Category Archives: Uncategorized

ISIS still posing a major threat

The combat against ISIS is going strong and has had its success including major ISIS leaders being killed in airstrikes and ISIS losing some territory in Iraq. However, the terror group is still strong and may possibly get even more dangerous. Reports by the U.S. intelligence community claim that ISIS is changing its tactics from small lone-wolf attacks to large scale mass casualty attacks. There terror group is believed to still have 20,000 -30,000 members while membership from foreign nations is increasing as well. The U.S. effort to train Syrian rebels to combat ISIS is in trouble because these rebel groups are in disarray and many often desert or are unsuccessful in fighting ISIS. The change of tactics is seen as a thirst for power by ISIS especially to assert dominance over other terrorists groups like Al-Queda in the region. The article is filled with numerous rhetorical appeals. Anytime the word ISIS is mention fear, brutality, and terror are emotions that fill the audience and are automatically related to the group. Also by stating that ISIS want to move towards more mass casualty attacks, this notion creates fear in people as well. After the tragedy of 9/11, people are always in fear for another attack of that magnitude because if they did it before it could happen again. 9/11 created an ongoing fear in people, so when ISIS is believed to move towards attacks similar to that nature, obviously people are filled with fear and worry. Logos is used in the article as well. The author states the number of ISIS combatants in the Middle East that shows the strength of the group and that it is capable to pose a serious threat. The world wide effort to stop the terror group must be raised if we want to protect innocent people and save ourselves from another terrible tragedy.

Weed Revolution

We all know about the growing attention with the American public and even the government towards marijuana and its legalization. Two states have legalized its use and several states have legalized its use for medical purposes, with many to follow. Before we know it, the U.S. will most likely legalize the drug for recreational use. According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta from Denver, Colorado we are in the mist of a medical marijuana revolution. He avidly researches and acclaims the benefits of marijuana for medical use and uses a lot of statistical evidence to persuade his audience on the drug’s popularity and effectiveness. He states that for the first time a majority of Americans, 53% favor its legalization and77% support its use for medical purposes. These facts help the audience realize that marijuana is increasing in popularity especially for the people that aren’t so sure about the drug yet. He also states that in 1969, only 12% of the nation favored its legalization. This shows the audience that support has grown dramatically and the drug must be doing some good if it is becoming so popular, especially with medical uses. His article is filled with rhetorical appeals especially ethos. He builds credibility of the drug by using a story of a girl who after started using medical marijuana went from 300 seizures a week, to just one or two. This example, shows the audience that the drug really does have medical benefits since this girls seizure’s decreased dramatically. Many states that you wouldn’t think would support marijuana are now starting to be persuaded by its usefulness. Georgia is even in the mist of passing the legalization for the medical use of marijuana in the state. His examples really lets the audience know the growing popularity and usefulness of the drug. The country is in a weed revolution and the supporters are gaining ground. Will the revolution end with Marijuana as the victor? We shall see.

“My Child is Better”: The Problem with Narcissistic Parents

Now I am sure everyone has had their dad stand one the sidelines during a soccer game yelling run faster or yelling you make the shot at a basketball game. Mom bragging to the other parents about your grades and then yelling at you to do even better. This may seem like some traditional parent motivation, but in recent years studies have been conducted that examine that many parents take this to far. The term is known as Narcissistic parenting and many parents are becoming overinvested in their child’s success that it is creating serious issues for the child. The author argues that many parents treat parenting as a competition, trying to brag about their children while putting others down. The article is filled with rhetorical appeals to convey the issue to the audience. Ethos is used through the account of the author seeing a farther screaming at her daughter after a soccer game while she is crying because she let in a winning goal. Also, there is in account of her explaining her experience with moms bragging about their daughters in beauty competitions and putting other daughters down. The author uses pathos to touch the reader’s emotions to make them feel bad for what this parents are doing to these kids. She exclaims that some parents do not except their kids for who they are, they got to preform and win to be accepted. That is such a terrible way to go about parenting and it will surely sadden that audience to see young children not being accepted unless they always win. Many psychologists exclaim that this makes the child fragile in the real word because they are easily susceptible to low self-esteem. Knowing that children are suffering low self-esteem because they cannot win for their parents is truly upsetting and strongly effects the emotions of the readers.

