Jay Mocks article “Is Santa Clause a Conspiracy?” first appeared on The River Journal website on December 11th, 2009. Mock, an online blogger who has the mindset that there are conspiracies behind many things that go on in the world, seeks to encourage readers to discover whether there is a conspiracy behind Santa Claus. If so, whether or not it is maintained by the lies of parents, and whether or not their intentions are good because they support good, and even so would that still qualify as a bad thing? “We sometimes knowingly lie or overlook a lie if the reason is to support ‘good’” (Mock p4). The legend of Santa Claus can be the lure to which mankind falls into a ploy of conspiracy that may fortify a manipulative mindset and devious conduct in people. This article is a good example of how conspiracy theorist can appeal to readers through persuasion by the use of three kinds of proofs, reasoning (logos), credibility (ethos), and emotion (pathos). Although this article is a great attention grabber, it lacks the ability to impose the authors’ thoughts and feelings upon its readers.
Several rhetorical concepts are used to approach the readers of this article, these being proofs known as reasoning (logos), credibility (ethos), and emotion (pathos). Conspiracy theorists, such as Mock, often use logic or reason to attract readers. They understand that conspiracies are seen as lies and paranoia, so to build their audience they appeal to their logical side. In today’s society logic is everything, and being able to prove something is what is important. Making a reference to a factual document or book is always a source of proof. The reference towards a dictionary is used because it is something we use every day, something that is impo...
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...could then cause anger and resentment towards the parents. Fear is also invoked in this article; the fear of the child losing that little patch of innocence.
The legend of Santa Claus can be the lure to which mankind falls into a ploy of conspiracy that may fortify a manipulative mindset and devious conduct in people. It is up to the reader to ultimately decide how they feel about this article. This article analyses one conspiracy, but what about other conspiracies that are similar. Taking Mocks article under consideration and everything he talks about can open up a new perspective. This editorial is a good example of how conspiracy theorist can charm to readers through persuasion. When reading similar pieces readers should be aware of how the author lures them in.
Work Cited
Mock, Jay. “Is Santa Clause a Conspiracy?.” River Journal. 12 Nov.2009 Web.
convince “readers of your point of the view” (4). In his essay “Did My Car Join Al Qaeda?”,
The diverse perspectives displayed by Oliver Stone in JFK are implemented to hinder blind following from lack of knowledge. The facts uncovered in Stone’s film work towards a common goal— a conspiracy taking place. By emphasizing this point, he provided another believable option. Although the surroundedness of bandwagon advertising and peer pressure may never cease, blind following from ignorance is severable.
bell hooks’s use of logical evidence is not as strong as her ethos. With the aid of facts and studies, an author’s
In researching this and many other conspiracy theories, one can see many uses of sensationalism, mainly by the media. This media- the news (local and national), magazines, tabloids, television shows, movies, and so on- has a huge e...
Clifford’s arguments for this conclusion is that if we are gullible enough to believe something without evidence then we are not only harming our individual credibility and intellect but also polluting the rest of society...
This story makes the reader wonder, why must parents do this to their children, what kinds of motifs do they have for essentially ruining their child’s life. I believe
They face many issues such as economic instability, depression, loneliness, fear of being alone and feeling betrayed. Children feel depressed in cases like this because even at a young age they know that things are not okay. They also suffer from fear and being betrayed, they suffer fear because they 're scared of what is going to happen to their family since they 're so used to having their family together. Many times children who face this situations feel like they’ve been betrayed because they don’t know why their mother or father have gone away and not came back. The psychologist mentions that it’s very normal for children to feel this way and conduct a different behaviour than usual because just like everyone else they don’t seem to understand
Hummel, William and Huntress, Keith. The Analysis of Propaganda. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949
...viewer recognizes that agencies, such as the CIA, are valuable in the War on Terror for the data collecting they’re involved in. On examining of the film, the movie’s setting, agencies involved, and the subject matter targeted, the appropriate historical and social themes were connected to the plot. The circumstances in the film depicting the aftermath of September 11th attacks and the U.S. government’s role in tracking Osama Bin Laden were realistic. After the 9/11 attacks, Americans felt that radicalized Islamic groups and their leaders that encouraged these followers to attack America were enemies to their country. Therefore, the film didn’t have to have a poster of Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden to be used as propaganda to make the point that the radicalized Islamic group was the enemy of the United States; this decision had already been made by the United States.
Color is a powerful tool in film making. What once was only black and white is now a full spectrum of vibrancy. But monochromatism is still an integral artistic choice in film. Blacks and whites in movies and television tend to represent the dark nature of scenes: death, evil, sadness, the macabre. Deep blacks, rich grays, and harsh whites tend to illustrate the Gothic influence of the piece as well as its tone. Adam Barkman, a writer famous for his analysis of films, explains the impact of color in film in his book A Critical Companion to Tim Burton “When we see a particular color, we immediately attach a particular set of meanings to it that is triggered by either our instincts or our memories” (Barkman
Jowett, Garth and Victoria O’Donnell. “Propaganda and Persuasion”. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, (2nd ed.) 1992. Print. 4 Jan., 2011.
The speech “Address to the Joint Session of the 107th Congress” was delivered the 20th September 2001 in the United States Capitol by the President who was at that time, George W. Bush. In this public statement, the president calls for unity and tranquillity of American people. This paper has as main curiosity that it is an argumentative text full of rhetorical elements. On the one hand, it tries to calm Americans and to soothe the pain of the people affected. On the other hand, it helps to create a feeling of hatred and anger towards Al Qaeda, the terrorist group that carried out the attempt. Based on the document Analysing argumentative Texts and Hugh Rank’s Intensification/ Downplay schema, the rhetorical elements could be more easily scanned. There are intensifier components in this speech such as repetitions, associations and composition and downplay elements which methods used are diversion, omission ad confusion.
Since the beginning of settled civilizations, people have had more mutual sharings than ever before. By the same token, there have been some conspiracy theories that are usually against the culturally accepted beliefs of religions, science and society. A conspiracy theory can be described so differently. However, as in his text, Marshall Brain explicates, a conspiracy is generally defined as a theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliance rather than an individual or isolated act (Brain). Especially, after the new media has become quite popular, more and more conspiracies are theorized every single day, which aim to catch society’s attention via such media tools as the internet, journals and newspapers. Thus, people who theorize those conspiracies tend to use such objects as spiritual and mysterious ones in order to interest people. To illustrate, many examples can be given. For instance, many people have claimed that they were abducted by aliens, although they could show no evidences. Here, a citation from Blackmore could facilitate to understand the circumstance better. She states that people occasionally claim that they have been abducted from public places by aliens, in this case that may provide them with witnesses and affirmations but no evidence could be shown so far (Blackmore). As it is well known, only a small number of people believe such alien abductions, however, rating of this kind of news is quite high on media, because humankind has been wondering if there are extraterrestrial creatures out of the earth. Another example can be conspiracy theories which are about the origins of religions such as the rejection of Jesus Christ. There are some people who pay attention to...
Life is rarely fair or just, and the misguided innocence of a child does nothing to counteract this, regardless of how poetic it may seem.