CL 1/21

Comfortable In Classroom

• Getting to know the people in the class

• Writing what I think and then sharing it

• Having a partner to talk to about topics

Uncomfortable In Classroom

• An uncomfortable topic

• A very quiet class

In Defense of Domination Times Article by Joe Stein

• Joel Stein is an American Journalist who wrote for the Los Angeles Times. He has written for the Times as well(Wikipedia). His intentions seem to be that Americans should not hate on a team that is dominating. Because the spirit of America is making your own way to success. He thinks that we should have respect for a successful team. However, he is being sarcastic and ironic. So, in fact he is making fun of how involved Americans become about baseball
• He bullies the other perspective. He says that people who hate the Yankees are wrong. He tries to pull the reader into the article by being shocking.
• This article was written Feb. 23, 2004. The rhetorical context of this is that the Yankees won the 2003 World Series(Wikipedia). Also the Yankees picked up A-Rod for their team( Article). Also during 2004, America was in the Middle East responding to 9/11(Wikipedia).
• The intended readers are Americans.
• The value that the readers and the writer have in common is wanting to be successful. He appeals to them by saying that everyone wants to be successful.
• He uses illustrations to prove his point. One example of this is when he says, “You’ve been deluded that… we are some sort of scrappy, underdog nation that needs to fight against the privileged bullies. Not me. I’ve never rooted for underdogs, or, as I like to call them, losers. ” This illustration of an underdog and comparing underdogs to losers, helps prove his argument that it is best to root for the winners.
• The author builds a case for his argument by starting off with the concept that underdogs are losers, and then he moves to A-Rod being picked for the team. And then he moves on to everyone’s desire to win in life as a reason to love the Yankees.
• The author does appeal to reason in that he says that if you like winning, then you should like the Yankees. Because, the Yankees are winners.
• The Author does invoke emotion to hep make the point of his story. This is seen when he says, “You want to teach your kids that the Yankees are evil…. Go ahead and tell them bedtime stories for losers. But don’t go on pretending that there is something righteous in it. Sure, your child might grow up to be Eliot Spitzer, but wouldn’t you rather he became Bill Gates? Or better, Alex Rodriguez. That guy is going to be a lot happier in New York.” He uses emotion here and appeals to parents saying that their kid will be happier if they are successful. He appeals to their emotion and love for their kid. It could also apply to anyone who cares about someone.