Now, the main argument against gay marriage is that it does not qualify as “traditional” marriage, which is used as traditional standard and can be found in the Bible as the union between a man and a woman. Now, in the past, whether or not gay marriage was allowed went according to each state’s Supreme Court ruling. However, logically, by the Constitution, a federal document, there is an idea of “separation of church and state”, thus making the idea of “traditional marriage” invalid. Additionally, the Constitution gives an argument that people can connect with on an emotional level. It states that men “have certain unalienable rights” which are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. The last one mentioned is the most important, for it puts forward an idea that everyone has a right to be happy. This is not so with gay couples in most states at the moment. Instead, these couples must suffer while their heterosexual friends get married year after year. As president, do you really want to see 5% of your population suffer every year instead of passing a law that would make those 5% happy?

Another great example is abortion. It is so big, in fact, and there are so many views on it, that the best course of action is to allow each family to establish its own laws about it. Because is the government allowed to interfere with people’s private lives? Unless the people are breaking the law, then no, it isn’t allowed to. Additionally, the government should have no ability to ban abortions or gay marriage due to the fact that these are moral, emotional, religious, and extremely personal issues, on which opinions vary greatly, and I believe that each person should do as they wish. Then again, I am an anarcho-communist.

Another great example of a big issue in our country is social security. Social security was originally created by the founding fathers for the time period, not taking into account the fact that people’s lifespans would gradually increase over several centuries. Nowadays, this is threatening to cause huge problems as there will soon be more people over retirement age than ones under who can support them monetarily. Thus a simple solution from now on should be created: paying social security taxes should be optional, and once you retire, you get what you paid to the government before retiring plus perhaps some extra interest, somewhat like bonds. The advantage of this is that it’s a simple solution and it saves the system. So Mr. President, it’s up to you, do you want to fix this mess up easily or do you want to see the Social Security system every year sink deeper and deeper in debt?

Thus ends my letter to you, dear President of each and every one of us. I’m sure you can handle all these issues, and if you can’t, just think of my suggestions. The real question is not “How do I fix this?” but “Do I fix this or that?”, as at every point in life, we must make compromises; however, you Mr. President have the added responsibility of a nation. Therefore there is some pressure to do well, but with the previous president to be compared to, even a wrong decision can look good.

Rhetoric Summary

The article: "An Introduction to Rhetoric: Using the "Available Means"", talks about what are good features to have in a rhetorical speech or piece of writing. One of the essential things it repeats is appealing to Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Appealing to just one is bad and will not give the most powerful essay, so it is best to use all three in a rhetorical essay. The piece also states that rhetoric is not limited to non-fiction or writing and speaking. It can be visual or a made-up story. Also, some useful techniques to win the reader or audience over is to use exemplification, cause and effect, definition, etc. Lack of these may make the logic of an arguement unclear or faulty.