ENL 257 – Introduction to Rhetoric

Abby Ringiewicz, Fall 2009 With the recent changes and proposals affecting healthcare today, it can become somewhat overwhelming. While some may feel that they are being robbed of their comfortable healthcare plan, others cannot wait for a sufficient means of healthcare. The current voters of today, as well as the future voters, have differing priorities… Read more Abby Ringiewicz, “Constraints on Healthcare Voters,” 3rd Place ENL 257

Lynnette Nolan, Fall 2011 Unlike the Formalist approach, where “the proper concern of literary criticism is with the work itself,” biographical and historical perspectives invite audiences to read the text “with a sense of time and place” and to consider “the social and cultural contexts in which the writer lived” (2165-2166). While understanding the situations… Read more Lynnette Nolan, “The Contribution of Context: Implications of Associating Outside Information with Frost’s Poetry,” 3rd Place ENL 258

Sara Kelley, Spring 2007 Advertisements on television, newspaper and magazine articles, websites, conversations, speeches, songs—we are bombarded daily with rhetoric vying for our attention. Whether we realize it or not, within these daily situations lie the three proofs of rhetoric: the appeal to emotion, the use of character, and the appeal to reason (pathos, ethos,… Read more Sara Kelley, “The Rhetoric of Lincoln’s ‘Gettysburg Address,’” 3rd Place ENL 257

Joseph MacKenzie, Fall 2009 After having identified an exigence, chosen his key audiences, and recognized their constraints, President Obama must now fashion his discourse to meet the constraints of these audiences. However, for a problem as vast as poverty, many other problems must first be solved before the poverty problem can get better. The truth… Read more Joseph MacKenzie, “The Final Verdict: Obama’s Discourse,” 3rd Place ENL 257

Joe Boomer, Fall 2009 Occasionally, something happens that challenges us to reconsider our relationship with technology, and question whether our own technological advancements will eventually replace us as the dominant force on Earth. Once such instance took place with a simple game of chess in New York City in 1997 between the world’s greatest chess… Read more Joe Boomer, “A Game of Chess for Humanity,” 3rd Place ENL 257

Fall 2011 – ENL 257: Introduction to Rhetoric To Build or Not To Build: Controversy over the ‘Mosque at Ground Zero’ by Meghan Matheson The looming controversy surrounding the Islamic Center near Ground Zero has sparked debate throughout the nation. The Center is associated with emotional strain from both the supporters and the opponents. Each… Read more To Build or Not To Build: Controversy over the ‘Mosque at Ground Zero’

Brittany Allcorn, Spring 2010 Over the years rhetoric has come to signify a manipulative and persuasive tool associated with politicians who use it to try and mold the minds of their audience. However, as many scholars like to note, rhetoric is not a simple persuasive tool but is a fountain of logic, expression, and art.… Read more Rhetoric: Not Just Persuasion – ENL 257: Introduction to Rhetoric