The first blog entry of the year what an exciting moment
this is. The anticipation as I write
this blog is almost comparable to the anticipation that surrounds every Penn
State Football season for many. The
football program however, as we all know, has been dealt serious blows because
of the child abuse cases involving Jerry Sandusky and the cover up by the
University. I could write about all the
negatives that have came out of the issue but being the optimistic person I am
I want to be positive and look towards the future. As I scanned for a story to write about I
came across an editorial already bashing the new football coach Bill
O’Brien. The editorial is littered with
complaints about his character and how all the values that Penn State football
stands for will suddenly vanish. The
writer’s whole piece is solely based on his appeal for ethos by constantly
using rhetorical questions that guide the reader into believing O’Brien is the
cousin of Satan. The writer makes very
half-hearted attempts to use facts in the editorial. Honestly the only fact he uses is that Bill
O’Brien will be the next football coach.
I am not saying that he is a savior but the writer could have used more
or any logos to improve the editorial.
He makes so many assumptions by starting statements like “O’Brien had to
be involved in that in-your-face-run-up-the-score call.” Statements like that have no facts and in my
opinion detract from his opinion because he is just throwing random ideas with
no proof. He also claims that the man
replacing O’Brien, Josh McDaniels, (which the writer refers to as John
McDaniels) helped the Patriots by giving them secrets about the Broncos, which
he formerly coached. I am a little
puzzled as why that assertion has anything to do with Bill O’Brien let alone McDaniels
not being part of the Broncos organization for two years. Those are two different people and it reveals
nothing about O’Brien and shows how the writer is making wild and rambling
claims. The writer tries so hard to lure
the reader in with all the different emotions but so quickly pushes any reader
away with fact less wild accusations.
Great rhetorical engagement of the issue. I'd like to look at the original editorial--can you link to the original article in your post? (You can edit them.)
ReplyDeleteI found your decision to look at the mixed reception of our new coach to be welcome, as it appears that so far people have ignored the negative responses. I thought you made a great observation in noticing the rhetorical strategy of the author of the article and noting that he was missing logos. It would have been very beneficial however if you had provided a link to the article that you read or some other way of finding it. As a side note, your own rhetorical voice in this post was intriguing and attention grabbing.
ReplyDeleteI love your optimism for the new coach; it's something fresh and unconventional. I like the line "Honestly the only fact he uses is that Bill O’Brien will be the next football coach." it is thought provoking. It made me wonder how much rhetoric affects a normal new article everyday, and I don't even realize it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the suggestion by both Ben and Mary to include a link to the article. Yet in any case, I love how optimistic you are about the new coach. I'm glad that you decided to use an article which has a pessimistic opinion rather than an optimistic one because I think it enabled you to provide more commentary on what the article was lacking. Furthermore, you were able to incorporate your own opinion nicely without entirely bashing the article and stating why your opinion is right. Nicely done!
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