RCL post

3.  Think about a time when you tried to convince someone to change his or her mind.  How did you go about it?  Were you successful?  Now think about a time when someone tried to get you to change your mind.  What arguments did the person use?  Was he or she successful?

A very common disagreement that inevitably occurred every time I wanted to go out was always centered around my curfew.  It seemed like it was a constant back and forth between me and my mom.  While I wanted to stay up late with my friends, she insisted that I be home promptly at midnight.  After reading the rhetoric textbook, I understand now why I never won these arguments.  The problem was that my main point was that none of my other friends had curfews.  Although a valid statement, I did not properly incorporate it into my argument.  I should have used pathos, ethos, and logos to be more convincing with what I was saying.  For example, if I had appealed to my mom’s emotions and said “Senior year is ending and I really want to spend as much time as I can with my friends before we part ways for God knows how long,” then maybe my curfew would have at least been extended.  But alas, I was left watching Netflix until the wee hours of the night, while my friends were busy making memories to last a lifetime.

On the opposing side, my now ex-boyfriend once tried to convince me of something.  Although I love him dearly and we are almost the same in every way, there was one big difference that sometimes strained our relationship; he is overzealously religious while I am not.  He is a Christian boy who goes to church every Sunday, while I’m a Jewish girl who doesn’t even remember the last time I went to temple. So constantly he would try to persuade me to make God part of my life.  He tried reasoning with me; he would bring up articles of miracles that had happened in current events or personal experiences, and would proclaim that God was the only answer as to how these things happened.  He even brought me to church a couple of times, but I would not be convinced.  Religion just was not something that I felt connected to in any way.  Now this may be because his rhetoric was in bad form, but my adamantly stubborn personality probably had a lot to do with it as well.  Either way, his persuasion was not successful.

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