Rhetorical Analysis: The Case For Torture By Michael Levin
In the reading “The Case for Torture” written by Michael Levin, and published on the June 7th, 1982 edition of Newsweek. Levin argues in favor of torture as an acceptable way of obtaining information when innocent lives are at stake. Outlining three separate scenarios devised to make the reader reconsider the stance on torturer in order to protect the interest of those in the western area. The strength of this text is that the absence of reasoning does not strike the reader; he is overcome by Levin’s ability to break ethical decisions down to black and white. Levin begins with describing torture as “morally mandatory”. Levin conveys his point of view to his readers under the form of three different scenarios in which torture should …show more content…
This point introduces his following argument about the lack of constitutionality in torturing. His answer casts aside the framework of American democracy, the Constitution that states in the fourteenth amendment reads, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. Levin continues directly speaking to his audience claiming that you would be holding the lives of millions in your hands and it is you duty “to apply the electrodes” to save them. This plea to emotions has the same purpose as the rhetorical questions. Levin is searching to cloud the reader’s …show more content…
Levin says that terrorists lose their civil rights then they “knowingly” initiate their actions. Their lack of civility means that we can reciprocate in an uncivilized manner. The following paragraph speaks of two sides: “we” and “them”, and that there is a distinction that can be made on when it is acceptable to use torture. Levin believes that despite disregarding the constitution, or the foundation of United States’ democracy, we will not “lose” our way and solely preserve order. Levin last words warn American’s that terrorism is lingering in the future and that torture will be the only way to save “tens of thousands of
Summary Of Torture's Terrible Toll By John Mccain
848 Words | 4 PagesDershowitz, he is the author of the essay "The Case for Torture Warrants". Dershowitz is more in favor of torture than Young and McCain. He believes that an authority figure should make the decision to torture and only torture if a warrant is issued. He also believes in non-lethal torture that makes people uncomfortable but does not harm the individual. In his essay, he gives the example of the Israeli security service torturing a suspected terrorist by placing a "smelly sack over his head and shake him violently" (Dershowitz 687).
Rhetorical Analysis Of Torture's Terrible Toll, By John Mccain
699 Words | 3 PagesMahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement states “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” This is important because torture is brutal on the body and mind. The article “Torture’s Terrible Toll” by John McCain is more convincing then the article “The Case for Torture” by Michael Levin because McCain provides more logical reasoning, he adds his own personal experience of being a captured prisoner during the Vietnam War, and he creates an emotional bond with people around the world. Through more logical reasoning McCain Argument is more valid than Levin.
Cruel And Unusual Rhetoric Essay
1245 Words | 5 PagesCruel and Unusual Rhetoric The article, Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Shame of Three Strikes Laws, by Matt Taibbi, emphasizes while at the same time, educating the audience about the “Frankenstein- like monster that is mandatory- minimum sentencing”. The author goes about this in a quirky way to say the least. From overly detailed and heavily sourced paragraphs, to a couple of grammatical errors. Similarly, the loss of tone and occasionally, focus in the article.
Torture By Uwe Steinhoff: Article Analysis
1573 Words | 7 PagesI feel as if the pain that a criminal would feel from being tortured, without any moral or ethical considerations, is worth it if it saves a life that would otherwise be lost. One response to the Dirty Case is that interrogative torture, such as the technique used by the officer on the kidnapper, is not effective. Steinhoff argues that this is incorrect because sometimes the torturer does get what he is looking for as in the Dirty Harry case. To further defend against this response, Stein a One-Million-Pains-To-One-Kill-Gun argument. With this argument, essentially a person is being shot at by an aggressor and is eventually going to be hit unless they were to fire a gun with a 1 in 1 million chance of immediately stunning the aggressor to avoid being killed.
Michael Levin The Case For Torture Summary
686 Words | 3 PagesMarzieh Ghiasi is a female Muslim college student who wrote a rebuttal to Levin 's Case for Torture where she uses logic to deconstruct his argument and prove that torture is not an acceptable practice. Both of their papers are good arguments and have great points to support them, but ultimately, I would say that Levin’s argument on torture being morally acceptable is the better argument. Levin uses many examples and devices to fill his article with Pathos as Ghiasi has a Logos approach but doesn’t have very many devices throughout her article to support her argument. Levin uses many hyperbolic situations that he uses to explain when and why torture would be acceptable.
Heymann's Expository Essay
701 Words | 3 Pages“Authorizing torture is a bad and dangerous idea that can easily be made to sound plausible.” This is a shockingly true statement. Heymann’s purpose in writing this article is to persuade readers to agree with him that torture should not be authorized. Heymann uses the persuasive appeal of pathos primarily in this article to convince his readers to agree with him. Although that is not to say he did not use other forms of persuasive appeal, heymann also used Logos and Ethos, just not as strongly as Pathos.
