RA: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan: November 16, 1581

This painting was done by Il'ia Efimovich Repin in 1885.

WATCO: What are the consequences of having a bad temper on your happiness? Having a bad temper will make you miserable because acting in rage will lead you to do things you will regret forever.
Implicit assumption check: Doing things you will regret forever will make you miserable.

The audience: everyone. It is targeted to anyone who has ever been angry or has ever spoken a harsh word.

This painting follows a logical order. There are certain actions and events that took place before others. The rug is wrinkled and the furniture is overturned. This means that there was some sort of heated argument just before Ivan the Terrible struck his son with a staff. The staff fell to the floor as Ivan Jr. also fell to the floor. There is blood on the rug that corresponds to the blood on his temple. There is also blood on Ivan Sr.'s face and head where he tore at his hair and face in horror. the killing obviously preceded the horror. If he had felt horror before killing his son, he would not have done it. The last thing we see is the present state of the painting, Ivan the Terrible holding his son, whom he loved, and he kisses his son as his life slips away. The painting makes it explicitly clear what has happened. There is no room to doubt any of these events. We know from sad experience that many people die due to fits of rage and uncontrolled anger.

The artist thought of the painting 300 years after the event actually occurred. He knew the history of Russia, and knew that Ivan the Terrible was extremely infamous for his cruelty and callous. Ivan's son was indeed killed after being struck in the head with his father's staff. This was common knowledge in Russia during the 1800s. This was a private incident, so it is impossible to know many of the intimate details, but as far as anyone else knew, Repin's depiction is accurate.

The emotional side of this painting is by far the most compelling. Ivan's eyes are wide with a surprised grief. It is obvious that he did not want this to happen. The murder of his son was not anything that he had planned in advance. Looking back, he deeply regretted what he had done. A little kindness a few minutes earlier could have prevented all of this death and suffering. It is easy to see many emotions in this painting: disbelief, dread, guilt, and others. But the anger is gone, there is no rage left in either man. It was a passing feeling that could have passes much more easily. After the murderous act was done, all anger was forced from even the most brutal of men. The painting is very dark, and the darkest part is Ivan's coat. It is what covers his heart. This symbolizes that his heart fosters the darkness that caused this scene. Ivan's emotions were totally uncontrolled, and this is the result.

STAR test: Sufficient? Dark emotions are screaming at us from the canvas, and even if Ivan's eyes alone with the staff and his son's pierced head were all we could see, it would be sufficient to convince anyone that acting in rage will cause immense suffering. Even if death is not the outcome of a typical quarrel, words can cut people as deeply as any staff. Anger destroys relationships. In this painting it is done in a physical way, literally cutting the son off from any further communication with his father. It is a symbol of the emotional damage that we can do to each other if we are not cautious when our own emotions run hot.

TA: Topics for Paper A: Education

1. I have read a lot already about the public educational system in Mexico. There are "escuelas primarias" (elementary schools) in nearly all of the rural ranchos, but it is much harder to find a "secundaria" (junior high). In one district, each rancho could have a primaria, but you would have to bus the children half an hour to a neighboring rancho to attend la secundaria. In many rural areas, the children would need to be bussed up to an hour and a half away to attend "la prepa" (high school). What are the consequences of this? No one goes to school more than six years. It's too hard, it's too expensive to get the kids to stay in school, and the family needs the child's help on the farm anyway. Many parents are unsupportive of programs to take their children away for their education because they either do not understand the benefits or do not value education as highly as most college educated people do. What could be done to increase the number of students who successfully graduate from junior high and high schools in rural Mexico?

2. Many university libraries are slowing the pace at which they acquire physical materials (books, journals, etc.) in favor of subscriptions to online resources. Since the internet has such a vast array of information, some people think that this allows libraries to spend the same amount of money on subscriptions that yield more information. Others think that this procedure actually decreases the amount of information available to students, because many databases only display back issues of journals, and others limit their available selection to current issues, and older issues frequently become unavailable. In many instances, libraries subscribe to databases hoping to get the largest amount of material in return, but inevitably, some journals are not included in the library's selection. Since libraries always have limited funding, they must decide whether to have a more paper-oriented collection and limit their online collections, or to have a more online-oriented collection but suffer a reduction in physical materials.

3. Joining a sports team in junior high can be a very traumatic experience for many students. It creates new in-groups and out-groups and isolates some children from others. In addition to these common psychological strains, the coaches get to decide who plays more often than other students. If a child sits on the bench during his sixth grade season, he is more likely to sit on the bench during the seventh and eighth grades. His future in school sports depends largely on his physical ability early on. In many cases, school coaches use harsh language and punishments to encourage their athletes to perform better. They yell and make even the toughest of little boys cry. But studies show that sports do help children develop physical coordination and social skills. School athletes often stay out of trouble due to their participation in sports. In many cases, being part of an organized athletic activity can help a struggling student to raise his GPA. Do the psychological risks outweigh the benefits that children receive from participating in school sports?

