America has survived for 241 years thus far. The question is not "why?"- but rather "how?". America succeeds despite being an improbable idea by depending on God and also changing it’s perspective when problems do arise. President Abraham Lincoln and author Anna Quindlen show how this is possible using Ethos and Pathos.
The underlying theme of America is it’s trust in God. Lincoln uses this in his 2nd Inaugural Address as a backbone to bring the nation together after a devastating war. At this point in history, there were far fewer religious disputes than today. So when Lincoln acknowledged that "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous" (Lincoln 5), the population was actually encouraged. President Lincoln uses pathos, or an appeal to emotion by speaking about what people care about. He exploited this because he knew that this is what the country would need in order for it’s improbable idea of staying a nation to happen. Lincoln harps on the
…show more content…
They take the worst situations and turn them into learning experiences that bring the country together. They prove that “Terrorism has led to devastation-and unity” (Quindlen 5), and they show it by joining together and helping each other out after a terrible act of violence. Quindlen uses Ethos in order to convey a specific emotion to the reader. Whether patriotism or peace, anybody who reads her work grasps a new understanding of how America is still around. After 9/11, American citizens were not complacent and did not whimper about and complain. They got up and did something about the injustice and helped out other fellow Americans. She also points out that Americans actually “loves the difficult” (Quindlen 7). They love the way down, knitty gritty jobs. Americans have a way of flipping the tables on even the most painstaking jobs in order for them to benefit the country. The pure love for their own country gives the United States a fighting chance at accomplishing the
September 11, 2001 is a day that shook the United States to its core. Millions of Americans felt the pain, the loss, and the anger that came with the attack on their nation. It was a day of mourning, and when it comes to days of mourning it is difficult putting one’s pain into words. However, Leonard Pitts Jr. was able to move past the emotion. He put into his words, not only his own feelings, but the feelings of an entire nation. Pitts conveys the emotion felt after the terror attacks in his essay “Sept. 12, 2001: We’ll go forward from this moment” through his mournful, angry, and righteous tone.
Pitts utilizes rhetorical questions to make an obvious point to the readers that America has not fallen apart, but has come together and become stronger as a nation. “What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward’s attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? Based on the evidence, Pitts poses an obvious question to the reader that the attack on American soil will not change America because they will strongly withstand in their position. Pitts asks the reader to reflect and make a visible emphasis on how the attack has brought America together like a family, because now they are stronger than ever. Evaluating from America’s history, giving up will never be the answer for Americans. “Did you want us to tear apart? You just brought
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass’s use of pathos in their speeches work to make their argument stronger because they both want to see a change in America that would give a wide spread of equality and freedom for all. What can be more important than protecting your own people and trying to support them in a helpful, positive way? In Abraham's Lincoln 2nd Inaugural Address pathos was used in a smart way by commenting on a godly issued observation due to the fact that many individuals used to be more religious in that time period. In Lincoln's words, “Both read the same Bible, and pray the same God;...” Lincoln also writes, “as God gives us to see the right; let us strive on to finish the work we are in: to bind the nation's wounds;...”, here he includes God to make his writing stronger and
Joe Levine uses ethos to show that Americans have an unbreakable spirit. For example, Joe Levine shows the contemporary president George Bush throwing the first ball of the game in a Yankee game shortly after the 9/11. This shows that Americans are united because even in times of struggle and grief, the president plays ball like everyone else. This shows that ethos is used because the iconic American hero at the time is used to show that the president is with the people thus showing unity. Another example is seen when Joe Levine depicts Derek Jeter spending his day with a girl whose dad died on 9/11. This shows that Americans are together because even a baseball superstar like Derek Jeter is able to console a fellow American who is struggling with loss. This demonstrates that ethos is used because Derek Jeter’s image is used to display unity and fellowship between Americans. Lastly, Joe Levine uses the image of a torn flag from 9/11 ruins flying proudly in the stadium. Joe uses ethos to show that Americans have an unbreakable spirit because the flag is symbolic of the idea that no matter what struggles Americans may face they will always prevail. Overall, Joe Levine uses ethos through the image of famous people and the flag to show that Americans have an unbreakable spirit.
