Ben H.

Lone Survivor

In the book Lone Survivor by Markus Luttrell is about a Navy SEAL team that was involved in the fight of their lives in a dangerous operation in 2004. The goal of the operation was to find the whereabouts of one of Osama Bin Laden’s top officials. The mission was going smoothly until a group of goat herders stumble upon the SEALs position. This leaves Markus Luttrell and his men with the difficult decision to kill them or set them free. After much debate the team decides to set them free to avoid the backlash they would receive from the media, and to spare innocent lives. This leads the men to the most dangerous and ill prepared firefight of their lives that kills all but Markus. This novel is filled with rhetoric. It targets young adult men and women that could possibly be inspired to fight for our country in the war on terror. Also, this book aims to instill in its readers the bravery and patriotism shown by Luttrell and his men when they were facing almost certain death.

            One of the overarching themes throughout this novel was bravery. Markus and his men showed bravery in many different ways during the book. One example of this is when they made the decision to let the goat herders go. From the start, they knew that if the goat herders were set free, their first move would be to go tell the Taliban the position of the men. The SEALs were brave and let the innocent men go, knowing the mission and their lives were now in jeopardy. Another example of bravery is when Markus is in BUD training. This training is one of the most difficult training courses our troops go through with the hopes of becoming a Navy SEAL. Even though over half of the soldiers in this training dropped out, Markus stuck it out until the end putting his body to the grueling test. A third example is when Markus continues to fight even though he is the lone survivor left from his men. Instead of giving up and surrendering to the Taliban, he continues to fight and eventually escape over 100 men that are after him. If these examples of bravery weren’t enough, after Markus recovers he returns to do another two tours overseas. This book uses rhetoric to convey the bravery that not only Markus and his men displayed, but what all the men and women who fight for this country display to protect our freedom.

            This book has examples of Ethos, Pathos and Logos as it tells the tragic story of SEAL team 10, but most of the book has strong Pathos ties, as it ends in tragedy. While reading this book, one can’t help but feel for the families of these brave men who laid their lives on the line for the sake of their country. It tugs at the heartstrings when reading the very detailed battle scenes that result in the deaths of three Navy SEALs. It makes the reader want to stand up and support our troops in any way they can, and is like a call to action to the able bodied men and women to enlist and fight for our country. This story shows the urgency of the United States military to motivate and inspire people to fight in the war on terror, and help the world recover from the volatile state it is currently in. This book aims to show the true dangers of war to an audience that is both nervous and anxious about terrorism.

            This novel succeeds in accurately telling the tragic story of operation Redwing. It uses good rhetorical components that help to communicate the sacrifice these men gave and the bravery they showed in the face of battle. It also shows the urgency the US military to recruit more troops to help fight in the war on terror, and to show the nation as a whole a true glimpse at war. Some may argue that this book failed to convince young Americans to enlist or support or troops on the war on terror, but instead scared people away from the armed services, and gave further proof why we shouldn’t be involved in a war in Afghanistan. I believe that this only strengthens the goal of the US military to draw people to enlist, because it shows the bravery and brotherhood that the organization has. Also, the depiction of this mission should only enforce that the US must stop terrorism both at home and abroad. 

Max

Blink

In the book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell expresses concepts and ideas of why we as humans think the way we do. He narrows down topics of life and decision-making that can actually be made into a science that explains a lot about how we think. This book has extremely interesting studies on all areas of life that can be narrowed down to a simple decision making process that is effective immediately, before there is any other thought. This was so interesting because Gladwell expressed what he was communicating very well. It made any educated reader interested in what he was discussing and want to read on because of the interesting facts and studies throughout the book as well as because the book has potential to help people who want to know more about how people gather judgements and ideas or who are just interested in intriguing experiments and results.