Free Write

Minor chords dominate the music that is playing in the room displaying the painting of a man who is not old as much in age as he is in spirit. When you looked in his eyes yesterday there was a tired soul, visible just beneath the surface of the paint. His eyes call out to you but you turn away, they are pure exhaustion. If he could speak, he would have begged you to cover his eyes for him-- he hasn't slept in years. He has been chopping wood for as many years as the painting is old. He has not blinked once in all that time. He can't, he's just made of paint. He has been standing bent over for all those years, tired, tense, teased by a painting of a sleeping child across the hall, who looks so tranquil and free. The man aches intensely and groans under the weight of the frame and canvas. He is taunted by the night watchman who turns off the lights each night. The darkness only makes it worse, for he feels alone, there is no one who shares his secret pain. His face is gaunt and thin. He hasn't eaten since his artist cruelly painted him in this position, without even a lunch. He lives in a world of dusk, never dawn; a world where he must always labor, never rest; in solitude, never in the company of family or friends, or even a dog. He lives with his tools in his hands, for he will never be allowed to set them on the ground to sit on a stump or relax. His hands are bleeding from splintered wood, and the sweat from his arms stings deep in his tissue. He hears the soft music, and wishes it could soothe him. He sees the sleeping boy and wishes that he could trade him frames, just for a night. What must it be like to be comfortable like all the other paintings in the museum? To lie flat and feel safe from the elements, in a cozy room with a fireplace and a maid? A dog curled up on the mat by his bedside, snoring lightly to provide a serene background noise to help him fall asleep. What must it be like to close his eyes and see nothing but his dreams. But even sweet dreams can't erase the pain and bitterness that he feels every day, over and over, wanting to rest, wanting to sit and eat, wanting to be loved. He has never known love. Even the visitors to the museum turn away, he is grotesque and unattractive. He looks so weathered and beaten. His whole life he has been beaten down by hard labor and by nature, the labor and nature that his creator gave him. When you look in his eyes today you can't see a soul. Life has finally demanded too much.

TA: Identifying Opposition

Someone tries to persuade me to be a vegetarian. I am, for the purpose of finding opposition in this case, married, 22 years old, and I eat lots of meat because I like it. My wife is studying public health, and likes to talk to me about healthy habits. I have a basic knowledge of good nutrition, but I don't know a whole lot. When someone tells me that I should stop eating meat, these are my questions and doubts:
* How will I get protein in my diet?
* How will I get the iron that I normally get from red meats?
* I will need another way to get the healthy fats that I can't get from vegetables and fruits.
* I need lots of calories for my active lifestyle, if I don't eat meat, I would end up buying more food and my grocery bill will be more expensive.

If I were the persuader, I would tackle these doubts by saying the following:
* You can get protein by combining partial proteins like beans and rice, or you can eat cheese or eggs, or other non-meat animal byproducts.
* You get iron from dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach (which can be quite tasty raw, I would mention that in response to an anticipated revolt against spinach), also broccoli provides iron. You can also get it from most cold cereals.
* You can buy bulk grains for much cheaper than you can buy meats. You can also buy fruits and vegetables in season for a better price than foods out of season. Shopping for foods in season is a very inexpensive way to get a lot of veggies. Meat is always several dollars per pound, and carrots, for example, are only usually about 50 cents per pound. 4 pounds of carrots is the same price as a single pound of pork chops.

That's obviously not a complete argument, but I would make sure to focus on those aspects during the portions of my paper that I will spend responding to opposition.

RA: Striking a Blow for Democracy in Asia

The audience: readers of the Washington Post during September 1997. Since the Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington D.C., many readers are congressmen and senators. I believe that the author is trying to reach the politicians. They are people who read about world events and politics. They are interested in the spread of democracy and peace. They are old enough and well enough acquainted with US history that they know about past wars in Asia, and many of those will remember Vietnam. Since the Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington D.C., many readers are congressmen and senators. I believe that the author is trying to reach the politicians who are undecided about their stance on the issue of rule-of-law funding in Cambodia.

The argument: Suspending funds to rule-of-law education will make it harder to reform the government because refusing to offer aid to Cambodians will not entice Hun Sen to move in a democratic direction.
Implicit Assumption check: Whatever does not entice Hun Sen to move in a democratic direction will make it harder to reform the government.

