Alma's Preaching: An Ethos Analysis (latest draft)

In Alma 7, Alma addresses the inhabitants of Gideon. In the first six verses, he effectively portrays himself as one who is worth listening to because of his many accomplishments and as someone who has stayed humble even in the position of chief judge over the land. In verse two, he establishes his credibility in a way that is particularly effective for his audience of a more righteous group of people.

"And even I could not have come now at this time were it not that the judgment-seat hath been given to another, to reign in my stead; and the Lord in much mercy hath granted that I should come unto you. "

There was probably renown and authority associated with being the chief judge, and Alma could have noted that aspect about himself, but instead he says he was "wholly confined to the judgment-seat." By saying 'wholly confined,' he implies that he would have rather been doing something else, like speaking to the people, and that judgment-seat is not a particularly desirable position. Alma knew that preaching the gospel was more important than being chief judge, and guessed that the people of Gideon agreed with him, so he presented himself as one who knew the gospel rather than as the former chief judge.

In addition, Alma says several times how much he trusts that the people of Gideon are doing what is right. He identifies with the people by mentioning several things that they all would consider important if they are following Christ, especially in verses three and six. For example, “I trust...that ye do worship the true and the living God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins.” Placing his trust in his audience that they are doing what is right makes it easier to listen to his counsel

Alma also mentions “the awful dilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla” in Alma 5, referring to how the people of Zarahemla had strayed from the right paths. He speaks to this audience and establishes his credibility differently. In Alma 5:3, he says, “I, Alma, having been consecrated by my father, Alma, to be a high priest over the church of God, he having power and authority from God to do these things...” He stresses his responsibility as high priest to preach the gospel when he could have mentioned his previous authority as chief judge.

The people of Zarahemla might have known already that Alma was famous for being the chief judge, and maybe even for rebelling against the church in his youth, but I would guess that Alma wanted them to realize that his priesthood and the things of God are of more eternal value than fame. Besides, since Alma intended to preach the gospel, his position as the high priest is a better qualification than his experience as chief judge.

Even though Alma probably could have caught the attention of either of his audiences by referencing his worldly fame, he understood its transient and fleeting value, and focused instead on the gospel.

ra#5

JFK's speech in which he designated himself a jelly doughnut has many examples of his ethos (not all of them positive). First of all President Kennedy was in fact the President of the United States, at that point in time a respected posistion often regarded as leader of the free world, and thus already had a significant ethos. The citizens of west Berlin were surrounded by communist Germany and appreciated their freedom, and thus would listen to the "leader of the free world". Not only was Kennedy's position respected Kennedy also established himself as a "learned" man by using the latin ,"civis Roman sum" (I am a citizen of rome) this gave him the appearance of being smart. Then Kennedy made a huge mistake, "Ich bin ein Berliner" or in english, "I am a jelly doughnut", who respects a person who calls themself a jelly doughnut. Although Kennedy was trying to establish himself as a metaphorical resident of Berlin what he really did was degrade his ethos, and thus his argument. I disagree with Joel's assertion that Kennedy's use of German increased his ethos, on the contrary Kennedy's failure to use proper german grammar undoubtedly made him appear negligent and superficial to those who spoke the german language, he could not even take the time to learn to say one simple german sentence. Of course President Kennedy was still the president of the U.S. and his ethos as president undoubtedly outweighed his failed attempt at german.

Just A Game-Revised

This is a revision of my previous post of Just A Game.

I read Just A Game in the August 2009 Ensign. This article details some of the rising issues brought about by the online gaming genre. This article was written by Charles D. Knutson of Brigham Young University Computer Science Department, and Kyle K. Oswald from LDS Family Services. I think a natural ethos occurs when a reader sees the qualifications of these two men listed at the beginning of the article. When referring to video game addiction and its effects on family, most people will generally think that someone from the BYU computer science department is an authority. The same is true of someone who works in LDS family services in regards to the effects of any addiction on the family.

The authors make another good ethos appeal to their audience at the end of paragraph five: "We hope that the explanations, suggestions, and prophetic counsel included in this article may be helpful to individuals and families as they seek the guidance of the Spirit in finding balance in their lives." In this sentence, most readers will gain a sense of the authors' concern for them personally. They use the word "hope" to give positive connotation and convey their concerns in a way that seems parental and caring. Next they identify their rhetoric as "explanations (and) suggestions" versus criticism, and finally throw in "prophetic counsel" as a fail-safe to any who would challenge their position. Prophetic counsel is in the upper echelon of ethos appeals to an LDS audience.

There are several stories given in the article about individuals dropping out of school, neglecting responsibilities, and straining family relationships as a result of playing video games. The authors mention David A. Bednar recently addressing the world of virtual reality in a CES fireside. He addressed the subject as having "both immediate and eternal implications". This does two things for the audience in this article. From a kairos standpoint, it shows that the LDS leadership is currently concerned with this problem. Secondly, referring to a specific "prophetic counsel" builds even more ethos for the authors. They do this again in the next paragraph, including a significant segment from M. Russell Ballard's article in the July 2004 Ensign, "Be Strong in the Lord".