First off, the book uses effective rhetoric by giving interesting facts and studies to the audience/readers. The message that is portrayed by gladwell is so interesting because it discusses a view to life and the decision making process that no one has ever looked at or made a best-selling book about before. It is a niche in the book industry as well as science itself. In the book, Gladwell talks about how most ways of doing things around certain people cause a person to judge someone without even realizing it. Gladwell talked about an experiment where there were people of all the same background, but were different races and genders. These people went to a car dealership and bargained for the lowest price for the same type of car for forty minutes. In the end, it turned out that the white male received the cheapest car price while the females and other ethnicities received a higher price for their vehicles. This shows that there is either some judgement that takes place inside the car dealer's head without them even knowing about it, or they are just racist and sexist. Realistically, the first idea is probably the better choice. Some will say that experiments like these are not accurate and are just coincidences that occur. This is not true because these were sophisticated studies that Gladwell took from outside resources of his own and there are also several studies like the one discussed above which have nearly the exact same results. All in all, interesting experiments like this one make it easy to enjoy the good rhetoric and message by the author.

In addition, the book also expresses ideas that are helpful to people who want to learn more about how judgements are made and what comes from the decision-making process. It is said in the reading that quick judgements come from past experiences relating to the thing that is being judged. The importance of this is that there is now an exact reason for why some people judge the way they do. They might have just had a bad experience with the same thing in the past if the judgement is negative. The opposite applies with the positive. Some people will argue that quick judgements come right away based on information that is immediately in front of someone. This is not the case because there are several studies that clearly connect the fact that past experiences influence the judgements that are made in any situation. They are not just based on what is at hand. Throughout all of the facts, lessons, and experiments in this book, there is an understanding that is gathered by the reader that expresses a great deal of knowledge that is valuable to whoever reads about it.

There are many things that readers have not known until they pick up a book. The way that they do pick up a book is if they enjoy reading it. If the book is enjoying to read, then there must be effective rhetoric within it to make sure that the entire spectrum of reader is received. Having interesting facts and studies throughout the book and giving potential to help people who want to know more about how people gather judgements and ideas makes this book a great piece of rhetoric. Gladwell makes the reader know that this book should stay on the bestseller list for much longer than it already has.

Isaiah

Blink

One of the best ways to get a message across to a specific audience is by doing that through a rhetoric piece. The three main elements of rhetoric literature provides the reader with a message, communicator, and audience. The author wants the audience to gain more knowledge towards a certain situation as well as change the state of the audience when introducing the new information. The perfect example of a literature artwork that possesses these elements would be Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It is a book that tells the reader the process of decision making and instincts. Blink provides a reader with examples of logos, pathos and other literary devices. This book provides the reader with an effective rhetoric message.

So, throughout the book there are numerous of psychological tests that are the authors way of proving that short glimpses of things can tell a lot about a person or situation. The author is providing the element of logos through the experiments in the different studies. There is a psychologist named John Gottman who goes through various tests where he studies peoples behaviors. He gains knowledge of the people by observing them having a conversation for a few minutes, As they talk John is observing for facial expressions, body language, and gestures. John is so accurate with his analysis that “if he analyzes an hour (of a married couple talking), he can predict with 95 percent accuracy whether that couple will still be married fifteen years later. If he watches a couple for fifteen minutes, his success rate is around 90 percent” (Gladwell 10).  John is able to prove through careful examinations that he accurately can be able to predict things based upon observations in a short amount of time, and that he can just as well as when he takes more time to observe and think. In a way the author is providing the audience with a logos and ethos appeal. Malcolm uses logical reasons along with using experts to back up the reasons why the results ended up the way they did to give the reader assurance of the new data. Some could argue that the average person would never be able to read someones body language so accurately and be able to judge a person just from that. That would be a false assumption though. According to psychologist Nalini Ambady who gave students a video clip of teachers to judge how good of a teacher they were, “A person watching a silent two-second video clip of a teacher he or she has never met will reach conclusions about how good that teacher is that are very similar to those of a student who has sat in the teacher’s class for an entire semester” (7). Body language can be picked up by anyone if they pay attention to all the movements and signs. A persons body language is very informational and tells people a lot about a person. Malcolm effectively makes sure to give the reader perfect examples to assure the facts.