Internet Junkies

These aren’t your everyday meth, heroin, or crack junkies. This is the new 21st century form of sweeping addiction that is becoming very devastating. They are “Internet Junkies”. In todays society, addiction to the internet is becoming an increasing problem especially in adolescent children and young adults. These addictions can range from game consoles, to the internet and social media. People are spending hours and hours each day glued to their screens which causes dependence. In return, they are suffering from heightened restlessness, irritability, anger, anxiety, and withdrawal. The author of the article utilizes numerous rhetorical appeals to illustrate the growing addiction to internet and other forms of technology. Through the use of logos the author provides hard evidence that strongly convinces the readers of this new internet addiction. In South Korea alone, roughly one out of every 10 children from ages 10-19, are addicted to the internet. These statistics can be very alarming to the readers and show the true numbers of people addicted to the internet. The problem is very dramatic in countries like China, South Korea, and Japan, but it is quickly spreading to Europe and North America. Also about 16% of 18-25 year olds are involved in compulsive internet use in the United States. These facts prove how serious the internet dependence problem actually is.  The author also uses pathos to strike the emotions of the readers about the internet addiction. People describe the impact of internet addiction on the families, marriages, and children in a very serious manner. With statements like “It’s our family apart” and “I feel like I don’t exist, I can’t get my child to stop.” Statements like these really show how serious of an impact internet addiction is having on families and loved ones. No one wants to see a family go through pain or a mother feeling separated from her child over addiction to the computer. Hopefully this increasing new addiction can be halted before it causes more damage.

New fast food chain may be the next “Chipotle”

Its hard to imagine a fast food joint better than the very popular Chipotle, but Sweetgreen is making a rise and some people say that it may top Chipotle. Sweetgreen was started by three Georgetown University graduates in 2007 in the Washington D.C. area. The founders wanted to make a place that has healthy food options at a reasonable price because they feel like it is too expensive to eat healthy. Sweetgreen is gaining popularity fast and new locations are popping up every where including D.C., Philadelphia,Boston, Los Angelos, New York, and San Francisco. The author of this article uses numerous rhetorical appeals to persuade and get the readers to go to Sweetgreen. First, by comparing it to Chipotle, which is an already established and popular fast food place, the audience knows that this place must be good and becoming popular because most people enjoy Chipotle. Also the article states that every employee wheres shirts that say “passion and purpose”. This is utilizing pathos because when people see those words they will believe the workers have passion for the food and customers and a strong purpose to serve good healthy food. The article is aimed at an audience for people that care about eating fresh, locally produced, natural food. Sweetgarden uses fresh, local ingredients at every location and constantly changes its seasonal menu. These factors will have a strong appeal towards people that want to eat fresh food and support the local farmers and produce. The article also uses logos to persuade the readers about Sweetgreen by stating that it already has 31 stores open and many more in the upcoming years. Also the chain has now gotten 35 million dollars from private investors to increase the number of stores being built.

Little Baby Doe hits the emotions of Millions

Along the shoreline of the Boston harbor a little girl, 4 years of age was found dead by local police. Her death is still a mystery and it is under investigation. This article is filled with rhetorical appeals, specifically pathos. The story of the little girl found dead has struck the heart of millions of people around the country and swept across social media. The police have generated a picture that she is believed to look like and it is being shared and commented on through social media. The image of a small girl dead on the rocky coastline hit the emotions hard of millions of people and makes them feel truly sorry for this young girl. Surely the public cannot ignore the picture of this cute little girl and it even makes them think what if this happened to my kids. The article is filled with emotional rhetoric and does a good job of captivating its readers. Millions of photos and comments are being shared and tips are constantly pouring into the police. The article also contains pictures of the little girls pajamas and blankets. This illustrates the young girls innocence and makes the readers feel bad that such a terrible tragedy happened to an innocent young girl. The article even brings out anger and disgust in the reader as well. She was found decomposing in a trash bag and her autopsy revealed that she had been poisoned. Most readers showed angered and want justice for this poor little girl that suffered such a terrible fate. The last line of the article states “How can nobody miss her?” and this line solidifies the feelings of sorrow and sadness in the readers.