Rhetoric Project
Reflection
In this project we were asked to write an Op-Ed and preform an oral piece about any American ideology that we encounter in our lives. Students did anything from poetry to live debates. I wrote a poem on a critique of American Consumerism and the spiritual side of transcendentalism. You can read my poem below! My Op-Ed is also a critique on American consumerism. You can read my essay below as well.
During this project we learned what the themes of rhetoric, ideology, and the American experience means to us. Despite all the definitions of rhetoric we learned during the project from Aristotle and Plato, I define rhetoric as "the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, esp. the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques that (when having an effect) show you a better and desirable version of yourself." This definition sprouted from how Plato defines rhetoric: "Rhetoric is the "art of enchanting the soul." (The art of winning the soul by discourse.) During this project I learned how ideology such as the American dream affect my experience of being an American. Read more about my opinion in my writing below.
I connected to this project very deeply. I really enjoyed the writing of my poem. This project gave me a chance to express my ideas on American consumerism. See writing below. Throughout this year American idology had been the theme of my intellectual thought before we started the project. It felt like fate when Jessica (my teacher) announced the project! This project aloud for me to become very engaged in the content before we started the project. I am really grateful for the experience I had during this project.
One thing I found very challenging about this project was the format of the Op-Ed. See writing below. In the first drafts of my essay, it took shape in the form as a traditional essay and not an Op-Ed. This really stressed me out! Eventually, I did some research and found a great outline for an Op-Ed is:
Hook
Thesis
Introduction
5 Topic TEA paragraphs
My action plan
Conclusion
If I could redo this project I would use this outline much earlier in the writing process. This would allow for more revision time and in the end, a more refined piece of writing.
Through this project, one of the most important things I learned as a young thinking American is that ideology is everywhere. Some ideology we encounter in our life will be positive and some will be negative. The ideology we learned about in this project showed me what kinds of ideology I do not want to fallow in my life such as Consumerism and the average American dream. See writing bellow. This project emerged a LOT of themes in my life I am looking forward to explore as I grow as a thinking American.
During this project we learned what the themes of rhetoric, ideology, and the American experience means to us. Despite all the definitions of rhetoric we learned during the project from Aristotle and Plato, I define rhetoric as "the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, esp. the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques that (when having an effect) show you a better and desirable version of yourself." This definition sprouted from how Plato defines rhetoric: "Rhetoric is the "art of enchanting the soul." (The art of winning the soul by discourse.) During this project I learned how ideology such as the American dream affect my experience of being an American. Read more about my opinion in my writing below.
I connected to this project very deeply. I really enjoyed the writing of my poem. This project gave me a chance to express my ideas on American consumerism. See writing below. Throughout this year American idology had been the theme of my intellectual thought before we started the project. It felt like fate when Jessica (my teacher) announced the project! This project aloud for me to become very engaged in the content before we started the project. I am really grateful for the experience I had during this project.
One thing I found very challenging about this project was the format of the Op-Ed. See writing below. In the first drafts of my essay, it took shape in the form as a traditional essay and not an Op-Ed. This really stressed me out! Eventually, I did some research and found a great outline for an Op-Ed is:
Hook
Thesis
Introduction
5 Topic TEA paragraphs
My action plan
Conclusion
If I could redo this project I would use this outline much earlier in the writing process. This would allow for more revision time and in the end, a more refined piece of writing.
Through this project, one of the most important things I learned as a young thinking American is that ideology is everywhere. Some ideology we encounter in our life will be positive and some will be negative. The ideology we learned about in this project showed me what kinds of ideology I do not want to fallow in my life such as Consumerism and the average American dream. See writing bellow. This project emerged a LOT of themes in my life I am looking forward to explore as I grow as a thinking American.
My Op-Ed
Rewriting the American Dream
Heidi Williams
“Our economy is based on spending billions to persuade people that happiness is buying things, and then insisting that the only way to have a viable economy is to make things for people to buy so they’ll have jobs and get enough money to buy things.”
