After reflecting on this past semester in ENG-111, I have been able to voice my opinion in each assignment, develop effective strategies for generating ideas, watch my writing ability grow with each inquiry, and will be able to use these techniques beyond college in my future career. I have even learned some things about myself, as this class forced me to write in a variety of ways, ways that I may not have been used to or comfortable with. Despite this, I found that with an extra effort and a bit more focus, I could find ways to excel in these new writing scenarios.
One of the greatest speeches in history, Alexander the Great's "Depart" speech, is often overlooked for its rhetorical affect on the audience and importance at the time and in the future. Alexander's speech was specifically addressed to the Macedonians that he was commander of at the time. His speech further secured their support and faith in him as a leader due to his effectiveness in using ethos, pathos, logos and kairos. In this assignment I was able to analyze these rhetorical aspects of the speech which made it so effective, and after breaking it down, I was able to learn the definition and importance of rhetoric appeals in conveying a message and persuading the specific audience to agree with the rhetor. I know I will be able to use these elements in my career now that I have grasped a strong understanding of each.
Ethos- The audience obviously found Alexander to be credible because he consistently proves to be a trustworthy leader or he wouldn't have any followers that support him in battle. In his speech, he reminded the Macedonian troops that his father "found you vagabonds and destitute of means, most of you clad in hides" and "he gave you cloaks to wear instead of hides, and from the mountains he led you down to the plains, and made you capable of fighting the neighboring Barbarians." Since these people are indebted to his father, he was able to build up credibility and put himself in a position in which the troops owe him their trust.
Pathos- Alexander sought to create an intimate relationship with his soldiers through the use of pathos, which is an attempt to persuade the audience to feel certain emotions. In my essay, I used the example, "Many soldiers may have been frustrated with Alexander, their “god-like” leader, who was getting the glory, the women, the riches. Alexander wants to make sure to erase this thinking from the minds of his men, and make it as though he is just another fellow solider," to make his soldiers aware that he knows what they feel like. By doing this, by making his soldiers realize that he is fighting for them, not the money or fame, he develops a more intimate relationship with them, making them more inclined to stand and fight with him.
By comparing my work in Inquiry 1 and first discussion posts compared to my most recent works, the growth of my writing is obvious and I have seen a huge development in myself as a writer. Writing isn't simply an assignment where I write out an introuduction, body and closing paragraph, rather, this course taught me how to take impactful moments to create a narrative story, rhetorically analyzing the aspects of a speech and how the audience is influenced, as well as using textual evidence to support an idea and language of a text. Every aspect of a speech is intentional and this course helped open my eyes to the verbal and visual aspects that influence the rhetor's purpose. Additionally, I learned how to annotate a bibliography, incorporate specific quotes and paraphrases to showcase integrity, how to recognize three sides of an issue and learn the opinions of each argument. Lastly, I learned how to take a public argument and turn it into a website. With technology taking over society, learning how to use different types of technology, including Adobe Spark, will have a lasting impact on my writing and how to translate it to something visually interesting. This course challenged my writing and understanding of arguments on a critical level, forever changing the way I discuss diverse topics, audiences and reasons.
The end.
Credits:
Created with images by jarmoluk - "library book britannica" • KeithJJ - "mountain peak mountain range" • bradbox - "Alexander the Great statue, Skopje" • Jorge Lascar - "Alexander the Great's Barque Chapel" • Tilemahos Efthimiadis - "Alexander the Great" • Freepht - "computer laptop notebook"