This Semester is Coming to an End (I think lol)

Well, this semester is coming to an end...and trust me, I was definitely unorganized. This happened to be the class this year, which everything I did just seemed...wrong. In the beginning, I really thought that I was going to get an A. Ms. Fletcher said, "In order to get an A, you have to be above and beyond." Haha, boy was I wrong. My notebook became dysfunctional in my 6th week of school. (The first two weeks of school, I didn't even have a notebook.) My vocabulary was on point though! I actually believe that the vocabulary and blogging is what made my grade go high. Ms. Fletcher is a really great teacher; with that, I cannot blame her for my horrible concept. I honestly didn't pay attention as much as I should have. Ms. Fletcher is the calmest teacher I know! (I hope you are reading this Ms. Fletcher, I deserve some super extra credit for this!) Haha, well to conclude this blog, I believe I could have done way better this semester. I did not manage to reach my full potential. I hope next semester will get me an A!

In a Human's World

The articles that we've been working through this past week regarding animal rights has opened my eyes to the way in which we are expected to value animals. I noticed that most of these articles emphasize constantly on the "feelings" or animals and how closely related they are to humans. I don't see it necessary that we constantly need to personify animals in order to care about them and have a moral judgement on the way we treat them. In the article "Hooked on a Myth", Braithwaite analyzes and confirms that fishes react to the same pain killers the same way we do; therefore, they also feel the initial pain. We are almost encouraged to act on the notion that unless something is relatively human, it is unworthy of consideration. This is the type of thinking that has allowed us to self-justify our throwing trash out of our car windows, and releasing harmful fumes into the air; these same actions that have resulted in the deterioration of ozone and overflowing of landfills.

Nonetheless, more research on the emotions and thought of animals is not going to halt man from mistreatment of wildlife. We will not be able to heal the wound of centuries selfishness and disregard for nature, until we realize that we don't infact need to understand the way a species feels and lives in order to respect it. Technology and advanced science has given us so much knowledge that we feel we have the power to understand, and therefore control every aspect of life. There are somethings that ought to be respected and acknowledged for what they are not broken down to make them seem like anything else. An animal is a life, shouldn't that be enough?

Abuse and the Emotional Impacts on Animals

      It was around springtime when I came home to find a certain white ball of surprise sitting on my living room floor. The little creature looked at me for only a moment before she quickly hid her face to the floor. I reached over to pet her but she shook uncontrollably. I tried to rub her head gently but she backed away and stared at me with large, dark eyes. I noticed that she walked with her tail between her legs and her head to the floor. When I first saw this animal I assumed she just didn't like me so I headed to my room but she cried. I ran back to her because this was the most unusual sound I had ever heard. I didn't know dogs could actually cry as a human does. So I sat back down on the floor and she hesitantly made her way over to me. She looked sad and as I spoke to her she looked up at me with the same expression. So I tried playing with her but she didn't know how.
      Later on I found out that this dog had been brought up in a puppy mill her entire life. She had been abused and pregnant several times. Around humans she was weary and looked at us as though we were the enemy. Her original owners only saw her a worker but treated her as a slave. They had no idea the emotional damage they did to her because to them she was just a dog. I have living proof that animals can feel pain both physical and emotional. The effects are long-lasting because my dog has never forgotten the times she was mistreated.
      I had my little bundle of joy for almost six years and gave her the name Princess because she deserved to be treated as one. Despite her abuse, she is a sweetheart and I can't imagine anyone ever hurting her. Even after all this time she still walks with her tail between her legs, her head down, and shakes when others try to touch her. I don't think that she will ever heal from the scars others left in her heart, but I am just hoping this will make others think twice before they hit their animal for doing something wrong. I hope this will make people realize the emotions animals really do hold and how they should be treated like we would treat a human being. These animals are not slaves and what you do and say does have an impact on their lives.

3 Ways to Persuade
      Aristotle was the founder of the three ways to persuade using ethos, logos, and pathos. What I found most interesting was how I've been using these three techniques my entire life. We use different elements of persuasion depending on who we are speaking with and what we need from our audience.
      Ethos is the first way to persuade and this relates to your first impression of the person who is trying to convince you of something they feel you need. There once was a commercial with a doctor in an overcoat who said, "I'm no doctor, I just play one on TV." I've seen many advertisements that portray a doctor selling a medicine of some sort, and it is that much more appealing because he holds the appearance of an actual doctor who knows what he's talking about. Even the man who wears that certain brand on cologne in the commercial where beautiful ladies flock over to him goes hands-in-hand with ethos. We tend to judge a person based on the first few seconds that we interact with them, so of course we use first impressions as a method of persuasion.
      Logos can be the time when you are informed about someone or something and the logic behind it can change your decision. Even with an idea it's important to use logos to provide reasoning as to why we should follow that certain idea and what the income might be. When someone runs for President they'll typically use logos in their campaign as to inform the voters how they would help the country prosper.
      The last method of persuasion is pathos; the appeal to emotions. Have you ever noticed that during the holidays we kind of hold a warm, giving feeling in our hearts? Don't we tend to feel sorry for and pity those who are without food or are even homeless? These emotions can lead us to lend a helping hand during the season. Even when we are feeling angry at our enemy it is so easy to persuade our friends who might also turn on your enemy. Are emotions are more powerful than we know because many times we can persuade our self.

