“…bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.” The distinction between bullshit and a lie is at times very clear, but it also can be hard to identify. Bullshit is not a lie, and a lie is not bullshit, even though both are considered to be deceitful and insincere. Harry Frankfurt wrote his essay entitled “On Bullshit”, and through reading and analyzing his writing, his position on which is problematic (lying or bullshitting) becomes clear. Near the end of his essay, Frankfurt states, “Thus the production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person’s obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic are more extensive than his knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic” (Frankfurt, On Bullshit, 99). Bullshit is a double-deceit towards a person, because you are hiding the fact that you do not know the information about a topic, and you are spouting out information which you are not 100% sure of, and claiming as if you know enough to hold a conversation.
Augustine defends the god of theism by rejecting the existence of evil as a force or power opposed to god as it would reject the premise that god is omnipotent. Below are the ways in which he justifies moral and natural evil, which respectively mean evil caused by human acts, and evil events caused by the processes of nature. To justify evil, he solves the problem by defining evil as a ‘privation’ – which means when something is ‘evil’, it is not defined to contain bad qualities but is seen to be falling short of perfection, or what it is expected to be. Take a rapist as an example. Adopting Augustine’s idea of ‘evil’, we are to say that he is not living up to standards expected of human beings.
Above all, the author has written this essay ineffectively because of three essential elements not being composed skillfully. The three essential elements that cause this essay to be written ineffectively are the introduction and conclusion, diction (word choice) and tone (formal or informal), and sentence structure. The first essential element that is causing this essay to be written ineffectively is the introduction and conclusion. These two paragraphs are considered special paragraphs in an academic essay. The introduction is supposed to establish the significance of the subject by commenting on opening lines and providing the thesis and the conclusion closes the discussion persuasively by presenting a clear argument based on summary of the points.
The mocking tone of the clerk’s rhetorical question exposes this idea, “Did your father ever attempt to learn English?” exposes this idea. This reveals that a community can assert hostility through mockery, to people who are from a foreign place and cannot speak the same language. Therefore this indicates that individuals can feel exclusion through outside factors due to cultural differences. In a similar way, Steph Green’s short film ‘New Boy’ also demonstrates that individuals are externally excluded when they are undesired outsiders. Repetition of the bully saying, “You’re dead” displays this idea.
One of the major reasons why schools and colleges overlook the intellectual potential of street smarts is the fact that we associate those street smarts with anti-intellectualism. Regarding the topic of intellectualism, there seem to be two schools of thought. On one hand, many people believe that in order to be an intellectual individual, one should read, write, and discuss great literature and other aspects of classical education. On the other hand, there are those who believe that reading, writing, and discussing various topics that are not usually identified as “intellectual” such as cars and sports are in fact just as impressive. Graff argues that intellectualism is good, and that schools ought to encourage learners to read, think critically and write about their fields of personal interests like fashion, music or cars.
Debating the Banning of a Great Novel Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, is responsible for the controversy caused by the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This novel has been banned in many high schools across the nation for the foul language applied and the sentiment it brings to those who may relate to it. Yet many are unaware that the purpose of the novel is not to bring about resentment but to appeal the reader to the circumstances in which the characters lived. Some disregard the notice at the beginning of the novel, which contains an explanation for the dialect used. Many choose to find a plot in the novel, although the author clearly states that the novel purposely lacks a plot.
In my opinion, making someone a hero doesn’t always make him that much more interesting. So as you can see I am for Loewens argument that heroification is a bad practice because it doesn’t show all the sides and actions done by a person. American history textbook authors should show all aspects of a person and not just the good parts. Not everyone is perfect and they should be their imperfectness should be
K. V. ENG 101 3/31/14 To Ban or Not to Ban In Dennis Baron’s, Don’t make English Official- Ban it Instead he is insisting that instead of making English the official language of the United States, we should just get rid of it altogether. In his small article he manages to whip up six small arguments to convince the readers of his ludicrous proposal. Rather than actually convincing the readers, his points are unclear, sometimes confusing and unsatisfying. In the end he doesn’t actually set up a solution for his readers, and leaves them with the whole “so what was the point,” feeling. Through his poor perspectives and unfocused essay, I am far from convinced that English should not be the official language but banned.
My texts both discuss grammar, but they are different because they have conflicting opinions on their definition of proper grammar. These definitions of the role that grammatical roles play in good writing differ because the rhetors of each text are targeting different audiences with different exigences. Audience The audiences that are targeted in these two texts are very different; the article “Why you need good grammar” by Michael Kwan is targeted towards a more traditional and conservative audience because throughout the text he emphasizes that proper grammar is necessary in all situations, and shows his repugnance to modern day bloggers and internet users for not using correct grammar on the web. Kwan also writes that he thinks that all the new ways of communicating and sharing your opinion through the web and other new technology is ruining grammar, and stresses that we should go back to traditional proper grammar. The cartoon in the Wall Street Journal is targeted towards a younger, open-minded, and more liberal audience as it shows a picture of modern day rock and roll
Nicole Brouwer 2nd hour Honors English Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover “The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.” -Arthur Schopenhauer Stereotyping, superstitions, and being prejudice are all components that lead to misjudging others. Many myths have been associated with different ethnic groups, and it leads to ethnic segregation. An understanding about other cultures may help decrease the negativity and overcomes prejudice. What does being prejudice mean? Why do societies leap at the chance to judge others?