― Philip Slater
A wise man once said when asked what surprised him the most about humanity he said: man. Because man sacrifices his health and happiness in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health and happiness. And then he is so anxious about where his money will go in the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived. This man was the Dali Lama, a universal hero of happiness and a symbol of simple fulfillment. Our way of life has become a constant rat race to reach the American Dream; however, it is high time we rewrite the ideologies of our nation and realize the consumption of material objects does not lead us to fulfillment and happiness. When Westerners were asked in a national survey what they believed would improve their quality of life, “more money” was the most frequent response. In another survey of a quarter million students entering college, 75% of respondents reported that it was very important or essential that they become financially wealthy. In fact, making a lot of money outranked objectives such as helping others, developing a meaningful philosophy of life, and raising a family. And yet, in another survey of eight hundred college alumni, those who preferred a high income and job success to having close friends or a fulfilling marriage were twice as likely to describe themselves as “fairly” or “very” unhappy. (Consumerism, Happiness and Health, Dr Greg D. Jacobs) The more people strive for extrinsic goals such as money, the less robust their well-being.
For some, "more and bigger" is equated with “happiness and fulfillment.” Acquiring more things takes center stage in life and becomes more important than family or job. Recent studies by Dr. Richard Ryan and Dr. Tim Kasser, professors of Psychology at the University of Rochester and Knox College respectively, suggest not only that seeking satisfaction in material goods is unfulfilling, but people for whom affluence is a primary focus also tend to experience a high degree of anxiety and depression, a lower sense of well-being, and greater behavioral and physical problems. (Dr. Richard Ryan, Dr. Tim Kasser)
Engaging in this rat race of a society leads people to unhappiness and unfuffillment. "Compared with their grandparents, today's young adults have grown up with much more affluence, much more consumerism, much less happiness and much greater risk of depression and assorted social pathology," notes Hope College psychologist David G. Myers, PhD. These findings emerge at a time when the consumer culture has reached a fever pitch, comments Myers. (Cover Story Consumerism and Its Discontents, Tori Deangles)
Affluence itself is not the problem, but rather living a life where affluence is the focus. When affluence is the focus of ones well being, it results in an empty fulfillment that distract from goals that reflect genuine human needs such as positive social relationships and applying moral activity to our everyday life such as compassion and empathy. The more people strive for goals revolving around money, ownership, and affluence the less prosperous their well being. Subscribing to values that focus on materialism can make us stuck inside of our very own mess of society.
How do we (as Americans) become ready to let go of this materialistic mindset? How do we get out of this mess of a society? The answer is clear. Let go of ownership.
Ownership, the fuel behind consumerism. Ownership is an invention. It’s something that doesn’t exist in nature, but is a societal construct in humans. However, ownership can be useful. It allows for groups to function and interact with each other to work towards the progression of mankind. The error accuse when you focus on the myth that we need to consume to be fulfilled so much that it becomes real, and you can’t see any alternative. You can’t simply deny ownership because society as a whole already accepted this term. Because of this there is a mental space that the concept of ownership fills in the human mind.
The process of letting go of ownership will, in result, create a space in the mind to be filled with the things that actually fulfill mankind. With the holidays just around the corner try reaching fulfillment by spreading holiday happiness with compassion and giving the gift of kindness this holiday season. Then, maybe a new American Dream could bloom this spring.
Citations
Lane, Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs. "Consumerism, Happiness and Health ." Habitat Australia 1 July 2011: 3. Print
TORI DeANGELIS. "Cover Story Consumerism and Its Discontents." American Phycological Society (2013): 52. Print.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. "If We Are So Rich, Why Aren't We Happy?." American Psychologist 54.10 (1999): 821-827. Print.
Kaza, Stephanie. "Overcoming The Grip Of Consumerism ." Buddhist-Christian Studies 20.1 (2000): 23-42. Print.
Yeager, Jeff. The cheapskate next door: the surprising secrets of Americans living happily below their means. New York: Broadway Books, 2010. Print.
Heidi Williams
“Our economy is based on spending billions to persuade people that happiness is buying things, and then insisting that the only way to have a viable economy is to make things for people to buy so they’ll have jobs and get enough money to buy things.”