Also, there is evidence that people do not always make the right decision when evaluating something quickly. Gladwell brings up an example of the election of 1914 for the U.S. Senate which was a terrible election. A candidate named Warren Hardening, “at the time (was) about 35 years old. His head, features, shoulders and torso had a size that attracted attention; their proportions to each other made an effect which in any male at any place would justify more than the term handsome” (27). Everyone looked at his physical appearance and thought he was the perfect Senate without truly seeing if he was obligated to be a senator.  People would describe him as, “vague and ambivalent on matters of policy. His speeches were once described as “an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea.”” (27). There is more than a person's physical appearance that should influence peoples votes. The most beauty people in the world are not always built to be leaders. Intelligence, leadership, and heart are not something that is always visible. Some could say that confidence is something that has to be visible in order to be a leader, but there is a thin line between confidence and cockiness. The main concept I feel like Malcolm wants the reader to grasp is to research things do not just believe everything you see.

Finally, I think Malcolm did a excellent job of using rhetoric effectively. He made sure to not only give us facts, but he provided a reliable source to back up the facts. I think after reading this book that I will start to notice things more often than I normally would not have. I’m gonna be a little more aware of certain expressions and body language.

Tiffany

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, is an adventurous, unpredictable, and unforgettable novel. Cheryl Strayed decided to pack up and hike the Pacific Crest Trail after the death of her mother. She decided she wanted to leave and hike the trail because she was all alone and needed something to do with her life to try and move on. Many things happened in her life where she needed to start a new chapter. Her mother had just died; her siblings are distant with her, a divorce with her husband, and her drug use. This novel does use rhetoric effectively. It uses rhetoric effectively because it has a clear message, clear audience, and the story can happen in real life to that she’s trying to get the message across to.

         In this novel there is a clear message that is spread to a bunch of people that read it. Cheryl’s message in this novel was even when you’re going through a hard time you still have to believe in yourself and never give up. This message shows that there’s effective rhetoric in this novel. Even though she was having a very hard time with some of the things that were happening in her life, she wanted to try something new like hike the Pacific Crest Trail. She had perseverance and set her mind to achieve this goal she set for herself. During her hike she got hit with some obstacles. When the tough times hit in her life and even on her hike, she still didn't give up on herself. She pushed through it and continued to fight through what she was going through. This is an example of rhetoric in the novel because there is a clear message that is presented. It shows people that you shouldn’t give up on yourself even when times are tough. You have to keep your head up high and know that you will be okay in the end. That’s how Cheryl got through her hike on the Pacific Trail Crest. She knew that she was going to make it all the way to the end and try her hardest every single day she went hiking. She pushed all the way to the end and did what she wanted to achieve. People could argue though that she made some poor decisions as she was growing up. She got into drugs and fights with her husband. Not all of her bad decisions were her own fault. She did lose her mother and her siblings just disappeared from her life. Even though she made those poor decisions she still became very successful at the end of this novel. 

         As well as a clear message to this novel, Wild has a clear audience that it’s trying to get the message across to. This novel is suitable for teens and even adults can read it for an inspiring boost to help them achieve what they want to achieve. This shows rhetoric because when there’s an audience, the audience will read the rhetoric and try to understand it. This novel also relates to rhetoric because it’s a true story that can actually happen in real life. It happened to Cheryl and it can happen to other people as well. It’s rhetoric because this is reality. The reality of Cheryl’s experiences can happen to us people too. Everyone goes through multiple hard times in their life. When hard times hit you have to accept what’s happening and try not to give up on yourself and conquer whatever it might be. Cheryl had to learn to get over and move on from the problems she was having with her own family. She also had to get through the problems that were happening to her on her hiking adventure. Reading this novel, you get drawn into what’s happening and you can sometimes relate to some of the things that Cheryl went through with your own life. This novel was very effective in showing rhetoric.

