Blog #2

Hello guys, welcome back to my blog as I continue my reading through The Shame of the Nation I am able to pinpoint some stylistic things that Kozol does. I am really enjoying this book because Kozol uses an appropriate amount of logos, ethos, and pathos.

Kozol mainly emphasizes on logos and pathos while doing so this establishes his ethos. Firstly if you know who Jonathan Kozol is you know that he advocates for integrated school systems which already sets a pretty high appeal to ethos because us as readers know that he does a large amount of work in this field. Throughout the first two reading I have found the approach that Kozol uses quite effective. Kozol mainly uses the appeal to pathos but then mixes in small amounts of the appeal to logos to get his point across.

Kozol uses the appeal to pathos very strongly in this piece, he does so by telling personal stories that follow individuals that are in schools like these rather than just his thoughts. In the first part of the book he focused on stories but one that specifically stuck with me is the story of the girl named pineapple then after this I thought that he was going to just start with another story or continue his own thoughts but instead in the second part of the reading he continues and mentions pinapple again. Originally pineapple was mentioned early on but then was mentioned again on page 120 which shows that Kozol is continuing with this story. The reason that this is effective is because this allows us to build a connection and get involved in a specific story instead of just Kozols thoughts or little stories mixed in. This is an appeal to pathos because it allows us to grow a bond and a connection with this girl named pineapple in this book. Also by showing all these stories Kozol establishes some credibility and strengthens his ethos.

Kozol didn’t just use the appeal to pathos and ethos very well he also used good integration of information or the appeal to logos. This is critical for Kozol to do because then it makes his piece very interesting and not just all information. Kozol needs to use a balance of information and appeal to emotions to have a balanced piece so neither one isn’t dominating. Kozol does this very effectively     Which makes his piece interesting and effective.

I enjoyed reading this section and I am eager to continue and find out more of Kozols writing styles and techniques he uses while learning about discrimination and segregation in the public school system.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 27, 2018 at 8:16 AM

    Hey Lauren! I really liked this blog post about the stylistic elements Kozol (who you included a great fact about how he was for integrated school systems) was able to use. I liked the example with the girl named Pineapple that you told us about in order for us to better understand how Kozol was able to appeal to pathos. I also thought it was interesting that you combined logos and pathos in order for him to establish his ethos, which I absolutely agree with but hadn't really thought about in that way before.
    Can't wait to read your next post!
    Grace

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 27, 2018 at 6:51 PM

    Hi Lauren!

    Great post about the different stylistic devices employed by your author! It seems like he used an effective combination of ethos, pathos and logos. Which appeal do you think your author used the most effectively? In my reading, I find that my author appeals the most to logos but I enjoy reading pathos the most. Let me know what you think!

    Can't wait to read the next one!
    Ellie M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 29, 2018 at 10:43 AM

      I think my author uses the appeal to pathos most effectively, but I also think his appeal to logos is very strong as well.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMarch 28, 2018 at 6:58 AM

    Greetings Lauren!

    Rhetoric huh? I've been looking at the rhetoric used in Race recently. From reading your post I can see that pathos has been the biggest appeal in Shame of the Nation. I find it funny you mention that Kozol needed to avoid using all information because in Race that's what it felt like. However strangely enough I still found it very interesting. But you have a great point that at least some variety is always needed. Anyways... I enjoyed your post!

    -Simon S. Page

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ms. LaClairMarch 29, 2018 at 9:32 PM

    What did you find so effective about the example Kozol includes about Pineapple? I certainly agree that his emotional appeals are very effective. In my recent post, I commented on his specific details about the experience of being in a highly regulated classroom. In that section he commented on how there were no laughs in the classroom, something I found heartbreaking, especially considering he was in an elementary school classroom. Offering some more specific examples would be helpful for your readers.

    ReplyDelete

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