emotions/character

These two chapters of the “everything’s an argument” book seem to be very important to not just us as writers, but us as citizens. The concept of Ethos or character is one of the most important things in defining someone. A person without good character is likely not to be much of a person at all, certainly someone I have no interest in being associated with. The quality of someone’s character can tell you a lot more about what they value in life and what kind of moral levels they try to uphold.
As mentioned in the book, ethos can also be very instrumental to writers and speakers in convincing their audience that they are credible. Following along the lines of the election, politicians are often faced with the tough challenge of establishing a credible reputation. Senator Obama has faced some harsh criticism (some unfair, some not) about his credentials which are thought by critics to be less than adequate. Being the Commander and Chief of the largest and most powerful military force on the planet is a very daunting task and many wonder if he is up to that challenge. While Obama has struggled some with his character or ethos image, his extraordinary speaking ability and the way that he comes across to people seems to have convinced many that he is the man for the job. He has the emotional appeal (or pathos) down to a head. I mean, for heaven’s sake, people were crying their eyes out as they listened to his speech at the Dem. Convention.
Pathos, or using emotional appeals has always been a great way for speakers to be able to capture their audience’s attention. The best speakers are always those ones who can make you feel as if you are their best friend. They have the ability to make you laugh with them, cry with them, and feel for them as they speak. It can be very hard not to believe what speakers such as these have to say because their emotional appeal with us is so great. Teachers who are able to make their students laugh and incorporate stories of their lives and others into their teachings are often the ones who have the most luck teaching the material. Furthermore, any politician or teacher who is able to establish both pathos and ethos with their voters and with their students is likely to have great success.

My life, my politics, and my writing

Hey Ya'll,

My name is Tommy Chernosky and I am from the the great state of Texas- more specifically Houston, Texas. I am a Junior here at TCU and am currently studying to be a Mechanical Engineer. It is extremely difficult to keep up with it, but I enjoy it and am trying to grind through it and hope to be able to become a successful engineer somewhere here in Texas.

I am taking this class because it is required, and I hate reading, I do however enjoy writing. Even from a young age I have always enjoyed writing. I even made it a hobby of mine throughout my middle school years. It is one of the few academic fields that seems to come very naturally to me. I enjoy writing in lots of formats and on different topics with the exception of being asked to write on long forced readings that are uninteresting to me. I have never been good at reading comprehension and having little interest in the subject further hinders my abilities in being able to take much from reading a book. I went to Episcopal High School in Houston where they really emphasized writing to us and I think the education I got there really helped me to refine my writing abilities before I came to college. I am very adamant about what I believe in and enjoy writing papers that express and defend my opinions.

As far as politics go, I would describe myself as fairly knowledgeable on the subject. I regularly watch Fox News in the mornings before I go to class or during the day. I like to stay informed about what is happening around the country. You can't really say you are for or against something or someone in politics unless you know enough about the subject to back up what you express to others. I don't care as much about state or city politicians because their actions don't impact our lives very often and when they do, the changes are usually minimal. With respect to the presidential race, I have followed it closely both on the democratic and republican side. I have grown up in a very conservative family and retain those conservative values today. Despite growing up in a republican family, they have never tried to make me choose their ideas and philosophies. I have been able to do that all on my own. I feel that many people in our country are very undereducated and under informed when it comes to politics and often vote without much of a base for their decision, but I know where I stand and which candidate stands closest to me on the issues I care about.

So "everything is an argument". Well I'm not sure I really agree with this completely, but I can see where the generalization would have some validity to it. I have chosen some simple stuff to put on this blog that hopefully will give people a little bit of a taste of what I like and enjoy. I picked colors that I like, mostly colors I relate with an outdoor type of feeling. I am not trying to make any strong arguments, just present a simple way to post my writings which will likely have much more argumentative type feelings to them.

I have read the syllabus and understand the requirements for the class and agree to them!!