Culminating Activity Analysis

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Culminating Activity p. 30: Analysis of thematically-linked text The following four texts apart of the Culminating Activity were all related to the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which had first put a man on the moon. The first article was from the Times of London, and served to describe the events of the moon landing from the astronaut's point of view. The article used anecdotal evidence to describe Aldrin and Armstrong's experience in order to inform the audience of what had occurred, as well as the reactions in several different countries.. The speaker is a from a reputable news source, The Times, and is informing the European audience - as this event was apart of America’s space program, NASA - of the landing as a great success. Although …show more content…

Furthermore, the subject is not just the greatness of the moon landing, but the greatness of mankind’s achievements, causing the text to be more of a personal reflection/commentary rather than a narrative. This writer has established ethos because they had attended the event herself. Rand describes it with great imagery and explains humankind’s greatness with figurative language, appealing to pathos. Furthermore, Rand appeals to logos by uses the moonlanding to prove human kind’s greatness by saying that “[it] was not the product of inanimate nature, like some aurora borealis… [but] that it was unmistakably human.”, and that it was a feeling of “‘How great is man and how safe is nature when he conquers it!”. Finally, in the final piece of text by the famous cartoonist HerbLock (automatic ethos), a lone man stares at a TV set atop of the moon, while the Earth below is covered with a thick smog of War, Poverty, and Prejudice. The symbolism of the smog and single man on the moon appeals to pathos. The text displays the plague that has taken hold of the Earth, but with an emphasis on the wonder and …show more content…

Beginning with the Times article, appeals by describing the events that occurred on the moon and across the globe to achieve its purpose. However, the text hardly explained why the event was so great, causing it to lack a bit of reason and logos. On the other hand, Nixon’s speech explains that the stranded astronauts are going to be remembered as a great sacrifice, and supports his argument by saying they did it for mankind and that it brought mankind closer. It not only explains mankind’s greatness, but how the launch made it greater.. The speech appeals to pathos as well, and although Nixon never used the speech, it engages with the audience and establishes ethos with shared values. This doesn’t necessarily occur in the Ayn Rand’s personal commentary, though she does build ethos because she attended the space launch. Rand recalls the launch, and then analysis the event and explains the greatness, showing exactly why it made man great. Finally, when I first saw the comic strip by Herblock, I had different interpretations regarding exact purpose, and I was confused as to whether it portrayed man as great, or flawed.. However, the layout of the comic is attractive to the eye, and allows the audience to ruminate on its purpose. Personally, if I were to rate the four texts from best to worst, I would rate it as such: (1) Nixon’s Speech (2) Rand’s commentary

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