Rhetorical Analysis on “Southern Discomfort” In “Southern Discomfort” George Packer initially constructs a foundation on which he can build his coming argument by mentioning a recent vote in Congress in which southern republicans dissented from the rest of the party by making up half of the “no” votes. Packer then goes on recall the history of the South, touch on some major political issues and controversies, and just generally establish himself as a credible and knowledgeable individual on the South. Throughout the article, Packer makes numerous implications that both the South as well as its culture is out-of-date; a sort of antiquated representation of America from 1970 to 2008, one filled with the cliché southerner who only loves country, guns, and football. Consequently Packer warns of recalcitrance that might arise …show more content…
Cash in his 1941 study “The Mind of the South,” Parker exhibits how his argument is rational and logical while making any potential opposition seem unreasonable and ignorant. Additional instances pepper the article, constantly reminding the audience of the superior position Packer comes from. This, conjoint with sophisticated diction lends greatly to Packer’s claims and argument. Many people innately fear being on the wrong side of an argument, and propping oneself up by factual evidence is a good way to accumulate support on a topic. Though Packer comes off strong throughout the article through using logos there are some fallacies present. For instance he makes a number of sweeping generalizations, such as claiming that all the south is conservative, and getting more and more conservative. While it is true that conservatism is dominant within the south, growing urban populations and diversifying demographics are leading at least to a more socially liberal voter
The Civil War left America in a state of disarray, with over 600,000 casualties of the war and the South founds itself in social and economical ruin. The following twelve years, from 1865 to 1877, even though one may argue that Reconstruction for the South started as early as 1863 with the Emancipation proclamation, marked an era of reconstruction that contained many challenges: first, the reunification of this divided nation, second the conversion of the South, whose economy relied entirely on slavery and finally the integration of the emancipated slaves, culturally as well as politically. It was a time of transition from a belligerent conflict between the North and the South to a political one and a time of many changes. We may thus wonder to what extent the Reconstruction Era was a rupture in American history and paved the way to a unified nation? My argumentation will consequently fall in two parts: on the one hand I will demonstrate that the Reconstruction Era marks the end of a time and then I will show that the reconstruction is far from fulfilling its ambitions.
The book “Redemption; The Last Battle of The Civil War,” written by Nicholas Lemann focuses on one major politician during the reconstruction time period. Lemann illustrates the life of people in the south and the trials that the “Negros” faced. The conclusion of the civil war was supposed to be the end of racism and slavery, but white southerners continued to find ways to get around the new laws that were put into place. They created and passed “black codes” which, as the author says, “…legislated the freed slaves into a condition as close to their former one as it was possible to get without actually reinstituting slavery. ”(34)
Everyone there must have been able to clearly visualize what it was like, and how the field was soaked with blood. He describes how horrible the fighting really was when he talks about the “smoke and hot lead pouring right through” the bodies of the soldiers. Coach Boone uses this imagery to draw the connection between present day and the past. He states that they are still fighting the same way, that there is figurative, and literal, smoke and hot lead pouring through their bodies by the way his team and community act toward each other. All this is for an appeal to their emotion.
James Henry Hammond and the Old South A Design for Mastery by Drew Gilpin Faust Southern civilization and society regarded many accomplishments and actions in highly while regarding others lowly. Political success, social status, land tenure, family connections and wealth are the most important and sought after attributes of measuring success among the old southern society. Qualities that are treated negatively among the old southern society included sexual misconduct, family conflicts, unionist political ideals and general disrespect towards other members of the society. James Henry Hammond was an unusual character who embodied both sides of the positives and negatives of the old southern society. James Henry Hammond was a southern man who exhibited both the positive values of success and prestige as well as exhibiting negative values that brought shame and humiliation among his family and the South Carolina society during his lifetime.
Prolific for its apocalyptic portrayal President Abraham Lincoln’s Election, the speech delivered by Senator Robert Toombs to the state legislature in Georgia reveals anxieties of Southerners about the longevity of their lifestyle. Utilizing passionate rhetoric, The South Must Strike while There Is Yet Time displays how the future of the Union remains gloomy and unpredictable. Addressing the fellow legislators with vigorous pathos, the speech details how the security of Southern values remains paramount to the decision of secession. Moreover, Toombs features the question of slavery and its expansion heavily in his speech, deeming it the quality most necessary to preserve to preserve the Southern way of life. As Lincoln has been perceived by Southerners to support radical
Q: How did the coming of the Civil War reflect citizens reckoning with the effects of Democracy? As described by Susan-Mary Grant, the Northern worldview was defined by its antipathy towards the characteristics and values of the South. It could also be argued that the South was sympathetic to liberty and democratic values except for when it came to their slaves. The Republicans were hopeful that after the Kansas-Nebraska bill became a law that the North would become stronger.