― Philip Slater
A wise man once said when asked what surprised him the most about humanity he said: man. Because man sacrifices his health and happiness in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health and happiness. And then he is so anxious about where his money will go in the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived. This man was the Dali Lama, a universal hero of happiness and a symbol of simple fulfillment. Our way of life has become a constant rat race to reach the American Dream; however, it is high time we rewrite the ideologies of our nation and realize the consumption of material objects does not lead us to fulfillment and happiness. When Westerners were asked in a national survey what they believed would improve their quality of life, “more money” was the most frequent response. In another survey of a quarter million students entering college, 75% of respondents reported that it was very important or essential that they become financially wealthy. In fact, making a lot of money outranked objectives such as helping others, developing a meaningful philosophy of life, and raising a family. And yet, in another survey of eight hundred college alumni, those who preferred a high income and job success to having close friends or a fulfilling marriage were twice as likely to describe themselves as “fairly” or “very” unhappy. (Consumerism, Happiness and Health, Dr Greg D. Jacobs) The more people strive for extrinsic goals such as money, the less robust their well-being.
For some, "more and bigger" is equated with “happiness and fulfillment.” Acquiring more things takes center stage in life and becomes more important than family or job. Recent studies by Dr. Richard Ryan and Dr. Tim Kasser, professors of Psychology at the University of Rochester and Knox College respectively, suggest not only that seeking satisfaction in material goods is unfulfilling, but people for whom affluence is a primary focus also tend to experience a high degree of anxiety and depression, a lower sense of well-being, and greater behavioral and physical problems. (Dr. Richard Ryan, Dr. Tim Kasser)
Engaging in this rat race of a society leads people to unhappiness and unfuffillment. "Compared with their grandparents, today's young adults have grown up with much more affluence, much more consumerism, much less happiness and much greater risk of depression and assorted social pathology," notes Hope College psychologist David G. Myers, PhD. These findings emerge at a time when the consumer culture has reached a fever pitch, comments Myers. (Cover Story Consumerism and Its Discontents, Tori Deangles)
Affluence itself is not the problem, but rather living a life where affluence is the focus. When affluence is the focus of ones well being, it results in an empty fulfillment that distract from goals that reflect genuine human needs such as positive social relationships and applying moral activity to our everyday life such as compassion and empathy. The more people strive for goals revolving around money, ownership, and affluence the less prosperous their well being. Subscribing to values that focus on materialism can make us stuck inside of our very own mess of society.
How do we (as Americans) become ready to let go of this materialistic mindset? How do we get out of this mess of a society? The answer is clear. Let go of ownership.
Ownership, the fuel behind consumerism. Ownership is an invention. It’s something that doesn’t exist in nature, but is a societal construct in humans. However, ownership can be useful. It allows for groups to function and interact with each other to work towards the progression of mankind. The error accuse when you focus on the myth that we need to consume to be fulfilled so much that it becomes real, and you can’t see any alternative. You can’t simply deny ownership because society as a whole already accepted this term. Because of this there is a mental space that the concept of ownership fills in the human mind.
The process of letting go of ownership will, in result, create a space in the mind to be filled with the things that actually fulfill mankind. With the holidays just around the corner try reaching fulfillment by spreading holiday happiness with compassion and giving the gift of kindness this holiday season. Then, maybe a new American Dream could bloom this spring.
Citations
Lane, Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs. "Consumerism, Happiness and Health ." Habitat Australia 1 July 2011: 3. Print
TORI DeANGELIS. "Cover Story Consumerism and Its Discontents." American Phycological Society (2013): 52. Print.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. "If We Are So Rich, Why Aren't We Happy?." American Psychologist 54.10 (1999): 821-827. Print.
Kaza, Stephanie. "Overcoming The Grip Of Consumerism ." Buddhist-Christian Studies 20.1 (2000): 23-42. Print.
Yeager, Jeff. The cheapskate next door: the surprising secrets of Americans living happily below their means. New York: Broadway Books, 2010. Print.
My poem
The language of this poem was inspired by a beautiful poem called "When god happens" by Mike Rosen. http://youtu.be/S2Ks06Al8c0 His language inspired me, however, the themes of our poetry are very different.
