Rhetorical Analysis Essay

As I read through Laura Miller's text "Religious fervor over 'The Golden Com ass'" I !as immediately intrigued !ith this argument" The text !as !ritten and u#lished in the Las Angeles Times on $ecem#er %nd %&&'" I'm a very religious erson myself so I thought it !ould #e interesting to read this text" The text is !ell !ritten and it has s ecific facts and information a#out a series of #oo(s called ")is $ar( Materials"" This series has caught a lot of attention and the first #oo( of the series "the Golden Com ass !as made into a movie aimed to entertain children" It also includes overreactions from certain religious grou s regarding it's content" The text itself is !ritten in a clear and legi#le !ay" It has many strong oints arguing that there !ere too many negative exaggerations a#out the content of a series of #oo(s and reactions a#out *hilli *ullman ideology" The text uses all of the a eals+logos, ethos, and athos- necessary for a great argument" The text uses .uotes and a num#er of situations that fit the authors res ective side of the argument" The text refers mostly to ")is $ar( Materials" and also author *hilli *ullman's involvement !ith religious controversy" /hat I found most interesting !hile analy0ing the text !ere the many exam les of the three a eals logos, ethos, and athos used" The text does a great 1o# of illustrating the main oints of the argument through these exam les" The !riter uses logos and ethos in many !ays in the text to rove ho! the series of #oo(s and the author do not deserve such harsh reactions from some religious individuals or grou s2 "Also 33 !hoo s4 33 no one's #een hiding ")is $ar( Materials"" To date, 56 million co ies of *ullman's #oo(s have #een sold !orld!ide" "The Golden Com ass" !on not only the 5776 Carnegie Medal, a ri0e a!arded #y 8ritish children's li#rarians, #ut also the "Carnegie of Carnegies," as the u#lic's favorite #oo( in the ri0e's '&3year history" The final novel in the trilogy, "The Am#er 9 yglass," !on the /hit#read 8oo( of the :ear a!ard in %&&5, the first children's #oo( ever to do so" It's safe to say that co ies of the trilogy reside in every decent children's li#rary in the nation" If there is indeed a "deceitful stealth cam aign" afoot to lure children to *ullman's #oo(s 33 as /illiam $onohue, s o(esman for the Catholic League, insists 33 it's remar(a#ly short on stealth"" ;#viously, *ullman is a reader and !riter at heart" )is success de ends on the su ort of fans" )e has made a living from !riting so I thin( he !ould

li(e his !or( to #e seen in a ositive !ay" The !riter used logos to hel readers use certain logic" This logic is loo(ing at a #oo( series that has sold millions of co ies" If the series sells millions of co ies and is deemed "evil" #y certain religious grou s or leaders, then does that mean that the millions !ho have read it are "evil" or "#ad" 1ust as the #oo(s are< It is logical to thin( that that it not very ro#a#le" 8oo(s in the series have !on credi#le a!ards such as the Carnegie Medal and the /hit#read 8oo( of the :ear" This evidence leads me as a reader to #elieve that a credi#le a!ard !ould not #e #esto!ed u on an "evil" #oo(+s-" This assage ex lains that *ullman has never tried to hide his vie!s on religion or God" It almost as(s the .uestion2 "If *ullman never hid his ideals or vie!s from the u#lic, then !hy is there so much religious controversy all of a sudden a#out his #oo(s #eing turned into a move<" "/hat's really astonishing, and telling, is ho! long it's ta(en America's religious fear3mongers to notice *ullman" )e's never hidden his s(e ticism a#out God or his re1ection of organi0ed religion" A .uic( Internet search turns u a %&&= essay he !rote de loring "theocracies" for a ne!s a er in his native 8ritain, and his o!n /e# site states that he thin(s it " erfectly ossi#le to ex lain ho! the universe came a#out !ithout #ringing God into it"" The follo!ing .uote uses logos2 >It's also 33 let's face it 33 the only sensi#le attitude for a !riter of fiction to ado t" 9tories are !ay!ard and so are readers, as the millions of (ids !ho have loved Le!is' ?arnia #oo(s !ithout succum#ing to their Christian sym#olism can testify"" It is a arent that *ullman's series and Le!is' series have not enslaved their readers in their res ective ideologies" There is no evidence that this has ha ened to the readers as a !hole" *athos is used to a rove of the idea that it's o( to have a conversation and state your vie!s res ectively in this .uote and the !riter a eals to the emotions of the reader as !ell" It ex lains ho! it is of vital im ortance to listen to those you agree !ith and also #e o en to other oints of vie!2 "In America," I told *ettitt, "religious grou s gain olitical advantage and rally their follo!ers #y resenting themselves as em#attled" Actually listening to the other side is tantamount to admitting you're not really #eing ersecuted"" /ith a loo( of mild ity, he re lied, "In order to come to vie!s, you don't 1ust listen to eo le you agree !ith" Education is a good thing, and, therefore, so is o enness to different vie!s"" The text has a fe! exam les of it's sometimes sarcastic tone as !ell" The !riter uses a lot of this tone from the start of the text to the end" "The messages had the #reathless, marginally literate .uality of rumors a#out

s ider eggs in #u##le gum" *erha s that's !hy the controversy rom tly earned itself a age at htt @@!!!"sno es"com, that venera#le Internet clearing house for ur#an legends"" And this .uote sho!s even more sarcasm2 "Most re osterous, of course, is the idea that anyone !ould ma(e a A5B&3 million movie !ith the ur ose of tric(ing children into reading a seditious #oo(" /hat self3res ecting (id ever needed that much encouragement to ferret out !hatever the adults are trying to hide<" I #elieve the main claim of Laura's text is that an author's !ritings and ideals deserve res ect and should not #e over exaggerated in a negative !ay unless there is roof that they deserve such criticism" I thin( this aragra h descri#es a ositive situation !here *ullman's !or( !as used" I #elieve *ullman !ould li(e to #e vie!ed as an ally and not an enemy #ecause of the follo!ing .uote2 "Although *ullman has some vehement detractors among 8ritain's Christians, the li#eral clergy there have more often valued his #oo(s for tac(ling the great .uestions of existence2 life, death, morality and humanity's role in the universe" They regard his fiction as a s ring#oard for discussion, the (ind of discussion that does sometimes lead eo le to em#race God" They recogni0e him not as an enemy #ut as an ally in a society increasingly coloni0ed #y the va id reoccu ations of consumer culture"" I agree !ith the !riter #ecause a successful !or( of !riting deserves all the good and ositive attention from that success" It does not deserve over exaggerated claims of negativity if there is no evidence of it's negativity" The text also sho!s that *ullman is sincerely interested in discussion and o enness" I am the ty e of erson that li(es discussion, variety, and difference" /hen I analy0ed the end aragra h of the text, I found that the next .uote !as an a ro riate art of the conclusion2 >Cto read a great story 33 at any age 33 is not to assively a#sor# a doctrine, #ut to #egin an imaginative colla#oration" It is that freedom, a reader's freedomCD The !riter concludes !ith that great message message from *ullman" The !riter diverts from religion and controversy" It ex lains that readers have freedom to create and imagine" That is !hat the !riter #elieves that *ullman and anyone else has the right to do regardless of religion or #elief" The !riter #elieves that !e should #e a#le to do things and #e successful and that no#ody deserves negative reactions if they are undeserving of such reactions"