         In conclusion, Wild showed effective rhetoric due to the clear message, clear audience, and how the story can happen in real life. This was a true story so that tells you that, things like this can happen to you. And when you’re going through a hard time always remember to never give up on yourself. You have to believe that you can get through whatever it is you’re going through. Reading this novel taught me this clear message and it’s a great example of rhetoric. It was a great novel that taught a sincere message and for people that haven’t read it, it will be a great read for you if you want some motivation.

Peter

Lone Survivor

            I read the book Lone Survivor, and it is hard to read, because you know what is going to happen by the title; yet, it is an easy read and a delight to read in most other respects. Marcus Luttrell, the author, had a mission, and I would deem it an unqualified success. This books goal was to bring the readers and Americans into the realization of how tough it is for Seal Team 10, and Luttrell uses effective rhetoric to do so. The tale he tells is a very human one, compelling in all the best ways of a man and a writer.

            First off, Luttrell uses logos because he was the lone survivor who he is now writing about. He was the Seal that made it when his team was being pinned down by Afghanistan terrorists. But, it is not just a tale of a mission gone bad, though that is a tame way of describing how horribly wrong things went and the losses suffered. It is not just a tale of how he came to be a part of that group and his part in the mission. Those are in some ways only a secondary part to the greater goal: bringing the people of Seal Team 10 to life for the reader, making them people with whom you can identify, empathize, and see as the individuals they were. This would explain why readers have an amazing realization when reading this book because Luttrell uses pathos in his story because he is able to succeed in humanizing them.. Luttrell also uses pathos when the leader of an Afghan town helped him survive and kept him safe from the Taliban. This is pathos because you can only think about the people who aren't part of the Taliban who can only dream of a different life. When even in the best of times must eke out their existence in the harshest of conditions. Who will never know the comfort and liberty we do. The people who think that Luttrell's main goal was to bring to life the the people of Seal Team 10 are wrong. His goal was not just to show the battles and the losses because he spent time making sure that you ”knew” the characters and he portrayed them as normal people because a lot of people get distracted by their uniform to remember that they are everyday citizens and they have a family of their own and they have lives.                                                                                                                                                                Marcus Luttrell strikes home this idea that the Seals are real people by publishing this book in 2007. This was very clever of Luttrell because in 2007 the state of the world was focused on the increase of the number of American troops that then President Bush sent into Iraq to to provide security to Baghdad. So, at this time I believe the audience he had intended were the families of the military and the people who were not certain about whether they agreed with Bush's tactical plan or not. This was why it was an ideal time to share his story with the world, because the state of the audience would be scared or nervous, so they would be more sympathetic for the military and the people of Afghanistan. I think he published this book during this time period because he wanted to persuade people and show them what can happen and how dangerous it is to have soldiers over in the Middle East. For the people who don't think that he tried to publish his book at the same time as the increase of soldiers, you are wrong because he knew that the readers and audience of his literature works would be more susceptible to what he was saying and they would read more intently. Not to mention, it would help him with the sales of his book.                                                                                                                                                It is indeed a hard book to read, for the reader knows up front why it was written and what happens. Yet, it is a book that all should read, for there is much more to the story than death. There is much more than suffering. People owe it to the participants to read and know them, to appreciate them for what they were. Most of all, you owe it to yourself to read that larger story, to understand as best you can the people within, how they came to be there, what they believed, and how they lived and died, and to empathize however you can with those they left behind. In the end, the book thrills, horrifies and also punches home the simple message that individual acts of conscience can save lives, and even change the world.

Osmaan

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell is a true portrayal of the story of 4 naval SEALs who are chosen to the trenches of Afghanistan in 2005. So you ask is this story good use of Rhetoric. My answer would be yes it is because the purpose is to educate, mainly young adults and middle aged people. This book will give you the ability to feel like you are right in the war with Marcus, Danny, Michael, and Matthew.  One thing that is cool about this book is that it is something have all of us have heard about and be all affectived by; Osama Bin Laden. These SEALs are given the difficult task to find and execute Osama.

