Thomas Benson’s article, “The Rhetoric of Civility:Power, Authenticity, and Democracy” was written as a way to bring to light the catastrophic conflicts that are occuring in America. This was done by defining civility and incivility and providing countless examples of these throughout the text. Despite the article being a scholarly source the reading is relatively interesting and can be read by a large range of audiences. The piece has a style that is inviting for nearly every American merely due to the fact that it is written in a basic vernacular. That being said the article does fall comfortably into the genre of a persuasive essay. For example, Benson has a claim that these conflicts that have been occurring due to the mass increase in incivility with American society. He then supports this events such as, ““I am a man; I am a horse; I am a team,” cried one voice; “I can whip any man in all Kentucky, by God!” “I am an alligator,” cried the other;” (Adams). This is used to aid the claim that , “American rhetoric is colored by its roots in and celebration of the violent vernacular of the frontier.” (Benson). Personally, I think that this piece did succeed because after reading it I thoroughly was in support with the authors claim.Ultimately, the mass appeal of the article coupled with the smart approach to it’s structure creates an incredibly effective piece of literature.
Michael Shank and Lisa Schirch’s article “Strategic Arts-Based Peacebuilding” is primarily about how the arts can be used as a form of nonviolent conflict resolution. The reason why this source was created to promote a pacifist way of resolving conflicts as severe as world peace. The authors mainly argue that art is a powerful force that has the possibility to transcend traditional articulation. The style of writing in this article is also fairly interesting because it strikes a balance between complex and appealing word choice. As a result, the way the piece is written causes readers to be interested in the subject while not struggling to grasp the material. Another claim that these authors make is that the self expressive nature of art causes for the viewers to feel an innate connectivity to the human experience. In my opinion, connection is the first step to compromise.The authors agree with the claim and explain how they use the expressive nature of art to ease society to a plane of civil communication.In a broader context this source can be marked as a simple solution for turmoil. I chose it because the first source brought my mind to a place of conversation which then morphed into troubling conversation in troubling times. As I began to research I found how art, a passion of mine, could help to cure the rising turmoil.
Political cartoons are a great form of how art can be put into conversation. For example, the artist, Steve Bell is a prolific cartoonist that has illustrated and hence commenting on countless conflicts throughout our nation’s history. Steve Bell is different from other political cartoon artists because of his repetition through his characters. For example, he uses Donald Trump almost as a recurring character by designing him exactly the same as before. It just so happens that his design uses a golden toilet bowl as his hair and makes him morbidly obesed. Most cartoonists do indeed exaggerate details but those details change and evolve as the subject image changes as well. It is unclear whether this nonchanging aspect helps or hurts Bell. Nevertheless, it grants the viewer with a sense of commentary on how our country hasn’t changed much and that, like Donald Trump’s illustration is an ugly truth.
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