Monica, over all I really enjoyed your essay. From the begining I clearly understood your veiw of the article and what you were going to address in your essay. Every paragraph was had a specific subject you talked about. Your use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos was very straight forward and concise. Your thesis was straight to the point and not hard to find which was a very good thing because sometimes it can be hard to find a thesis in an essay. I feel that your body paragraphs really tied back in with your thesis in a clear manner and were very easy to read. Your break down of the body paragraphs were well thought out, and I feel really got your point across. The use of quotes in your essay was good, they strengthend your point and clearly tied in to the main poin of the paragraph and even your thesis.
I feel you could use a few quotes at the begining of your essay just to help the reader really understand what you are talking about. I also think that you could use a small summary paragraph after your thesis statement just to inform or re-inform the reader of what happens in Hitchens article. Your conclusion is good but I feel that it can use a little work. When I was reading it I kind of felt as if your essay just stopped without clearly concluding your thoughts.
Your over all essay was a success and with a few adjustments I feel could be a really well thought out and great essay. :)
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
rhitorical critique essay
Kayla McHale
Professor Brown
English 1B #11875
25 March 2013
Rhetorical
Critique Essay:
Believe
Me, It’s Torture
The word torture can mean a lot of things too many
different people. The definition of torture in the Webster’s New World College Dictionary is: 1.The inflicting of
severe pain to force information or confession, get revenge etc. 2. Any method
by which such pain is inflicted 3. Any sever physical or mental pain; agony;
anguish (1512). Water boarding seems to have always been a controversial issue
in the topic of torture but the definition of the word water boarding on the Merriam-Webster Dictionary website is:
an interrogation technique in which water is forced into a detainee’s mouth and
nose so as to induce the sensation of drowning. With these two definitions in
mind I think it’s safe to say that as water boarding is an interrogation
technique with the ultimate goal to gain information, that water boarding is in
fact torture.
Christopher Hitchens a writer for Vanity Fair was asked by some people from the magazine if he would
be willing to participate in being water boarded and then, afterwards, write an
article about his experience. In his article “Believe Me, It’s Torture” he
explains that in his situation everything was very controlled and that he could
at any time end the demonstration. Hitchens tells of his frightening experience
of being bound to a board at a slight downward angle (so that the water has
somewhere to run), having towels put on his face, and then having water poured
over the towels. He recites his terror and panic as the watered down towels
became heavy and that when he finally ran out of air and had to take a breath
in, that he most certainly felt that he was drowning. He even goes on to say
that “The interrogators would hardly have had time to ask me any question, and
I knew that I would quite readily have agreed to supply any answer.”
Hitchens uses quite a few great literary devices such as Ethos
Pathos and Logos to strengthen his argument that water boarding is in fact torture
and not just an “enhanced interrogation technique.” Although he contradicts
himself slightly in his article I believe that his account of what he went
through helps him succeed in persuading the intended audience of his argument.
When reading more thoroughly through the article,
Hitchens uses a lot of great descriptive words and sentences to portray his
story. He says that “.. Preparing to be
surprised by a team of extremely hardened veterans who had confronted their
country’s enemies in highly arduous terrain all over the world. They knew about
everything from unarmed combat to enhanced interrogation” (1). The way he
describes these men really makes you believe that they know what they are doing
and that they have done it several times. This is a great use of Ethos, which
is the literary device that shows you how well the presenter convinces the
audience that he or she is qualified to present on the particular subject. This
sentence its self makes you feel that because the men that were putting him through
this demonstration knew what they were doing that Hitchens can now present
confidently on the subject.
Hitchens makes effective use of vivid imagery throughout
his whole article when he tells the audience what he went through in the
demonstration. This is his appeal to Pathos, which is the appeal to the
audience’s emotions, values, or morals. Hitchens describes an indemnification
contract that he had to sign “Water Boarding’ is a potentially dangerous
activity in which the participant can receive serious and permanent (physical,
emotional, and psychological) injuries and even death, including injuries and
death due to the respiratory and neurological systems of the body.” He goes on
to state that he would be provided a safeguard during the process “however,
these measures may fail and even if they work properly they may not prevent
Hitchens from experiencing serious injury or death” (1). Pathos really is
Hitchens strong suit, his understanding and use of vivid imagery really
captures his audience and makes them feel like they are going through this
horrifying process with him.
