Argumentation Blog #1: Dalai Lama

      Contentment is the state where you are satisfied with where you are at or maybe the things you have. In Eastern custom, mainly Buddhism, contentment is taught as a virtue. The Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist philosopher, said that, "when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, 'Oh yes, I already have everything that I really need'". In the United States, however, people are not content. There exists Black Friday, where Americans flock in masses to indulge in material goodness. There should be a balance between wanting things and contentment.
       The desire for more and more often leads to depression. South Korea is a country where emphasis is put on competition and being successful. Students in South Korea rank among the highest in the world. However, this struggle for the best leads to elevated stress and depression. According to a report by BMC Public Health, South Korea's suicide rate is 32.5 per every 100,000 deaths. Similarly, in East Asian idol groups, stress is put on them to make them perform their best; the desire for more and more. Recently, singer Jonghyun of South Korean idol group SHINee committed suicide, with a note saying, "I am broken inside". Sometimes, I feel stressed due to not meeting my goals. However, it is okay to have some goals to look forward to. To reduce this unhappiness, contentment should be practiced to some extent.
      However, some believe that contentment should not be practiced. To look forward to things, there must be a number of goals. But, things that do not really matter could be looked over, and people should be content with that. It depends on what is contentment to the respective person.
      Contentment should be practiced and balanced with desires, so as to not cause increased stress or depression. If contentment is practiced, the desire for more and more will be suppressed, and people wouldn't stress themselves out trying to get what they want.

Assertion Analysis #9: Witches Brewing

      In late 1600's Salem, a mass hysteria over witches ravaged the town. In the strict Puritan society of Salem, anything not Puritan was regarded badly, as in they were viewed as witchery. One proponent of the Puritan lifestyle was Cotton Mather, a major writer at the time who published works that highlighted the witchery in Salem, including the poem "Witches Brewing". In this poem, Mather criticizes those who want entertainment.
      Any form of entertainment in Puritan society was considered witchery at the time. Said Mather, "Ye monsters bubbling deep, your Maker's praises spout". Mather is addressing this to people considered witches, and stating that they are "monsters bubbling deep", implying they are from Hell. Since they are from Hell, the "Maker" is Satan, whose praises in Christianity are rebuked. Mather continues, now referring to the "monsters" as "codlings". They "peep, and wag [their] tails about". Much like an animal, they wag their tails, signifying they are happy. Entertainment is un-Puritan, Mather implies.
      What is said in the poem are actually rhetorical devices that show a deeper meaning. The whole poem is an allusion to witch brewing, and the spells that are supposedly said during brewing. Basically it is a poem, but poetry during Puritan America was discouraged due to it being "entertainment". However, it seems that some were still able to write poetry. The "monsters" and "codlings" are metaphorical witches. They "wag [their] tails about". In doing this, Mather is dehumanizing people who don't believe in the strict Puritan way, or people who have fun, revealing much about the oppression of the period. This whole statement is a jab at people not in line with Puritan ideals.
      Those not in line do things considered as entertainment, or simply don't believe in Puritans. It was the sad truth of the 1600's. Puritans have fallen out of favor since then, and these ideals aren't really considered today. However, the dehumanization of people still happens in many places.

Assertion Analysis #8: City Upon a Hill

      During the 1600's, the Puritan sect of Christianity made their way to America, after being booted out of England. Their strict values and way of life became what Puritans have been known for. On the trip to America, John Winthrop used a speech to enforce these strict values. This speech was done in a way to incite fear and order into the Puritan society.
      Winthrop uses mainly religious ideas to create this fear tactic. He says that the Puritans "shall be as a City upon a hill, the eyes of all people . . . upon [them]". They are a new religious society, and have everybody watching them. Because so many people are watching, they "shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants", or should be faced with scrutiny, if "[they] shall deal falsely with our god in this work [they] have undertaken". If the people in this society do something wrong, they will be faced with punishment. It seems now that it is a strict society.
      The use of religious ideas in this excerpt also has many techniques to convey Winthrop's ideas. One notable example is the allusion of the "City upon a hill", a biblical reference. As this is a speech directed to Puritans coming to America, Winthrop establishes credibility and context for the Puritans in order to make it easier to understand. In addition, Winthrop makes extensive use of syntax to establish credibility and display his logic on this topic. The excerpt is one long sentence, with no breaks, making the audience want to pay attention to the speaker more. Winthrop is using this to make his statement more clear to the Puritans, and inciting more fear in the process. The connotation of words such as "evil" or "curses" creates an urgent tone for the Puritans, making them do their best.
      This urgent and almost violent speech was meant to instill fear to Puritans. As Winthrop does not use any statistics or ethical approach to this speech, Winthrop is mainly using a pathos way of rhetoric. The Puritans are supposed to feel fear when hearing this speech. Similar to Winthrop of the 1600's, some people today are using fear tactics, even gaining power and leadership status through them.
     
   

Socratic Seminar #2: Black Elk (question 3)

      Throughout the entire chapter, many ideas and concepts are motifs are repeated as motifs, perhaps emphasizing the importance of them. Among repeated ideas are the Black Road, which "goes from where the thunder beings live (the west) to where the sun continually shines (the east), a fearful road . . . of troubles and war". The recurring Black Road is important because this is the road the Black Elk "travels" on and explains a lot about the impending events of the Sioux nation. Another recurring concept are the horses, which "went into formation, four abreast". The horses serve as a sort of guide for Black Elk, and are emphasized and heavily described in the first two pages with black horses that have "necklaces with bison hoofs" or white horses with manes "flowing like a blizzard wind". I assume Black Elk uses these recurring themes and heavy description a lot to make the reader "experience" the vision along with him. Interestingly, though, considering Native Americans value words and stories, this overuse of words seems strange. This may be due in part by John G. Neihardt, who interpreted and published the vision for Black Elk. This description, so, may not be all of Black Elk's ideas.