Since the end of the Reconstruction era, scholarship over the question of why Reconstruction was considered a failed experiment for social change has been argued and debated. From the arguments by William Dunning, who argued that Radical Republicans in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination enacted a plan of Reconstruction that was full of scorn and humiliation for those southern states that had to be reincorporated back into the Union, to a revisionist school that argued Reconstruction was progressive in enacting social change for African American freedman, the arguments for why Reconstruction failed are endless. However, with this plethora of scholarship that has emerged, it can be argued that the primary reason in the failure of
he Reconstruction Era was the process of reunifying the country and reconstructing the South after the ruins the Civil War had left it in. This era was substantial in history because it encouraged to protect the rights of former slaves and African Americans as citizens of America. However, it was ineffective in settling the nation’s social, monetary, physical, and political dilemmas. The inadequacy of political focus, decline to bring about long-term racial integration, and authorizing the passing of black codes, voter qualifications, and other anti-progressive legislation to repeal the rights that blacks had gained, emphasizes the disappointment of what the focus of the Reconstruction Era was all about but the infrastructure it had established
The South killed Reconstruction most by their resistance against the North. Reconstruction started after the Civil war between 1865-1876. During the Civil War, the North and South battled, (The North won) and the South laid in ruins. The United States was willing to let the South back in under some conditions, and that marked the day Reconstruction started. During the Reconstruction era, the South resisted the North’s help and Reconstruction died.
The following essay is a rhetorical analysis of the 2018 Budweiser Super Bowl commercial. The advertisement was in response to the recent natural disasters in Florida, Texas, California, and Puerto Rico. These hurricanes and floods can pollute the water and destroy water infrastructures. The commercial shows the Cartersville brewery workers converting their beer cans into water to ship out to cities in need. The brand strategically tries appealing to the majority of the U.S. population who watches the Super Bowl.
In the article "In the Strawberry Fields", Eric Schlosser uses an abundance of rhetorical strategies to influence the audience. "In the Strawberry Fields" is honest and gets to the point of the illegal immigrants working. His in depth description of the migratory workforce in California proves how farmers who pick strawberries for a living are the lowest-paid, and hardest working, which makes it an unfavorable job amongst farmers. The author uses eloquent details to get the message across that California has also become one of the most dependent states to have the availability of cheap labor. He descriptively details the backbreaking work migrants perform and the financial unsteadiness to make readers aware of their hardships and motivate a
Echoing the arguments made in the book, Why the South Lost the Civil War, the same historians in the book, The Elements of Confederate Defeat: Nationalism, War Aims, and Religion, aim to fully explore the reason why the Conference eventually lost the greatest and most vicious conflict on United States soil. Exploring three key themes of nationalism, the war aims of the south, and the religion of the southern states, the authors in the book ultimately claim as their thesis that the Confederacy lost the Civil War for the sole reason that the southern states lacked the morale and the will to successfully win the war. Furthermore, the nationalism of the Confederacy was underscored by the religious consequences and guilt felt by southerners over
Following the deadliest conflict in United States history, the federal government was confronted with the unprecedented task of establishing a modern economic system, settling a new and turbulent society, and rebuilding the ruins of the southern states. The Reconstruction era lasted from January 1, 1865, to March 31, 1877, and encompassed the years following the end of the civil war to the inauguration of President Rutherford B. Hayes. A Republican-controlled Congress imposed martial law, created the Freedmen’s Bureau to protect the newly-granted liberties of former slaves, and overrode a presidential veto to pass the first Civil Rights Act. Approaching these priorities proved to be divisive along political and racial lines; emancipationists called for African-Americans to be granted their full civil rights, moderates like Presidents Lincoln and Johnson wanted the government to treat former Confederates with leniency, and white supremacists like the first generation of the Ku Klux Klan terrorized communities with violence. Reconstruction policy took such a turbulent course and ultimately failed in building the South into a modern society
Evil and savagery lives within and it can be brought out when you are forced to fight for something. We all have a dark side that may not show until faced with a challenging task. Lord of the Flies is about a group of young boys stuck on an island after their plane crashes. There are no adults and they are left to survive by themselves. They have to decide between right and wrong.
As the movie goes on, it becomes more and more clear what Tennessee Williams is trying to convey to the audience. This being, Southern culture was deeply corrupted in many ways and the societal norms of the time period were like a drug that people