Clarity as Remedy
Before the bombs were relished upon Bagdad in a white noise of bodies and strewn words covered in a golden light there were people weaving bedtime stories for infants and kissing goodnight to their lovers,
They say cupid never shoots arrows in a warzone,
They hold family photos and let nighttime prayers carried upon midnight breath as they dozed,
And then they became human tomb stones,
Their bodies sinking like ships into a shrapnel of a city covered in the rubble its own people,
“A city shapeless somewhere else riving as it fell”,
The explosions so huge it formed a mini supernova so everything that has a story instantly turned to ash and fell though a superior gods fingers upon cities just to act as a reminder of the ailing,
“That night was not about your god or my gad because when god happens nobody is right”,
When god happens there is no ailing
The ailing listen to speeches spoken by the men behind the barbed curtain,
Because they promise them a certain kind of savor that only peace can offer,
A promise weaved through barbed wire from the testaments of consumerism and war and into the heart of the broken,
The same kind of empty promise found in shopping malls and infomercials that seem to sell you a better version of yourself,
Maybe this is collateral cause and effect sprouted from the men that are meant to save us, they twist and turns their political story book like copidoscope visions of staring at the sun until they kiss us with turpintine tongues and fingertips that feel an awful lot like chains,
I can try to lace their cigarettes with poetry and descriptions of the kind of god I saw nature so they can get high enough to reach redemption,
Then maybe they would be closer to god,
But with their satisfactions met by material and war,
They become the god for the unwise and I guess that is godly enough.
But for me,
For me it’s not godly,
I met god once.
Once upon a December sitting on a mountain tops admiring how the full moons light, an unexpected visitor reflects upon snowflakes,
He offered clarity as remedy as he defogged the merrier he helped me uncover,
Inside of myself
I met him again, laying somewhere on a Costa Rican shoreline feeling the vibrations from the ocean breathing air as thick and sweet as molasses,
Once while feeling a desert breeze upon biceps while deep inside a silk cut canyon somewhere in the west,
Once while laying on forest floors extolling how a golden light filters through northern treetops down upon creek beds so thick with mineral it leaves a foreign sent on my skin,
Again while in an orphic dive through waterfalls so powerful it rose and fell with the beating of my heart the mist from the plunge taking my breath away still the song of the boom boom booming that could sound like war drums but does not,
Instead sounds like peace,
Soothing too the bone like whispers,
This is the god found solely in nature,
Solitude,
This is a god that refutes your American ideology,
Refutes your empty fulfillment,
This is a god that offers clarity as remedy.
Before the bombs were relished upon Bagdad in a white noise of bodies and strewn words covered in a golden light there were people weaving bedtime stories for infants and kissing goodnight to their lovers,
They say cupid never shoots arrows in a warzone,
They hold family photos and let nighttime prayers carried upon midnight breath as they dozed,
And then they became human tomb stones,
Their bodies sinking like ships into a shrapnel of a city covered in the rubble its own people,
“A city shapeless somewhere else riving as it fell”,
The explosions so huge it formed a mini supernova so everything that has a story instantly turned to ash and fell though a superior gods fingers upon cities just to act as a reminder of the ailing,
“That night was not about your god or my gad because when god happens nobody is right”,
When god happens there is no ailing
The ailing listen to speeches spoken by the men behind the barbed curtain,
Because they promise them a certain kind of savor that only peace can offer,
A promise weaved through barbed wire from the testaments of consumerism and war and into the heart of the broken,
The same kind of empty promise found in shopping malls and infomercials that seem to sell you a better version of yourself,
Maybe this is collateral cause and effect sprouted from the men that are meant to save us, they twist and turns their political story book like copidoscope visions of staring at the sun until they kiss us with turpintine tongues and fingertips that feel an awful lot like chains,
I can try to lace their cigarettes with poetry and descriptions of the kind of god I saw nature so they can get high enough to reach redemption,
Then maybe they would be closer to god,
But with their satisfactions met by material and war,
They become the god for the unwise and I guess that is godly enough.
But for me,
For me it’s not godly,
I met god once.
Once upon a December sitting on a mountain tops admiring how the full moons light, an unexpected visitor reflects upon snowflakes,
He offered clarity as remedy as he defogged the merrier he helped me uncover,
Inside of myself
I met him again, laying somewhere on a Costa Rican shoreline feeling the vibrations from the ocean breathing air as thick and sweet as molasses,
Once while feeling a desert breeze upon biceps while deep inside a silk cut canyon somewhere in the west,
Once while laying on forest floors extolling how a golden light filters through northern treetops down upon creek beds so thick with mineral it leaves a foreign sent on my skin,
Again while in an orphic dive through waterfalls so powerful it rose and fell with the beating of my heart the mist from the plunge taking my breath away still the song of the boom boom booming that could sound like war drums but does not,
Instead sounds like peace,
Soothing too the bone like whispers,
This is the god found solely in nature,
Solitude,
This is a god that refutes your American ideology,
Refutes your empty fulfillment,
This is a god that offers clarity as remedy.