Journal Reflections

Throughout this English course I looked at and reflected on many different articles and speeches, noticing and analyzing rhetorical tools used throughout those pieces of writing. Exploring these documents helped me to better understand the tactics used to persuade or encourage audiences to agree with a particular message.

I think the most influential document looked at this semester was the “Rhetoric of Hitler’s Battle.” Through this speech, we were able to see the way Hitler manipulated Germany into following what he stood for. He was able to come to light during a time when the Germans were in need of hope, and he was able to promise them that. He was able to use pathos to pull at the hearts of his audience to gain trust and support.

Another artifact I examined was Emma Watson’s United Nations Speech. Watson focused largely on ethos to gain credibility throughout her speech. By establishing her involvement in feminism and human rights, as well as expressing her passion for the topic, the audience is able to better trust the importance of the message she is putting out.

The topic that I took away the most from was the logical fallacies. I had learned about them briefly in previous classes, however, I had never gone over them in real life examples prior to this class. I thought it was interesting seeing ways fallacies can be used in day-to-day life, and now being able to recognize when fallacies come up in conversations. I am now able to work towards eliminating the use of fallacies in my own writing to establish stronger credibility in my efforts to educate others on topics that are important to me, as well as in other classes to come.