He begins by observing that God has his own plan, “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, by woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” Lincoln justifies his position by including his own interpretation of God’s plan; God gave both the North and the South the war as “the woe due to those by whom the offense came,” the offense being slavery. The biblical allusion and Lincoln’s personal explanation creates an appeal to Christians to agree with his statement. Lincoln strengthens the appeal by reminding his audience that “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” He created a strong Christian atmosphere by referencing the Bible and enforcing that God’s plans and judgments are perpetually
Lincoln chooses to make certain religious allusions in his speech, in an attempt to unify the divided country around a common central concept: religion. Lincoln makes such references to religion to confirm others beliefs, and assure them that God stands with them, even in such a difficult time. To show sympathy towards African Americans, and to unify them with the others in the country, Lincoln states, “Both read the same bible, and both pray to the same God.”
In Anna Quindlen’s argumentative essay , “A Quilt of a Country” she argues that conflict and atrocities bring the citizens of the United States together. The author’s use of real-life events and experiences communicates how unity, especially occurs after a conflict . During her analysis of the Cold War and its’ aftermath, she explains,”Today the citizens of the United States have come together once more because of armed conflict and enemy attack.” Here, Quindlen compares the cold war’s devastating effects on society to 9/11’s effect on the country. She analyses how, in both instances, society’s post-traumatic sense of unity brought citizens all across the country together as one.
In the essay, A Quilt of A Country: Out of Many, One? (The Quilt) by Anna Quindlen, Quindlen writes her work on the basis that America can join together in times of distress. In her work, she wrote that violent acts such as terrorism lead to “devastation-- and unity” and the act
Ethos, pathos, and logos are all devices that Barbara Ehrenreich effectively uses throughout her novel Nickel and Dimed to prove that America needs to address the commonly overlooked issue of poverty within every community. It is important that she uses all three devices because they help support her argument by increasing her credibility, connecting to the readers’ emotions, and appealing to their sense of logic. The combination of these devices puts a sense of urgency on the problem Ehrenreich is addressing and therefore creates an effective argument.
“How 9/11 Changed the World” is an article found in an issue of Relevant magazine. The article was written to reflect on the immediate and lingering effects of the 9/11 attacks. It speaks of America as a whole as it entered a new century with a hope of peace and growth but instead was greeted with an unexpected enemy. The article speaks of American people, as they face numerous changes and conflict in a world dominated by war.
Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.
Lincoln used religion to convey his message of unity liberally throughout his address, which appealed to people of every social class, gender, and side of the war. He
For Mike Cross, September 11 was a different story. He started out his day by going to work for Planning Systems Incorporated in Stephenville until he heard about “a plane that crashed into a tower, you didn’t know it was a terrorist attack.” Mike’s office had an irregular approach to the situation, nobody made a big deal about it. Nobody went home. “It seemed like a far off distant place of New York.” Before 9/11, “Terrorism wasn’t in the vocabulary.” After the attack, nothing went back to the way it was before. “Everything was looked through the lens of terrorism.” The trust between fellow men and coworkers was gone, lost in the past. “Everyone was viewed as suspicious… and
In his speech, Lincoln used a passionate and inclusive tone to give the impression that they were all equal and were at risk of losing the same things. This could inspire a feeling of unity between Lincoln and the audience. “…devoted altogether to saving the Union…” (paragraph 2). In this statement, Lincoln used both diction and sentence structure to impact his audience. He used emotionally charged words such as “devoted” and “saving” to express a sense of passion. He also used long sentences that would reiterate similar ideas to help get his point across. “…to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan…” (paragraph 4). In this part of his address, Lincoln uses imagery, facts, and
America has been named the "melting pot" of the world. It houses many different cultures, nationalities, ideas and religions. There are Christians, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, Mormons, Hindus, Spiritualists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Islamic, plus many more. America is unique in that all these religions are represented in a nation that is only 200 years old. And America has upheld, throughout history, that the freedom and equality of religion is extremely important in order for this nation to function as a free nation. The foundations of America were set as a result of England's persecution; more specifically, England's religious persecution. The colonists wanted to create a nation that allowed people to be free. They