Assertion Analysis #7: Act of Sadness

      Wooden Leg was a Cheyenne war leader, known for fighting in the Great Sioux War of 1876-77, notably against Colonel Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Soon after, he and other Cheyenne people were forced into reservations, where Wooden Leg assimilated partially into being a Christian and acquiring a job as the reservation's judge, teaching about American law. In a speech, Wooden Leg uses the image of a plant to describe his experience with assimilation and preserving culture.
      In this excerpt, describes the correct Native American belief of how to get rid of a plant. "The trees and the grass have spirits", he says, stressing the importance of plants. Because of this, plants "may be cut off, but [it] should not be uprooted". The roots still remain, but the main part of the plant can be removed. Wooden Leg says the act of removing a plant "is done in sadness and with a prayer for forgiveness because of his necessities". He is stating that the removal of a plant should be done with awareness of what is happening, due to the importance of it. What may seem to be only advice on how to remove a plant correctly actually reveals a lot about assimilation of culture.
      Wooden Leg's plant in this excerpt is a metaphor for culture. Like the plant described, a culture should not be removed completely, or in the plant's case, "uprooted". The culture is still in existence, not completely removed, just as the root of the plant still remains. This is connected to how Wooden Leg becomes a judge and a Christian, while at the same time preserving his name and living in the reservation, not fully assimilating. In addition, Wooden Leg's description of how a plant has a spirit stresses the importance of preserving culture. A culture is very rich and valuable, just like a spirit. Any harm done to a spirit should be done in awareness, Wooden Leg says. Like that, Wooden Leg is saying that people should know what they are doing when assimilating into another culture, and know that it is in a way harming the culture. He is providing a clear statement of the correct way of how a culture should be assimilated.
      The use of a plant suggests that a culture should be treated with respect and preserved in a way, just a plant still has its roots. People take into count more the death of a plant, rather than a culture, so using a plant as a metaphor provides an emotional response. One should not completely get rid of the "plant" that is culture. Wooden Leg was one of the many examples of this. Sadly, for many, their plant was completely uprooted.

Assertion Analysis #6: Surrender

      Chief Joseph, or Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, was the leader of a Pacific Northwestern tribe. In 1877, with white people now on the west coast, the tribe was now on its last legs. What was Chief Joseph to do now, that the white people were closing in? Through simple and emotionally charged words, Chief Joseph surrendered and put the fighting to an end.
      In his speech, Chief Joseph lists his reasons as to why he will stop fighting. "I am tired of fighting", Chife Joseph says, "Our Chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead". There are no more ways that Joseph could continue, without the help of others. "My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food", Chief Joseph continues. The tribe is now only able to turn to their last resorts. In a closing statement, Chief Joseph states, "I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more". He has now surrendered to the coming white people.
      Chief Joseph's tone and simple, yet depressing imagery conveys his message to the audience. Throughout the speech, his tone remains reserved, as to evoke emotions of a peaceful sadness in the audience. There is no intense or overly pleasant tone here; it is almost neutral. Chief Joseph uses simple imagery of sick people, people freezing to death, and dead chiefs to convey a very sad emotion to the audience. His use of imagery and tone are effective in making clear his message.
      Chief Joseph's surrender was charged with the depressing tone and imagery throughout his speech. Since the audience receives his message as emotions, the main rhetorical device here is pathos. If this was only one Chief's surrender, other surrenders may have been emotionally charged as well.

Assertion Analysis #5: Seeker of Visions

      As the story tells, the the White Man saved the native American. Prior to the arrival of white people in the Americas, the natives were savages. The White Man comes, and now with the help of the White Man, they are civilized. However, to John Lame Deer in the excerpt, Seeker of Visions, this does not hold true. Lame Deer suggests that native Americans did not need the "help" that the White Man offered.
      In this excerpt, Lame Deer provides a lot of examples of how the the white men did not need to "help" native Americans. "Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men," Lame Deer says, "we didn't have any kind of prison. Without a prison, there can be no delinquents". The native Americans were a well-structured society, and they did not need a prison system for discipline. "When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse . . . he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift", Lame Deer continues. The native society was a communal society, and poverty was not an issue taken lightly. Another example says that people did not have money, so the person was not determined by wealth. Finally, Lame Deer says that the natives need prisons and laws, "or so [the white men] say", to function as a civilized society. Lame Deer uses these to prove a point.
      Lame Deer primarily uses verbal irony and sarcasm to convey that native Americans did not need white "help". He goes through all these examples of the native American society, and how it was structured, showing that native Americans were well off. In the final paragraph, though, he says that laws were necessary, "or so [the white men] say". Without laws, money, or prison, a society would be uncivilized. Lame Deer shoots this down, and uses the examples that he listed to show that native Americans were a well structured society.
      The native Americans, without laws or money, seemed to work perfectly fine. They did not need the "help" of Europeans. However, the arrival of Europeans rid the native Americans of this culture. Had they not intervened the way they did, perhaps they would have flourished and reached a high level of advancement. One can only imagine how far they would've went.