Why the sudden interest in virtual reality in the LDS church leadership? Primarily, subscriptions to these online games is higher today than ever before. The brethren have obviously seen a need to address this issue, as we are now in a day where a person can access the internet from just about anywhere. People all over the world and even in the LDS church are being lured into spending much of their time in virtual reality. The timing of these messages from the leadership of the Church is most likely an attempt to stem the assault on its members before the problem gets out of hand.

I noticed that this article was released in the August issue. I suspect that this was done to coincide with students returning to school this fall. Reminding students to prioritize their studies and curricular activities, and to be aware of the ever-present distractions offered by the internet is an attempt at preventative maintenance. Hopefully, it will be successful to at least a small degree.

I think that the article accomplishes its goal for the most part, but I would have changed the timing of the headings within the online version. This was done effectively in the magazine by placing the "Am I Addicted" heading as an insert prior to the solution "Where Can I Find Spiritual Help and Hope". I think that those who read the online version would have been better served this way. Obviously, if a person reading this article is not addicted, then they don't really need to find spiritual help and hope regarding said addiction. With this adjustment, Elder Ballard's statements are better positioned to persuade those in denial to re-analyze their gaming habit with a more eternal perspective.

Per some comments from my esteemed mentor James Goldberg, I feel that I should comment on the effects that the visual presentation of this article in the print version had on its ethos. Sadly, after establishing good credibility for themselves through the aforementioned means, the authors' ethos is denigrated by the poor quality of the accompanying graphics. The artwork is unattractive, cartoon-ish, and altogether unappealing. The computer monitor taking the form of a ravenous monster devouring the family is a bit extreme. In fact, the premise of the artwork has the computer as the source of treachery instead of the individual, and this somewhat undermines the spirit of the article.

Alma's Preaching: An Ethos Analysis

In Alma 7, Alma addresses the inhabitants of Gideon. In the first six verses, he effectively portrays himself as one who is worth listening to because of his many accomplishments and as someone who has stayed humble even in the position of chief judge over the land. In verse two, he establishes his credibility in a way that is particularly effective for his audience of a more righteous group of people.

"And even I could not have come now at this time were it not that the judgment-seat hath been given to another, to reign in my stead; and the Lord in much mercy hath granted that I should come unto you. "

There was probably renown and authority associated with being the chief judge, and Alma could have noted that aspect about himself, but instead he says he was "wholly confined to the judgment-seat." By saying 'wholly confined,' he implies that he would have rather been doing something else, like speaking to the people, and that judgment-seat is not a particularly desirable position. Alma knew that preaching the gospel was more important than being chief judge, and guessed that the people of Gideon agreed with him, so he presented himself as one who knew the gospel rather than as the former chief judge.

In addition, Alma says several times how much he trusts that the people of Gideon are doing what is right. He identifies with the people by mentioning several things that they all would consider important if they are following Christ, especially in verses three and six. For example, “I trust...that ye do worship the true and the living God, and that ye look forward for the remission of your sins.”

Alma also mentions “the awful dilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla,” referring to how the people of Zarahemla had strayed from the right paths. He addresses this audience and establishes his credibility somewhat differently. In Alma 5:3, he says, “I, Alma, having been consecrated by my father, Alma, to be a high priest over the church of God, he having power and authority from God to do these things...” He stresses his responsibility as high priest without even mentioning his previous authority as chief judge, which is similar to the way he later addressed the people of Gideon. Even if the people of Zarahemla would have responded positively to being addressed by a former chief judge, perhaps Alma chose not to mention it because he planned to speak of things relating to the church and not the judgment-seat.

Alma is much less gentle than with the Gideonites, spending less time introducing himself and jumping right into exhorting the people to remember the many ways the Lord has delivered both them and their ancestors, temporally and spiritually. He asks them to ponder upon what they might think at the day of judgment.

“I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

"Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?

"Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?”

(Alma 5:16-18)

I was interested to observe that even with the people of Zarahemla whom Alma spoke more harshly to, he still didn't try to use the worldly fame of the judgment-seat to get people to trust him.

Hypoxemia

There is an article in the September 2009 issue of USHPA's Hang Gliding & Paragliding magazine titled "Stinkin' High". This article is written by Boyd Hehn with the ultimate intent of persuading free flight pilots to avoid hypoxemia. The audience for this article is actually pretty small. There are less than twenty thousand hang and paraglider pilots in the USA. Of these twenty thousand, probably less than half are pilots who fly in conditions that would expose them to hypoxemia. So, Dr. Hehn's article is ideally written to an audience of a few thousand pilots. These pilots come from a large variety of backgrounds and experiences. The challenge of convincing people to avoid hypoxemia might seem simple enough, but this audience has many factors to consider when solving this risk: equipment weight, cost, cumbersomeness and maintenance. Another solution is to avoid high altitudes. It can be a tough sell since the use of an expensive oxygen system may only be needed on rare occasions, and good altitude gains are sporadic enough that no pilot wants to stop climbing because of a potential lack of oxygen.