Summary of "A Change of Heart"

Jeremy Rifkin, the President of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington D.C., in his article, "A Change of Heart About Animals," argues about the fact animals should be guaranteed similar rights as humans. Rifkin supports his argument by describing how similar animals are to humans and by illustrating his evidence through providing many examples of personification within animals. Basically, Rifkin's purpose is to make his audience become aware of animal cruelty within our society in order to bring change in the treatment of animals. Rifkin highly establishes a very caring and respectful tone with his audience of both animal lovers and average Americans. I believe that animals should be treated better.

My Little Sister

             The first thing I do when I get home from school is scream, "Maya, I'm home!!" and she always comes running out of bed and greets me with her uttermost affection. Then I ask, "Maya, are you hungry?"; even if she obviously isn't, I still feed her a snack. Because she's been home alone all day, we usually play outside for around 20 minutes and play catch. After, we lay down on the couch and watch T.V. until about 5 p.m., when she usually hears the garage open, and we both know Daddy is home. Me and Maya then beg to go to the park where we continue to play catch. When we get home, Mommy is already cooking dinner. After we eat, Maya stays with Mom and Dad and then I do my work. Once they go to bed, Maya and I sneak into the living room where we can finally watch T.V. again. We usually fall asleep around midnight, and then our day of fun just has to continue the next day.

                Truthfully, Maya is always there for me. Even if she is only a dog, she acts like my little sister. I notice that although she can't speak, she is still capable of communication. She has different barks or cries that signal different wants and needs-- bark for food, cry to go out to do her business; I know exactly what she wants when she wants it. Sometimes, Maya jumps into my bed at night when it's colder than usual. She proves to be conceptual enough to understand that my bed is warmer than the kitchen floor. When she's left home alone for longer than usual, it's obvious that she is unhappy. She pouts and shows less enthusiasm when we get home; instead of greeting with a wagging tail, she continues to sleep as if we didn’t matter to her. She's so sassy.

                 Brought to my attention by "Of Primates and Personhood" by Ed Yong, I question, "Of all animals in the world, why grant 'a basic set of moral and legal rights' to only apes?" Dogs are used to test pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, pesticides, and household products-- force fed poison until they slowly die. Dogs are used to study human diseases such as heart and hormonal disorders, surgically manipulated and then pushed to exert energy until death. Then their damaged heart tissue is studied. " In a violent experiment at the University of Pennsylvania, puppies were bred to have a degenerative eye disease that culminates in blindness. During the study, 3-week-old beagles had their eyes cut out and were killed." So if we are to finally grant animals basic rights, why limit it to apes? All animals are helpless. All animals are inferior to the human ego. If animal rights are granted, they should be for all or none at all.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

We all have different approaches to attempting to persuade someone or a group of people and whether we know it or not we use all three methods of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. How much we use of each different method is entirely dependent on who we are trying to persuade. In my opinion Ethos always seems to out way the other two for the reason that image is very important not in just how you look but how you sound or the from of your writing when you are attempting to persuade the person. For comical reasons can you imagine trying to persuade Congress to legalize marijuana when you show up to the courthouse reeking of weed, blood shot eyes, the giggle, constantly asking "when do we get a lunch break I'm hungry", and wearing nothing but tie dye clothing. If congress witnessed that your image would come off as a "stoner" and seeing as Politicians are six times our age they defiantly would not like to see America turn into that. Even if you came into that courthouse with the most spectacular logical arguments on why we should legalize it they would not even consider it because of the image you created walking into the courthouse and the image marijuana has created in general to the public.
The second most important method in my opinion is Pathos. Seeing as we are all human beings we all run on emotion, I have never once heard a great speech delivered by one of our presidents or any great leader in fact where the man calmly and blandly delivered there speech to the crowd, they have never stated those facts or said they're speech in that manner. They instead try to reach their audience on an emotional level because that is the deepest way to reach someone and to persuade them. If I lived during the time of Alexander The Great and I was fighting in his army do you think his speech on his black stallion would consist of him just telling me that if we defeat this Persians we get to have Asia and control half the world, because if it was then I might put my sword down and walk back to Greece cause I don't see the point in dying just so we can have Asia and control half the world I see no reason in doing that. Although it seems logical and would benefit my great country of Greece and might even change the way of life for millions in Asia for the best I see no reason to die for that. If Alexander came in though in his black stallion with a loud voice getting the crowd excited and yelling at us that this is the day men, today you fight for your family, for a better a life, for your country for your heir and all your kinsman and men you have fought alongside with and died with, well that's a different story Persians here I come. The only reason though is that he now approached me at a emotional level he appealed to me in the since of my emotions which was for my family and friends.
Finally Logos although last it is still important because image and emotions can only take you so far without some logic to them. Now you may be wondering why I choose Logos as the least important and that's because a lot of people aren't persuaded by just logic. I feel that Logos is just the cherry on top of the whole ice cream. I would find it much easier to persuade someone with just my image, cause I'm so handsome, and emotionally then I would with logic, because with the other two people seem to react to it more deeply then logic. I could give you good perfect logical reasons why you should go out with me but even though they seem so logical and make since 99% of you wouldn't because your going to look at my image and how I would connect with you emotionally, but don't get me wrong this is just an example I'm giving; sometimes Logos is only useful for certain things such as persuading the teacher how your logathrim came out to be but I'm talking about the big picture when it comes to Ethos, Logos, and Pathos and that's life I feel that Logos should or is only used very little when it comes to persuading someone unlike Ethos and Pathos.