Rhetorical Analysis: The Case For Torture By Michael Levin
742 Words | 3 PagesAfter questioning readers’ morals in an accusative manner, the writer answers his own question by suggesting that the only ethical resolution to the dilemma is to torture the terrorist, leading readers to believe that the writer has values similar as them, as torturing one is far more moral than letting millions die. In the following sentence, Levin uses a first person and second person point of view to persuade readers to let go of bias and listen to his arguments. By using two informal points of view, first person and second person, Levin sets readers up so that by discarding their previous beliefs about torture, they are more susceptible to Levin’s persuasive arguments and ultimately more likely to agree with his opinions. Later on near the end of his essay, Levin uses an informal and formal tone to persuade readers that terrorists renounce their rights and that society should stop them by whatever means necessary, including torture. Distinguishing terrorists from their victims, Levin implicitly states his opinion on the argument of whether terrorists have rights,
Terrorism: A Critique Of Excuses
1055 Words | 5 PagesDershowitz argues that there are two ways to deal with a ticking bomb terrorist, besides doing nothing and letting innocent people die. These options include continuing to torture behind closed door or to utilize torture and make this information open to the
Analysis Of Ghosts Of Abu Ghraib By Rory Kennedy
717 Words | 3 PagesThe United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by US Forces, but it seemed like freedom was the last thing on their minds. Abu Ghraib prison was an occupied Iraqi prison where the US Army held mass incarcerations and sponsored inmate torture. 2007 marked the year that a documentary titled “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” was produced by HBO and directed by Rory Kennedy. This documentary showed the abuses and injustices inured to the Iraqi prisoners at the hands of the United States Soldiers. Although the guards at Abu Ghraib Prison Complex had personal reservations against the treatment of the prisoners, they were manipulated into authoritarianism by their overzealous obedience.
Rhetorical Analysis Of Torture Myth '
1050 Words | 5 PagesWhile analyzing “The Torture Myth” and “The Case for Torture”, it is very clear to see the type of rhetorical appeals used to persuade the audience. Anne Applebaum, the writer of “The Torture Myth” --in context of the decision of electing a new Attorney General--would argue that torture is very seldomly effective, violates a person’s rights, and should be outlawed due to the irrational need upon which physical torture is used. On the other hand, Michael Levin strongly argues that physical torture is crucial to solving every imminent danger to civilians. Levin claims that if you don’t physically torture someone, you are being weak and want to allow innocent people to die over something that could have been simply done.
Summary Of The Ticking Is The Bomb By Nick Flynn
1661 Words | 7 PagesNick Flynn spends a large majority of his memoir, The Ticking is the Bomb, reflecting on both the Abu Ghraib prison scandal of 2004-2005 and his impending fatherhood, seemingly placing two incompatible ideas side by side. At first glance, the memoir seems disjointed and causes the reader to question why Flynn would choose to write about parenthood alongside depictions of torture. Close examination of the text, however, reveals Flynn’s complex and nuanced worldview. Flynn finds torture to be reprehensible, and a significant portion of the memoir is devoted to coming to terms with the fact that he had shaken hands with known torture-advocate Sam Harris. Perhaps he does not wish to raise his daughter in a world where scandals like Abu Ghraib
Techniques Used In Michael Levin's The Case For Torture
515 Words | 3 PagesIn Michael Levin’s “The Case for Torture”, he uses many cases of emotional appeal to persuade the reader that torture is necessary in extreme cases. There are many terms/statements that stick with the reader throughout the essay so that they will have more attachment to what is being said. Levin is particularly leaning to an audience based in the United States because he uses an allusion to reference an event that happened within the states and will better relate to the people that were impacted by it. The emotional appeals used in this essay are used for the purpose of persuading the reader to agree that in extreme instances torture is necessary and the United States should begin considering it as a tactic for future cases of extremity. One major eye catching factor of this essay is the repetitive use of words that imply certain stigmas.
Analysis Of Christopher Hitchens 'Believe Me, Its Torture'
943 Words | 4 PagesMr. Nance has played a part in the attacks of al Qaeda since the early 1990s and Hitchens states the many points that Mr. Nance makes to persuade anyone to believe waterboarding is torture. The author brings in special forces to argue that waterboarding is a punishment used for special forces not U.S. citizens. Accordingly, Hitchens demonstrates imagery, metaphors, and tone to persuade the audience waterboarding is indeed
Rhetorical Analysis: The Case For Torture By Michael Levin
971 Words | 4 PagesIn Michael Levin's The Case for Torture, Levin provides an argument in which he discusses the significance of inflicting torture to perpetrators as a way of punishment. In his argument, he dispenses a critical approach into what he believes justifies torture in certain situations. Torture is assumed to be banned in our culture and the thought of it takes society back to the brutal ages. He argues that societies that are enlightened reject torture and the authoritative figure that engage in its application risk the displeasure of the United States. In his perspective, he provides instances in which wrongdoers put the lives of innocent people at risk and discusses the aspect of death and idealism.
Argumentative Essay: Should We Torture?
574 Words | 3 PagesShould We Torture? These passages present a discussion about arguments concerning torture. This is an important debate for many Americans since torture, by its very nature, is cruel. The two positions argue whether or not the the U.S. should have the ability to use torture against terrorists. Both viewpoints have valid claims warranting consideration; for example evidence indicates that innocent people may be tortured.
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