Ethos/Pathos/Logos: This argument contains a great deal of emotional appeal (pathos) when the author reminds his audience about the "tragedy" and "irreversible disaster" that was the Vietnam War. He also reminds his audience that the US has a responsibility to stand up for human rights, a subject that comes with an affixed emotional attachment. No one can see the phrase "human rights" without some kind of emotion coming to mind, and people tend to think of torture or abuse and neglect of innocent children. Part of the author's argument is that we need to avoid that. He also refers to the fact that one quarter of the nation's inhabitants were "murdered by Pol Pot and his henchmen." He uses words that are loaded with emotional connotations.
The author also builds credibility (ethos) by making it known that he serves as director of the USF Cambodia Law and Democracy Program. He mentions that 20 Cambodians that studied at USF (presumably under his direction) now teach rule-of-law in Cambodia. He makes it seem like his program has effectively extended into Asia and has been copied by other organizations in Cambodia.
The argument is also fairly well organized logically (logos). The author provides a chronological history of the dilemma, and within a few sentences tells his audience that the fate of Cambodia lies in the hands of a few politicians with a very, very important decision to make. He tells us where federal money is going and why it is stopping, and he tells us exactly what the consequences will be if the plan to rescind funding is not altered or reversed. The flow of the argument is very natural, like one point leads to another without much interruption. The audience does not need to think particularly hard for the argument to make sense. The author makes it clear who the beneficiaries of the aid are, which helps the audience to think more about the people and less about the government of Cambodia.

STAR: I believe that the evidence and the argument in this article are sufficient to convince most of the audience that rule-of-law aid in Cambodia is not optional and should not be conditional. It is also typical of what experts say. The author is an expert in the subject according to the University of San Fransisco. Many political analysts would likely say the same thing if the politicians would consult them about the subject. The sources cited are done so in a very general manner. There are no specific data that would influence the outcome of the argument. The information seems like it comes from a government agency, because the author has access to exact numbers of how much money is involved in the decision. Everything in the article points to one common thread, so I would judge that the information in the text is all relevant. I could not find a sentence that was out of place or inappropriate.

Overall, this article is effective in convincing political fence-sitters. Politicians always want to distance themselves from any decision that carries with it such negative feeling from the public. Anything that resembles Vietnam or that inhibits the prosperity of democracy or that leads to inhumane treatment of an already victimized people is the worst enemy of a politician, because they cannot afford to be associated with those things. Pathos and Ethos are the most powerful arguments in this article, and those are the feelings which politicians follow. They rely on informed professionals to help them make their decisions, and they strive to make decisions that will be received well by the masses.

FW: Striking a Blow for Democracy in Asia

I would like to discuss a point that I have taken from "Striking a Blow for Democracy in Asia" by Jeffrey S. Brand. The article talks about how educating common Cambodians about rule-of-law principles will eventually lead to forming a stable democratic government in their country. One interesting quote that I found was the line "If a transition to democracy is ever to succeed, it will only occur when an educated populace is capable of supporting it." As the United States seeks to export democracy to all corners of the world, and especially to southeast Asia since the communist scare of the 1950s, we rely on principles that are fundamentally the same as what Karl Marx taught. If you are ever going to make a difference in the world, you have to start with the common people and work your way up. You aren't going to start a revolution by educating the leaders of any country, but the populace. "Any move toward a more democratic government will be impossible because of the absence of a supporting infrastructure." (Brand)
One of Marx's essentials to building a stable communist government was educating the masses about the injustice inherent in their political system, and then they can know how to respond to it. When they understand the corrupt nature of the system they live under, they will collectively make the changes necessary to reverse the injustice and create a civil society. In Cambodia, to educate the people about the rule of law is to promote social and political change. So far, no efforts have succeeded to remove undemocratic leaders from power, but with an immense base of support from educated citizens, change will be possible.
It seems ironic that the US has vehemently argued against everything that Marx and communism stand for since the introduction of communism in the 1800s, but now we have to realize that there always was some good in the communist rhetoric, and that some very basic, hidden truths really can function for the benefit of capitalism and democracy.

FW: The North-South Gap

The North-South Gap

I have been thinking about why nations south of the equator are almost always less wealthy than the nations to the north. When you think of Europe, you think of industrial progress, social reform, free thinking, and very often, you think of big business. When you think of America, you think of McDonald's and Coca-Cola, the enterprising spirit, and lots and lots of capital resources. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you try to imagine life in Nicaragua? Probably a couple of wealthy criminals, a corrupt government, and an overwhelming majority of the population living on a few dollars per day. How about Kenya? The country is losing billions of dollars every day due to lack of production because of civil unrest and rioting. The people are in battle with the police every day. You think of election fraud and the misery that follows in its wake. Why are the two hemispheres so different?