It gets a little bit tricky when Hitchens says some
things that, when reading with an untrained eye can make his argument look
invalid. In the midst of a very descriptive paragraph making great use of
Pathos, Hitchens admits to having a great fear of drowning that comes from early
in his childhood. Some readers might say that this statement makes his argument
invalid because of course water boarding would fell like torture to him if he
already has a great fear of drowning. Would it feel as much like torture to
someone who loved the ocean and had no childhood accident that gave them that
irrational fear? Of course it would. Hitchens saves himself when he includes
the statement “Not that that makes me special: I don’t know anyone who likes the idea of drowning” (1). This
statement puts a stop to the thoughts that make his argument invalid; no one
likes the idea of drowning.
Although Hitchens use of Pathos is great in helping the
audience feel what he was experiencing and gives him some sympathy, his use of
Logos, an appeal to reason, is what really shows the audience that his
argument: water boarding is torture and that it shouldn’t be used, is extremely
valid. In the last page of his article Hitchens introduces the audience to his
main witness Mr. Malcolm Nance. Nance he has been involved with sere since
1977. Sere (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) is an advanced form of
training endured by those members of the Special Forces. Nance’s argument
against water boarding is this:
“1.
Waterboaring is a deliberate torture technique and has been prosecuted as such
by our judicial arm when perpetrated by others.
2.
If we allow it and justify it, we cannot complain if it is employed in the
future by other regimes on captive U.S. citizens. It is a method of putting
American prisoners in harm’s way.
3.
It may be a means of extracting information, but it is also a means of
extracting junk information. (Mr. Nance told me that he had heard of someone’s
being compelled to confess that he was a hermaphrodite. I later had an awful
twinge while wondering if I myself could have been “dunked” this far.) To put
if briefly, even the C.I.A sources for the Washington
Post story on waterboarding conceded that the information they got out of
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was “not all of it reliable.” Just put a pencil line
under that last phrase, or commit it to memory.
4.
It opens a door that cannot be closed. Once you have posed the notorious
“ticking bomb” question, and once you assume that you are in the right, what
will you not do? Waterboarding not getting results fast enough? The terrorist’s
clock still ticking? Well, then, bring on the thumbscrews and the pincers and
the electrodes and the rack” (3).
Nance’s reasons are
what really solidify Hitchens’ argument but what really brings it home is what
Hitchens says next. “To quote Nance: Torture advocates hide behind the argument
that an open discussion about specific American interrogation techniques will
aid the enemy. Yet, convicted Al Qaeda members and innocent captives who were
released to their host nations have already debriefed the world through
hundreds of interviews, movies, and documentaries on exactly what methods they
were subject to and how they endured. Our own missteps have created a cadre of
highly experienced lecturers for Al Qaeda’s own sere school for terrorists”
(3).
Hitchens article “Believe Me, It’s Torture” makes use of
all the great literary techniques to persuade his audience in Vanity Fair that water boarding is
torture and should not be used by the U.S. military. Through Ethos, Pathos, and
Logos Hitchens shows the audience that he his knowledgeable on this subject.
His recitation of his experience during the demonstration would surly bring
sympathy from his audience, and with the help of Malcolm Nance’s information on
the subject Hitchens clearly conveys that water boarding is not only unethical but
that it can and has educated terrorists on our interrogation techniques.
Work
Cited
Hitchens, Christopher. “Believe
Me, It’s Torture.” Vanity Fair Aug. 2008:
1-3. Print
Merriam-Webster.
“waterboarding.” Merriam-Webster.com.
Merriam-Webster inc. 2013. Web. 23 March 2013
Webster’s
New World College Dictionary. Furth edition. Ohio: Cleveland, 2010. Print
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