Ap_Lang_Summer_Project

Summer Reading Project “Bail at $2 million for armed man arrested in Seattle” by: Donna Gordon Blankinship Donna Gordon Blankinship, author of the article “Bail at $2 million for armed man arrested in Seattle” (July 6), suggests that there is a connection between Brazilian protestors and American citizens. Blankinship supports this because of the connection she makes between Jasper, the man under arrest, and the protestors of Brazil. Blankinship uses this connection between Jasper and Brazilian protestors in order to show that Brazilian citizens are in a time of need. The authors intended audience is the citizens of the United States, but she does a poor job at appealing to them because of the lack of rhetorical technique or literary devices. The one question that arose after reading this article is, “What did Jasper want to accomplish'” Jasper’s intentions were very unclear because of the lack of information the author fails to provide. I believed that Jasper was trying to send a message about the grievances protestors were experiencing in Brazil, but there isn’t enough evidence or information to come to that conclusion. Blankinship did a poor job with trying to make her article appealing to her audience. Her lack of literary techniques and rhetorical devices made it difficult to stay focused on reading the article. This also caused her writing to be very dull and boring to the point where I was falling asleep. This article lacked many elements that are essential to creating an interesting article. It lacked rhetorical techniques and literary devices that make the article that much more interesting. Also, the way Blankinship organized her article made it even more difficult to understand. Her paragraphs weren’t in chronological order, or at least in an order in which the paragraphs made sense. This un-organization made it difficult to understand and it lead to the author repeating or saying unnecessary things. Reading this article was unpleasant. If Donna Gordon Blankinship is being paid to write articles without putting any effort into her writing, then everyone should become a journalist. U.S., in Sign of Displeasure, Halts F-16 Delivery to Egypt By: Mark Landler and Thom Shanker In “U.S., in Sign of Displeasure, Halts F-16 Delivery to Egypt” (July 24), authors Mark Landler and Thom Shanker claim that President Barack Obama’s decision to halt the delivery of F-16s to Egypt was a proper way to respond to the expulsion of Mohamed Morsi. This claim is supported by the information that is provided from both sides of the argument and by the expert testimonies that are included in the writing. Landler and Shanker’s purpose is to educate the citizens of the U.S. in order to gain support for the President’s decision. This article’s intended audience is the citizens of the United States. After reading this article, only one important question came to mind, “What did the Republicans think about the President’s response'” This question arose because of my knowledge about the government. Since the president is a Democrat, the Republicans tend to disagree with the president, but I’d like to know if they agreed with the president on his decision because is seemed like he made the right call. This article was filled with literary devices and rhetorical techniques. The authors mostly appealed to the audience using “Ethos.” This is clear to me because the authors give both sides of the story. They use expert testimonies from both sides to provide the audience with trustworthy facts. Although most of what was said was from the U.S. position, the authors did give Egypt a say. Another way the author made the story appealing is because of the background information that was given. This gave the audience more knowledge on the situation. This article was very well written and kept me entertained. Since the article was well written, it made the validity of the argument more believable because of the facts that were provided, examples that were given, and the testimonies that were shared. Can Obama legalize 11 million immigrants on his own' By: Brad Plumer Brad Plumer, author of “Can Obama legalize 11 million immigrants on his own'” (August 22), argues that President Obama can legalize the 11 million immigrants that live in the United States. Plumer supports his position by providing examples of past actions done by the President and by providing both sides of the argument. The author’s purpose is to inform the public in order to gain support for the president. The intended audience is the U.S. public because of the relationship the author creates by his use of literary techniques. This article did not raise any questions, instead it answered questions I had prior to reading the article. Since that article cleared up many questions I had about things like “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA), it showed that the author knew what he was talking about. Plumer used many techniques and devices making his argument strong and interesting. He made his article appeal to his audience because of the uses of “Ethos” and “Logos.” Plumer used these two techniques effectively to make his position clearer for the audience. The author used “Ethos” by giving the audience both sides of the argument. He does this by giving expert testimonies from government officials. The author used “Logos” by mentioning the success of DACA. This would lead to the audience believing that the president could legalize 11 million immigrants. I was pleased after reading this article. The author organized his writing in such a way that everything made sense. Also, Plumer explained things like DACA that not everyone would know. Because of the background knowledge the author provides, it makes his argument’s validity skyrocket. This is because his knowledge convinces others to believe in his views. Although sometimes Plumer rambled on about certain topics, he still got to the point.