I heard one theory that basically says, "that's how it's always been". The basic premise of this theory states that the root of all the social and economic problems in the southern hemisphere lie in the geographical orientation of the continents. While North America and Eurasia are principally situated as east-west continents, Africa and South America lie on a north-south axis. In the Northern hemisphere you have maybe two or three distinct climate patterns because all of the land mass lies on the same latitude. In the south, you could find at least seven different climate patterns, incidentally all in thin horizontal bands all along the continents. This means that if you raise corn, you could go anywhere in the northern hemisphere and find land capable of nourishing your crop. In Africa, you have a slim chance of finding workable farmland. Much of Africa and South America's lands are totally unusable because of rainforests, deserts and mountains. This means that in the earliest times of civilization, people in the north were able to establish broad trading communities and complex social institutions and were able to accumulate profit much more rapidly than the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere, who had much more difficulty trading for the resources that would have helped them live more comfortably. Maybe this explains why there was always a lure to trade with the nations of the Orient but there was never a lot of trade with Africa, except for along the Mediterranean coast.

Did Africa have nothing to offer its neighbors to the north? Is that why they were left out of the republics and empires of the Romans? Without trade, Africa is just a nobody, and they were essentially the continent that didn't get invited to any parties. And the consequence is that while Africa waited to be noticed, the civilized world went on refining their civilization over and over again, gradually progressing toward huge expanses of knowledge and information and technology. Africa was absent during the Greek philosophers' discussions on politics, they missed out on much of Christianity and Islam, which were two of the most socially unifying forces of all time, they missed out on the renaissance in Europe and the anti-feudalistic political and social reforms that followed, leading to democratic thought and a sense that the people had individual rights. Without those events in a nation's history, it is hard to compete in the modern world.

TA: Enthymemes

Enthymeme #1:

Audience = A busser at a restaurant who is a college student at BYU.

WATCO coming back from your break late on our friendly work relationship?

Coming back from your break late will create tension in our friendly work relationship because if I have to clean your tables for you, I will feel entitled to a portion of your tips.

Implicit Assumption: Whatever makes me feel entitled to a portion of your tips will create tension in our friendly work relationship.

The audience probably has never thought about coming back from his break as having any kind of social consequence. He will probably reject the claim, but when I persuade him that I will want to claim some of his money for doing some of his work, he will agree with the implicit assumption.

Enthymeme #2:

Audience = People that go to the library and don't read the posters that are all over the place and reshelve their own books even when they are expressly asked not to.

WATCO reshelving your own books in the periodicals department on having access to the resources you need for future projects?

Reshelving your own books in the periodicals department will impede your access to the resources you need for future projects because if the librarians don't have accurate statistical data showing what you use frequently, they will decide to cancel their subscriptions to the journals you use.

Implicit Assumption: Whatever makes the librarians decide to cancel subscriptions to the journals you use frequently will impede your access to the resources you need for future projects.

This particular audience is unaware of the reasons for not reshelving books in periodicals, and doesn't think that it's important to follow the directions not to. The audience does not initially agree with the claim, but the implicit assumption is quite clear and the audience cannot deny its simple truth.

Rhetorical Analysis

This is a mailed advertisement from Comcast.
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The target audience for this advertisement is anyone who is currently accepting TV, high-speed internet, or telephone service from Qwest. They are specifically targeting a subgroup of people who do not throw away junk mail without opening it first, who are less than satisfied with their current provider, and who are not aware of other options, such as switching to Comcast or cancelling their service.

Comcast has tried to build credibility by stating at the very beginning that they know how their audience feels. They admit that they know that the audience is likely to throw away the letter within a matter of seconds. They relate to their audience by sharing a common experience with the audience, and offer to help them make a decision. They also build credibility by further showing their understanding of their disgruntled audience by telling them what is wrong with their current provider. The audience has already noticed some of these things and maybe they have not put them all together. The problems seem more numerous when they are all put in a list with bolded text.

Comcast also appeals to the audience by next offering a list of positive qualities that Comcast can offer to them. They kindly inform the audience that they are not trying to be pushy, but "the choice is yours. We just thought you should have all the facts." This makes the argument to subscribe to Comcast a logical decision. They are essentially saying, "If you are not satisfied with your current provider, and we can offer you more reliable equipment and better service for a decreased price if you order now, and you have the ability to choose which provider to hire for your needs, it follows that you will logically come to the decision to choose Comcast all by yourself, and we know that you'll figure it out, so we aren't going to explicitly tell you to." They make it sound like they have all the answers by offering their audience "all the facts." They sign the letter as if they were friends, giving the audience a positive emotional connection with Comcast.

The advertisement is ordered logically and flows in order from one point to the next. Comcast gives the impression that they are friendly and helpful by offering so much useful information to help the audience make a decision and take the next step. There are no major flaws in the argument that if you are unhappy with Qwest, you ought to be using Comcast. Everything in the ad leads up to the climax, "Comcast is the clear choice." I think that for this specific audience, this ad would be successful.