In his introduction to "Stinkin' High", Dr. Hehn uses "we" extensively to appeal to this audience and build some ethos. He is telling his audience that he relates to them on this topic. As we see at the end of the article, Dr. Hehn has experience in flying, and thus his appropriate use of "we" to align himself with the audience. This pacifies his readers by letting them know he understands their culture, instead of preaching to them as a physician. He happens to be a Pulmonologist, a fact that is kept obscured until the end of the article. His credit for writing the article lists him only as "Boyd Hehn". His credibilty is made evident as he outlines the science behind hypoxemia, but the actual notation of him being a physician is saved until the end, when his audience's opinion has already been fully affected. He is writing primarily as a fellow pilot, and secondarily as a physician.

Another interesting approach that the author uses is his reference to altitude in the first paragraph. He says "...pilots aspire to altitude.", and "(Altitude) offers 'safety' for aerobatics". These are statements that especially appeal to pilots. It is counter-intuitive for most people to hear that altitude offers safety, but pilots know this from experience. The author even puts "safety" in quotes to emphasize the esoteric nature of this statement. Altitude offers more time to react to collapses or problems that occur in flight. By demonstrating his knowledge of this inside information, he gains the audience's confidence.

Dr. Hehn's next strategy to win his audience's interest and consent, is to include a narrative by Matt Beechinor. Matt is something of an icon in the world of free flight. His story is intended to show the audience that no one is immune to the risks of hypoxemia, and that its onset can be subtle, even unnoticed. Matt's story has a different language to it than Dr. Hehn's portion of the article. It appeals more to the common attitude of guarded recklessness found among many pilots who fly cross-country. Whereas Dr. Hehn writes in a technical verse (maybe even too technical at times, given his audience), Matt writes in a casual style more familiar to most pilots. This narrative likely develops a good bit of commonality with the bulk of the audience, but Dr. Hehn was worried that he had yet to win their hearts as he said, "Instead of dismissing Matt's story as an isolated incident, we suggest reading Will Gadd's post." Will Gadd is another icon in free flight (and other extreme sports). Dr. Hehn then offers a good perspective of the nature of his audience when he states, "We suspect that more pilots have experienced the effects of severe hypoxemia than would care to admit." This is, of course, implying that his audience is comprised of pilots who see their susceptibility to hypoxemia, while flying high, as a weakness. They might prefer to ignore the issue in lieu of admitting that they can't handle their altitude.

Dr. Hehn moves to a good bit of logos next, providing ample scientific data and argument to convince even the most resistant pilot that his brain will fail without adequate oxygen. More important than the actual evidence however, is the transition that he makes from pilot to scientist. This furthers his credibility with his audience. He has appealed to them on a personal level as a pilot, inserted a narrative on the topic from one of their idols, and finally brings the science behind the argument to the table. It is an effective persuasion.

Advice from Diana Wynne Jones

For my web-log post on audience analysis, I picked an article by a favorite author. Diana Wynne Jones wrote the piece Hints about Writing a Story for a children's website, so it is meant for younger readers who have found they enjoy writing.

To sound friendly to children, Jones adopts a casual, conversational tone, not worrying too much about being grammatically correct. This is evident in the passages "You will come across bits that make you sort of squiggle inside and say ‘Oh, I suppose that will do.’ That is a sure sign that it won’t do," and "You could ask someone to do a drawing and they would draw it just as you had seen it. Promise." I was impressed at how easy it was to understand what she meant by "squiggle," and the impact of her advice was not diminished by her lack of formality. In addition, her choice to speak in second person is good for this audience, because her readers will probably readily agree with her, whereas second person narration can be irksome if you disagree with what what the author says about 'you.'

Jones makes some suggestions and gives some hard, fast rules about writing. For example, she says, "The IMPORTANT THING is that you should ENJOY making up your story," and "You must read your story AS IF YOU HAD NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE." She explains how you should carry out these instructions, but she knows that she doesn't need much further logical support behind them because readers of her essay are probably already familiar with her writing and authority to give advice on it.

But she might sound condescending to children if she were to give all of her advice imperatively. To avoid this, she only uses that style when she considers her observation to be something that doesn't vary from person to person, such as when she says "Everyone is different and that means that everyone is going to need to write a story in a different way. You have to discover how you need to do it," or "To start, you have to have an idea. I can’t help you there."

Jones manages to target children as her audience without sounding too bossy when she says some things are non-negotiable through her understanding that she is already held in high esteem as a writer.
(Too much commentary, not enough analyzing.)