A writer finding common ground with their reader is beneficial in making good arguments. How a group of readers views the writers opinion will vary and so too should the authors writing style, to cater to the specific purpose. Identifying fact from fiction with evidence, sources, and quotes shows that the writer is knowledgeable and making good arguments. Logos – appealing to reason, Pathos – appealing to emotion.

Evidence shows that rhetoric was being taught as far back as ancient Greek times. It was only taught and used by a minority of elite. It was feared at that time, that if everyone started talking with rhetoric that eventually nobody would believe or be aware of the morality or reason of their arguments.

The author is Joel Stein and his intentions are to make the reader believe that winning is everything.

I don’t think he treats the opposition fairly with his use of mockery and humor. I believe he does this as a form of doubling down his convictions. His tone toward the reader is supremacist.

The author use the signing of Alex Rodriguez as galvanizing the rhetorical might of the Yankees. The writer uses the image of clubbing baby seals to depict when the Yankees win over other teams.

I believe his intended audience were all the “Yankee haters”.

The writer uses patriotism/nationalism and baseball to appeal to his readers.

There were no illustrations used in this article, but a quote from A-Rod was used.

I believe that the author uses broad knowledge that money and power usually win in the end. Small market teams are underdogs and therefore those who reside in those markets are underdogs and therefore losers by virtue of their birth location.

I do and I don’t. Its reasonable to believe that paying the most money to the best players will win games, but its not a guarantee. It’s a little unreasonable to use as polarizing a tone as he did, unless he meant it to be read as a satire.

The writer does use emotion to drive his agenda. He uses humor but also rhetoric to widen the prestige gap between the winning Yankee’s/New York to the rest of America and the world.

When reading a new piece of material, it’s a good idea to compare it any previous readings on the subject. If it is completely new source material then how does it apply to daily life? The reader should ask themselves questions or make predictions to engage themselves into what they are reading.

When making annotations or taking notes on a piece of reading, the reader should write down ideas, questions, arguments, hard facts, and anything the reader deems of value to assist them forming opinions and future writing ideas.

Critical thought is necessary while reading. One should be able to discern between fact and rhetoric.

I felt compelled to author my first new blog entry on this beautiful day.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.