Stephanie Ericsson The Ways We Lie Essay

The Ways We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson explains how everyone lies in this world, one way or another. Ericsson expresses the many ways people lie and why they do so. She educates her audience by describing the different types of lies told daily by sharing personal stories, asking rhetorical questions and creates hypothetical situations to support her statements. She begins with the white lie, which is a harmless lie instead of the truth, if the truth was bad news. Then she continues to explain a façade, changing your personality making people believe something you are not.

Why do people lie? According to the article by Stephanie Ericsson “The Ways We Lie” the white lie is people that lie because they believe that telling the truth can hurt someone or do more damage than good. The White lie to me is the most dangerous one. I have witness a white lie and it did more damage than good.

Rhetorical Analysis Most people tend to believe that lying is a way of life, that without it the whole world could crumble and fall. While some tend to believe that any form of lying is a sin and there should be consequences. One author, Stephanie Ericsson, wrote “The Ways We Lie” published in 1993 she talks about how we all lie, it has become an everyday chore to make life easier. She begins by trying to strengthen the bond between the reader and writer showing how they are one of the same. She does this by referencing past experiences, adding informed opinions, and using quotes from other well acknowledged authors, her argument is strong throughout the whole article that lying isn’t just evil, it can be used for good when used the right way.

Is manipulation key for personal advancement or simply a selfish act of destruction? Artifice is nothing new, used in times such as the Salem witch trials, and even dates back to even later. Though the strategy is not dead, but can also be seen more recently amongst individuals, including our President Donald Trump. Artifice can be used differently between people, while their motives may be the incentive of personal gains such as revenge or popularity, while the results of using artifice, may vary. However no matter how it is adopted, the reason behind it, and/or the outcomes artifice should not be used.

“One lie is enough to question all truths,” starting from the time the audience finds out that Abigail lied about being naked in the forest in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, readers have a hard time believing anything and everything that comes out of her mouth henceforth. At first, it is difficult to find a motivation for Abigail’s lies, but as the plot unfolds, her motives as well as the motives of the other townsfolk who lie are revealed. According to Arthur Miller in The Crucible, circumstances that incite fear, love, greed, hatred, and ego motivate people to lie; these motives have always existed and all trace back to one common root, the desire to protect someone, either yourself or someone else. I believe that if one lies to protect a

Lying with Good Intentions There are many times when lying is the best option, the act is reasonable as long as it’s justified. Similar to Ericsson’s experience in her essay “The Ways We Lie”, telling the truth isn’t always possible. When a person receives a notification for a late fee, the first instinct is to find a way out of the situation with a lie. Knowing that the bill has yet to be paid, the lie is easier than facing the repercussions of the truth. According to Ericsson, “I discovered that telling the truth all the time is nearly impossible” (1).

Today our world is up 24 hours a day. It is transparent with blogs and social networks broadcasting the buzz of a whole new generation of people who have made a choice to live their lives out in the public. It is astonishing that on any given day people lie to us about 10 to 200 times, and the clues to detect those lies are subtle and counterintuitive. In her speech, How to spot a liar, Pamela Meyer presents some insight into the science behind why we lie, whom we lie to, and most importantly, how to seek out the truth and develop trust. Furthermore, she adds that over-sharing is not honesty and that our manic tweeting and texting can blind us from the subtleties of human decency, character, and integrity.

The Crucible is a book written by Author Miller to illustrate all the lies and deceit that took place during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693. There are so many different forms of lies and deceit present with in this book. But to me the three biggest are when Mary Warren and the girls, Putnam’s versusthe rest of the town and John Proctor vs Abigail. But the lies and deceit derail all of these.

Shakespeare 's Much Ado About Deceit Lying, it seems to be a common phenomenon in human’s daily lives. In a recent study made by the University of Massachusetts, it found that 60% of adults can not have a ten-minute conversation without lying at least once. The most common lies that are told in the present day include “I like your hair today” or “I am leaving in 5 minutes”. In William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, a common theme followed is deceit. Much Ado About Nothing takes place in the late 1500s and follows the story of soldiers going to Leonato 's home in Messina.

When I was a kid, my mom always told me to be honest all the time because she did not want me to lie to her about anything. Moreover, if I lied to her, my mom would use a thick and long stick to hit me as a punishment to let me know being honest is very important. Most of the parents teach their children to be honest all the time when children are still young; however, should people always be honest? Is honesty the best policy that children and adults should follow? Lana Winter-Hébert, a wordsmith and the author of “4 Reasons Why You Should Always Be Honest,” believes honesty is the best policy; she thinks that telling the truth is better than telling the best lie.