Resource paper case of torture
Stepping Into Different Shoes How often do you hear someone give their view point on a subject they strongly dislike, and just start to associate negativity with that topic without ever considering what the other side of the spectrum might be like? Probably a lot more frequently than you might expect. In the literary writings, “The Prince: Chapter WI”, “The Case for Torture”, and “Corn Pone opinions”, each author writes predominantly about heir opinions on a given topic through the use of comparison, one of the most effective ways to influence a person’s mind set.
The majority of people that have a certain perspective on any given subject, whether it be on moral standards, how to govern a nation, or an opinion on how people obtain there own opinions, usually do not realize that other people might not have the same stance as them, and that their opinions might have actually been formed very logically. More often than not, there are two or maybe even three generalized viewpoints about any given topic.
An author ho Is trying to use comparison as effectively as possible will usually broadcast his or her own opinion to as large of an audience as possible by presenting the two general, but explicitly different ideas of the topic.
All three of the literary writings I have chosen were published In completely different time periods, yet each one shares a critical similarity In terms of the style that the literary work was written with. The Prince: Chapter XVII” by Nicola Machiavelli was published in the year 1515. Machiavelli clearly uses comparison to make his argument of how the ideal prince would rule, because the name of Chapter XVII is, “Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared”. The most recent of my three sources, “The Case For Torture” by author Michael Levin, was published just over thirty years ago in 1982.
Michael Levin deals with the exceedingly sensitive topic of torture and death, but still proceeds to create an intriguing balance as far as comparison between opposite opinions goes. Levin directly shows his use of comparison by labeling a season of the article “Idealism:” In which he portrays the roper and “ideal” time in which torture may be used, with the rational and realistic time for torture to be permitted.
The work “Corn-pone Opinions” was published in the year 1901 by Mark Twain virtually four-hundred years after Machiavellian work came out.
While “Corn-pone Opinions” might be the least comparative of the three works of literature, Mark Twain still manages to present both of the conflicting arguments (whether we do or do not conform knowingly) in a manner that allows I OFF In each of these three writings that I have chosen, there is a different author, time erred that each was published, and topic being discussed. The individuality of each literary work becomes nonexistent, however, when the way by which each work was presented to the audience starts to be taken into consideration.
Each of the writings videlicet comparison as the way to get the true meaning of the author’s words off of the paper and into the reader’s head. All of the authors evidently felt that using comparison was the best option through which each one of them could breach and infuse their very own opinion on whatever topic they each might be discussing into heir audiences’ heads. “Torturing the terrorist is unconstitutional? Probably.
But millions of lives surely outweigh constitutionality. (Levin 1) In Just a single sentence of Michael Eleven’s article, both view points on torture are brought up in order to give the reader the freedom of creating their own Judgment of the topic, while Levin still firmly instills his own view point on torture. “Men think they think upon great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently’ (Twain 5) Once again, it merely takes a sentence to a sentence for Mark Twain to display his clever use of comparison.
Twain rightly acknowledges that he agrees with what men think about themselves (appealing to one general viewpoint), but he then appeals to the opposite viewpoint of the first, saying that men conform with a group in order to be the people that they think they might be, they do not do it independently. Nicola Machiavelli gives opinions on both sides of the spectrum as soon as you dive into the first paragraph of the chapter, saying that a prince should both, “Ought to desire to e considered clement”, and, “Ought not mind the reproach of cruelty’.
Machiavelli, as well as the other two authors, uses comparison to appeal to pathos, and really home-in on the mind of the reader, showing that he is both knowledgeable and accepting of both of the general points of view associated with his topic.
All three of the literary writings use comparison as a way to offer a door to step into another person’s shoes, and view each of their subjects in a different perspective than you ever have before. This allows readers to connect with the author in a manner that builds belief and trust in the author almost immediately.
Comparison is really Just a technique that specifically appeals to pathos because it opens up the minds of the audience. Machiavelli, Twain, and Levin all develop their works through comparison in the hopes that they might be able to instill their own Judgment into the minds’ of their readers the most effective way possible. Essentially, “The Prince: Chapter WI”, “The Case for Torture”, and “Corn Pone Opinions” are all similar because they are persuasive essays in disguise.
Each author first puts forth two conflicting opinions on their topic in order to first show that they have a clue of what they are talking about and make their audience more comfortable, and then proceeds to undermine and bash one of those opinions in the hopes of convincing the readers that their own viewpoint is the better of the two. No matter what the specified reason is that an author might be using it, comparison is lethal. It can diminish a set of firm beliefs that a person might have had all their life.
Maybe you re Nicola Machiavelli trying to convince everyone that fear outweighs love when those are the only two options you have as a leader. Maybe you are Mark twain and you are trying to persuade your audience that they conform although they might moral standards of torturing a terrorist. Disregarding who, what, or when comparison is being utilized, it’s potential to sway a person’s viewpoint is beyond any other method; It opens up new perspectives.
Sometimes all you have to do is step into someone else’s shoes for a second, and firm opinions and beliefs become rubbish.