One of the reason I think this book is such a great source of Rhetoric because it really conveys the messages in a great way. The audience is meant for young adults and middle ages men. The reason the I say that is because of the violence which attracts men and the aspect of war which also intrigue men I assume more then women. The message is something that you can’t forget. Doesn’t matter what people think of you or depict you as because you might not know who they really are in the inside This is just one of the main messages I got out of this book. This is comes from when Luttrell Navy SEALs team all die and then Marcus is left for himself while he is badly injured. You get a sense that he really doesn’t like the afghan people in the beginning. Marcus was found by an Afghani man who takes him to safety and saves his life not only do they save his life they grant him Lokhay which means that they had decided as a community to help, Shelter and protect with there lives for Marcus.  In the US the media seems to not depict the correct image of Afghani people because in America they seem to think that all so called “Brown People” are terrorist.  This is just one of the many messages but this one seemed to stick to me the most because of how true I think this stereotype is.

Rhetoric is used in this book a lot but one thing that you don’t see in this is book is bias. Since the person in the situation tells the book you are able to get more insight full information then you normally would. This would be called the communicator. Which is Marcus the Navy SEALs who is in all the action. The way it is written makes it seem so real and is nothing like we always hear on the news and other places. The state of the audience would most likely be teens around our age who are decided there future and some of them may decide to go to serve our country.  Some people may say that this book has no message or any rhetoric because it doesn’t have enough of a big picture message. I say sometimes a couple little messages have a bigger impact on a person’s life then one big message.

This will go down as one of my favorite book I have ever read because of true grit and heart. I really don’t read to many war type books but this really stuck a cord in me and I’m probably going read more of these types of books from here on out. Rhetoric was used in this book, maybe it didn’t hit you right away but by the end of it you finally got the message.

Cody

Lone Survivor

            Lone Survivor is an account of the untold heroic actions and tasks performed by Marcus Luttrell and his small group of U.S. Navy SEALs during their tour in Afghanistan. The novel explains how Luttrell became a SEAL, created friendships while overseas, and sharing their willingness and brotherhood in order to protect the very land they had sworn to defend against all enemies. Pinned down on a mountain by Taliban insurgents, Luttrell his comrades fought bravely, even while beat, shot, wounded, and through intense pain. Luttrell was the only survivor of this horrific encounter and lived to tell about it in this memoir. This novel is also an effective piece rhetoric, as Luttrell was extremely opinionated on the portrayal by the media of the wars in the Middle East.

            Luttrell’s main message in the novel is to reveal the untold acts of valor and hardships his men (and all other American soldiers) endured overseas. Since he feels not many people know what really happened, he wanted to convey and communicate his story to a new audience, the everyday American citizen, as a way to possibly change their prospective on the war. The state of the audience was most likely not sure what to believe before reading the novel. Much of the world also viewed American soldiers as cold hearted killers, and he wanted to change that.
           

            Along with the heroism in the novel, Luttrell expresses his extreme dislike to the American liberal media. According to Luttrell, the American media uses pathological appeals to spin what is really happening and show the American soldiers as unethical villains out to kill everyone in their path. This could be due to the unpopularity of the war, and in hypothetical terms, being unpopular with something unpopular is "popular". To Luttrell, this was very important and urgent to change. He utilizes himself as the expert and logically addresses the media’s portrayals. He relates the SEALs and himself as battered, broken, and shattered from what they endured, and how horrifying it is to lose a comrade in battles. He explains that he did not want the war more than anyone else. He doesn’t hate the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan. But he promised that when needed, he will answer the nation’s call, and he did.

​            Lone Survivor is fantastic piece of American literature and rhetoric that will be read for many years to come. It truly effectively answers the war’s unanswered questions about what the members of the military endured overseas in the Middle East. Luttrell effectively argues his views against the media and provides a firsthand prospective of the war. He has persuaded much of the audience though his appeals and offers the most clear, effective, communication on his points. People who do not even enjoy reading will not be able to put this book down. All Americans confused or disoriented about what happened in the Middle East should pick up this great novel.