Taylor Swift

"In response to the Taylor Swift article we read and discussed about in class, what is one song that means something to you? Is it by your favorite artist? Analyze the lyrics (if there are any). When listening to the song, what images come to mind? Why?"

After reading the Taylor Swift article I still feel the same way about her as I did before. Although I do agree and disagree with some things that were said in the article. True, her songs aren't all that meaningful but they're fun. She's young and most of her songs are listened by young teenagers as well who can relate to her. Although the author says all she sings about love and what not, how many other artists are there who do the same thing? I feel like 75% of songs are about love, boys and the same kind of stufff that Taylor talks about. One of my favorite songs that means something to me is Learn to Live by Darius Rucker. Although he's not my favorite artist, I think this song sends a really important message on the way you live your life. I love country music and I think most of the time, it's very meaningful and doesn't talk about sex, drugs and etc.

Pathos, Logos, or ethos

In your opinion, what do you think is the most effective (pathos, logos, or ethos) when writing a paper? In your "Into the Wild" and "American Literature" essays did you focus more on one rhetoric, or did you balance all three? If so why?

In my opinion, I think all three rhetorics are equally important. Although if I was to choose which one I believed was most important I would probably say pathos. Pathos is an appeal to the audience’s ethical judgment. It can be in the form of metaphor, simile, a passionate delivery, or even a simple claim that a matter is unjust. Pathos can be particularly powerful if used well, but most speeches do not solely rely on pathos. Pathos is most effective when the author connects with an underlying value of the reader.

Into the Wild

After reading further into Into The Wild my opinion has slightly changed about McCandless. As I continued to read, I felt began to not feel as bad for him. I really do feel like he could have survived, if he just would have accepted some of the necessities from the friends that he met along his journey. He very easily could have brought along more of the things that he needed to survive, and still accomplish his journey of going into the wilderness. I still like McCandless, and support him, I just think there are a few things that he could have changed and he just might have survived.