Goal for the Day

• Analyze political discourse for the elements we have been studying.  (Specifically:  Aristotelian appeals, logical fallacies, and doublespeak)

Rhetorical Analysis:  Leading to War
Watch film:  Leading to War

1.  "Annotate" the film, noting rhetorical devices.

• Look for examples of logos, pathos, and ethos.
• Look for logical fallacies.
• Look for examples of doublespeak.
• Are the filmmakers guilty of any fallacies?

2.  Response to Leading to War:  In digital comp books, write 1-2 solid paragraphs analyzing the rhetoric that we see in this film, indicating examples of the rhetorical devices you annotated.

Further analysis of the information and rhetoric, can be found on the website: leadingtowar.com.

Bombs Over Baghdad:  How is "Shock and Awe" rhetorical?

What does war mean in the age of mass media?

PM class only:)


1. Bin Laden Analysis Review and T-chart

2. Fallacy Poster Project

1.  Each group will add an example of the fallacy to the corresponding poster.

2.  Illustrate your example if you wishJ

3.  You may use whatever resources you have available to generate your example (go-go-gadget fallacy generator!)

4.  You cannot repeat an example that is from the Powerpoint, handout, or that is already present on the poster.  Be original.
5.  The AM class is your audience!  Help them understand fallacies even better!

Political Language: Doublespeak, Talking Points, Fallacies

Today:
How is language sometimes used to confuse and manipulate?


Starter 10.27:
Lutz says, "Language is power; those who control language control the world.  Power may come out of the barrel of a gun, but without the control of language there can be no real control of society."  Do you see this as true?  How so?  What might be some real world examples of how this plays out?


Extra credit opportunity!
Watch Republican Debate tomorrow night (CNBC).
Identify logical fallacies and examples of doublespeak.  (Quote the candidate. Name the fallacy.  Explain.)
1 point per fallacy.  (If you watch it with a partner, split the points.)

Doublespeak

Exaggerated Example:  Kevin King
What is doublespeak?
Review each of the concepts.

• jargon
• euphemism
• gobbledygook
• inflated language

What are "talking points"?  How can they be turned into doublespeak?
Example:  Governor of Florida
What are some of the talking points we have see in the Republicans and Democrats?

Lecture:  Logical Fallacies

Handout:  Some Logical Fallacies

Additional Resources
Awesome You Tube series of fallacies videos
For an exhaustive list of fallacies

Goals for the Day

• Compare and contrast the rhetoric of conflicting ideologies
• Continue to explore perspectives on foreign policy

Starter 10.26: 
What was interesting, surprising, or disturbing about the experience of reading Bin Laden's letter?



Pair share: What do you already know (or think) about the politics and military conflicts in the Middle East?  About Israel/Palestine?  About US foreign policy and/or military involvement?

Crash Course:  Israel and Palestine Explained


Another possible project medium:  Spoken Word Poetry
Rafeef Ziadah: We teach life, sir.
Response Protocol:  ("Rhetoric is a response and invites a response.")
1. Get out a piece of paper.
2. Listen to the poem.
3. MOMENT OF SILENCE.  On your paper: #response.  Respond with a sentence, a verse, or a hashtagged phrase.
4. Pass the paper.  (Keep up that silence. Breathe deep.)
5. Respond. (Silently.)
6. Repeat. (Breathe.  Reflect.  Shhh.)

Discuss:
How does this video expand your understanding of what is happening in Israel and Palestine?
Why is Rafeef' Ziadah's perspective important?


Group Work:  Rhetorical Analysis of Osama bin Laden's open letter to America.

Whole Class:  T-chart

• What are the similarities and differences between Osama bin Laden's and George Bush's rhetoric?

 Discuss

• Whose rhetoric is more effective?  Why?
• How does our own ideology influence each rhetorical transaction?

Exit ticket (2 sided):
1.  How does today's work help you understand the concept of ideology and the idea that "rhetoric transmits ideology"?

2.  What questions do you have? (Write down at least one question; it can be about rhetoric, US foreign policy, the ideological conflicts in Middle Eastern foreign affairs, or anything else you may be wondering about at this point.)

Homework

Read/annotate "Doublespeak" by William Lutz.  Be able to identify the thesis of the article and define the key terms.  (euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook, inflated language)

Starter 10.23:  How should the United States have responded to the terrorists attacks of 9-11?  Had you been a member of Bush's administration, how would you have advised him?

Rhetorical Analysis of President Bush's Response
President Bush's Speech:  September 20, 2001

Full text of the speech

Rhetorical Analysis Questions:  Please submit through Google classroom!  You may work together with your peers, but each person should do and submit their own assignment.  Due ten minutes before the end of the hour.

"The Bush Doctrine"

In his book "Decision Points" (Crown Publishers, 2010), President Bush articulates his discrete concept of the Bush Doctrine. According to the President, his doctrine consisted of four "prongs," three of them practical, and one idealistic. They are the following: (In his words)

1.    "Make no distinction between terrorists and the nations that harbor them--and hold both to account."

2.    "Take the fight to the enemy overseas before they can attack us again here at home."

3.    "Confront threats before they fully materialize."

4.    "Advance liberty and hope as an alternative to the enemy's ideology of repression and fear."

Key Points:

Unilateralism

With us or with the terrorists

Discuss:

What are the advantages of this viewpoint?  What good points does the Bush doctrine have?
What drawbacks are there to this strategy?

HOMEWORK
1. Who was Osama bin Laden?
2. Read and annotate Osama bin Laden's "Open Letter to America" (November, 2002)
3. Be prepared to analyze his both his rhetoric and his ideology!

4. Optional:  Research background on US foreign policy in the Middle East.  

The Pathos of Patriotism

Starter 10.21:  Watch this video.

How does this video make you feel?  

Discuss reading:

• What is the message?
• How do the authors establish credibility? If you trust this source, why? (ethos)
• Where do you see logos in this reading?  How do they build their argument? (logos)
• How do the authors appeal to your emotions, values, beliefs?  If the argument is effective for you, what might that say about you? (pathos)

Remembering 9-11
Is the film itself rhetorical?
Do we see pathos, ethos, and logos?



Debrief video


Optional Homework:
Talk to the adults in your life about 9-11 and the months afterward.  What do your parents and loved ones remember about the event and the days that followed?  The wars that followed?  The messages from the media and politicians?

Pair share:  React to Dr. Grossman's article

Obama's Addresses the Nation Upon the Death of Bin Laden

• What is the exigency?
• What are Obama's motives, both hidden and revealed?
• How does it impact you personally as an American?

Aristotelian Appeals

Work Time/Homework:

• Find the ethos, logos, and pathos in "Commit for the Long Run” by Kagan and Asmus. Answer the following questions:
• What is the message?
• How do the authors establish credibility? If you trust this source, why? (ethos)
• Where do you see logos in this reading?  How do they build their argument? (logos)
• How do the authors appeal to your emotions, values, beliefs?  If the argument is effective for you, what might that say about you? (pathos)