What is your research question/rhetorical situation?

I’ll be mostly utilizing pathos and logos in my research on the question. To emphasize the author’s/mine’s personal voice. The use of logos will significantly support the author’s point of view on how loss can severely impact an individual. It will present solid evidence and true facts. And, by utilizing pathos, I will demonstrate how the author uses their personal experience and emotions to connect with their point of view; this may point to their everyday feelings and how they respond to their surroundings, all of which are related to their feelings of depression and how it affects them in their daily life. 

What is your connection to rhetorical situation and why are you uniquely placed to write about it?

to reach the appropriate audience and establish a deeper connection with them and their feelings. Enhancing their feeling of connection to my research by providing them with compelling data and the pathos of other authors. This scientific research can provide compelling data on the impact of bereavement on people’s everyday lives and their subsequent responses to their environment. 

Where do you imagine your writing “existing”? (newspaper, magazine, youtube, personal blog)

I see my writing on my personal blog as, I will be using more author experience, and more of how their experience can be related to the readers. And to further support I will be using logos to further support my stand. 

Who is your target audience?

The main target here is most individuals who lost someone close to them and have taken a downfall path.  

What form will your writing take? (Research paper, narrative, letter, script.)

A research paper as, I will be using both personal experience and strong evidence. I will also be taking a deeper look on how these authors and how they faced their emotions during the cope making it a research paper .

Why is this form the most effective way to communicate to your target audience?

This is the ideal technique to connect with the audience since you are sharing other individual experiences and how the reader may have a similar impact. And I’ll be supporting it with solid facts and data to give it strength. 

What is the value you’re trying to impart on your audience?

The main point I want to make clear to my audience is that while many turn to drugs or other substances as a coping mechanism, alcohol and other drugs are not the greatest choices when faced with a loss. The audience may get depressed as a result of this. 

Dual hardships 

     The psychological effects from losing a loved one to going through a natural disaster can have profound effects on the mental side of life. Sorrow and pain are often the terms used to describe these feelings but only one knows it cuts way deeper than just that. The human brain tends to engage in mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and in some cases even shock because of the predicament they are in. Having to cope with loss and the trauma of a natural disaster can follow up with long lasting emotional scars which can ultimately affect one’s well being. Despite such traumatic events, healing from them expresses the resilience in oneself.   

         In the articles “Bereavement: Grieving the loss of a loved one” and “How do Earthquakes affect humans” they both dive deep into my initial claim. The article “Bereavement: Grieving the loss of a loved one” by HelpGuide emphasizes that grief is a neutral human response to losing a loved one. It is an overwhelming emotion that includes a variety of feelings such as depression, anger, guilt, etc. The article also encourages individuals to restore their grief at their own pace. Likewise the article “How do Earthquakes affect humans” highlights that trauma brought on from natural disasters such as Earthquakes can and have led to psychological effects like anxiety, depression, PTSD, intense fear, flashbacks and many more. The fear that corresponds with earthquakes can trigger a state of distraught which can mentally deteriorate one’s mental health resulting in even bigger health issues. 

         The best thing you can do for yourself in tough times such as losing a loved one is to face it rather than running away from it. “Neglecting your well-being prolongs the grieving process and makes you more susceptible to depression or complicated grief.” Fact stated by the article from HelpGuide. It expresses that running away from your emotions is a temporary answer. It will only do you more harm than good. The need to prioritize self care can shape its way to a healthier grieving process. “Avoid using alcohol or drugs to cope. While it’s tempting to use substances to help numb your grief and self-medicate your pain, in the long run excessive alcohol and drug use will only hamper your ability to grieve.” This quote recognizes the temporary pleasure drugs can have when grieving over someone but it heavily advises to manage emotions in a healthier way. As someone who lost their grandma and experienced a sense of grief, healing is extremely tough to go through. But trusting the process is the best option to permanently relieve those feelings. Through the help of ethos, it shows the readers where the narrator stands. 

    “Earthquakes can also affect humans mentally or psychologically. What must it be like to see your family or friends trapped inside a collapsed building or missing, assumed dead, or your home getting destroyed?” quote found in the article “How do Earthquakes affect humans”. It raises the question of uncertainty and how death can occur at any given moment. It makes the concept of life more appreciative and the people around us as life is very uncertain. The value of family is one of, if not the most precious thing someone can have. It teaches me the importance of it because humans are biologically programmed to take things for granted that are too abundant. Likewise when we are surrounded by our family’s unconditional love we start to erase its value; and when we are pushed back into reality, there isn’t going to be a stranger acting as a backbone to your fall, it’s always going to be your family. The use of pathos immensely aids the readers to become more hooked onto this.

     Experiencing the dual challenges of losing a loved one and enduring a natural disaster as a child can profoundly shape one’s character and perspective on life. The grief of losing a loved one while also having to face the aftermath of an earthquake appreciates the fragility of life. Together, these experiences mold a person into someone who values the present moment vividly. 

Ethos- 1.Sullivan’s approach is based on his own experiences getting well with mediation assistance. 2. The author admitting his difficulties and attempting to choose the best course of action to resolve them. 3. The development of Sullivan’s ability to trust others and to open up. 

Option #2

The piece of art that I chose entitled Eva Hesse Spectres, 1960. The name of the art form has an odd connotation: if poetry is not displayed, you cannot be influenced.  However, the phrase “specters” gives the impression that the author was being tracked down and was unable to get rid of whatever was bothering her. She truly dreads it; it’s like a trauma that she can’t get out of her head. This image was shot during World War II, as indicated by the time period. The author’s name is Eva Hesse. By looking at the artwork, you recognize that the time was quite gloomy because there was no use of light colors. The dark color demonstrates a gloomy, sad little girl. This also implies that she is not really happy with the current condition; looking at the darker background, the environment was the thing that was affecting her mood. 

The main purpose of the art is to show the author’s childhood and the trauma she has been through. The picture accurately depicted the words in every detail, down to the color and form. Like I said previously, the dark tone conveys the anguish of her being in Germany. In order to flee the terrible Nazi dictatorship, she moved to New York City. The gloomy color gave me the frightened, helpless feeling of a small child. The poor background gives the impression that she has nowhere to run; she is lonely and by herself, and everything around her is dreary. The dark brown and bright yellow eyes, as well as a little mixture of deeper colors beneath the bright yellow, which was sketched in an odd form, depict the night she remained awake out of dread that she or any of her family members might be abducted. The dark brown tone under her eye bags, caused by the restless night, is visible. This color coding made me feel lonely and to see my younger self. The sleepless night I had when my dad was away in a different country was in fear that something would happen to him and that I would forget our memory that we had created together. But as the author frames tell a deeper story, The author Eva Hesse Spectres was born a Jewish girl in Germany. She moved to New York City to escape the oppressive Nazi regime. She was one of the last children saved by Kindertransport, a resume program that transported Jewish children to unoccupied areas of Europe. They rejoined their family in New York City a year later. The image was cropped in a very heartbroken way because she was full of fear; she could not make eye contact. She avoids eye contact with strangers out of fear that she will stand out in a crowd and that someone would notice that she is Jewish. As the author quoted “The world thought I was a cute, smart kid and I kidded them. But at home I was called a terror. I was a Miserable, I had trouble-tremendous fear.” This reveals how the author presents herself; she wears a ribbon to make herself appear charming and adorable, demonstrating her outgoing and sociable attitude, illustrating her life in New York, but when she is at home, which is Germany, she is terrified, overcome with anxiety, and miserable.  

The author used pathos to illustrate her childhood narrative, to sum up. Her target audience was essentially everyone, especially those who suffered during the war or whose families did. The major goal was to demonstrate to her the suffering and terror she had experienced while living in Germany, being transferred, and being unable to visit her family for years.

James Baldwin – 

Ethos : “You are 30 by now and nothing you have done has helped you escape the trap. But what is worse is that nothing you have done… will save your son and your daughter… from coming to the same end.”

– This proverb from Baldwin opened the eyes of many audiences that may have neglected him and his knowledge. It expresses Ethos as he gives the audience a sense of a reality check which leads to them having faith in Baldwin due to this awareness and perception of the surroundings around him. 

Logos : “The disaffection and the gap between people, only on the basis of their skins, begins there and accelerates throughout your whole lifetime.” 

– Baldwin states this to back his logic behind his arguments and to keep building his stances on his beliefs. His will to fight indicates the sheerness in him. 

Pathos : “It comes as a great shock to discover that the country which is your birthplace and to which you owe your life and identity has not, in its whole system of reality, evolved any place for you.”

– James declares his thoughts and his emotional values on how he feels the country treats him and his people. It conveys a deeper message of how he wants to be treated as everyone else does because at the end of the day, everyone present are all humans; it’s just a matter of skin color that separates the two. 

Willam Buckley – 

Ethos : “I’m treating you as a fellow American, as a man whose indictments of our civilization are unjustified.” 

– Buckley makes it clear to its audience that Baldwin is getting treated like any other person regardless of their skin color. And to stop playing victim in these arguments. 

Logos : “almost everywhere he (James Baldwin) goes, treats him with the kind of unction, with the kind of satisfaction a hero gets”

– William also opposes the fact on how James gets treated like a nobody when in reality, he is idolized by people all over the country. Bucklye’s arguments go hand to hand when compared with Baldwin’s case. 

Pathos : “the fact that your skin is black is utterly irrelevant to the arguments you raise.”

– Buckley surely triggered numerous audiences with this comment but he backs himself up. He goes on to say how Jame’s arguments play no role to his skin color and how the reasoning for him to bring up his skin color would be is because it would give him the advantage and the upperhand in this debate. 

Does the narrator not eating porridge has an significant relation to her losing her grandma?

Does the lecture from grandmother “Growing up will be hard, and there will be times when even if you cry, you won’t get what you want.” have an important meaning to it? 

How did the narrator learn the value of family time during the earthquake incident?