RHET250 University of San Francisco Rhetorical Analysis Paper You will use the tools of rhetorical analysis to show your understanding of an author’s argum

RHET250 University of San Francisco Rhetorical Analysis Paper You will use the tools of rhetorical analysis to show your understanding of an author’s argument and evaluate how effectively it has been made. Your task is to craft your own argument about the rhetorical strategies you find in your source text and support all of your claims with evidence. Your analysis must demonstrate that you understand the context of the argument and that you have thought carefully about the author’s rhetorical purpose and their intervention in a debate. In other words, your task is to craft your own argument about someone else’s argument. Essentially, your essay will answer the following questions: what is the argument presented in this text, and what are the strategies and appeals that make this argument convincing (or fail to make it convincing)? This assignment meets the learning outcomes of 1) critical analysis, 2) editing your prose to achieve a writing style in keeping with the conventions of academic discourse, and 3) developing revision strategies for extending and enriching drafts and producing polished advanced academic writing

Choose one of the following texts to analyze

1. Bryan Doerries, “Healing the Invisible Wounds of War With Greek Tragedy” (essay by the director of Antigone in Ferguson on the Theater of War project) ( will be attached below)

2. K-Sue Park, “The A.C.L.U. Needs to Rethink Free Speech”

3. David Cole, “Why We Must Still Defend Free Speech”

https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/why-we-must-defend-free-speech

4. Karen Finney, “I’m Black. Robert E. Lee is My Relative. His Statues Can’t Come Down Soon Enough.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/08/15/im-black-robert-e-lee-is-my-ancestor-his-statues-cant-come-down-soon-enough/

5. Joshua Zeitz, “Why There Are No Nazi Statues in Germany” 6. Rebecca Solnit, “Across America, Racist and Sexist Monuments Give Way to a New Future”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/20/why-there-are-no-nazi-statues-in-germany-215510

The requirements will be included in a document below Healing the Invisible Wounds of War With Greek Tragedy
Bryan Doerries
World Policy Journal, Volume 33, Number 3, Fall 2016, pp. 54-64 (Article)
Published by Duke University Press
For additional information about this article
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/629645
Access provided by University of San Francisco (13 Feb 2018 23:05 GMT)
E S S A Y | HISTORY’S GHOSTS
HEALING THE
INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR
WITH GREEK TRAGEDY
ANTIKE BAUKUNST
B R YA N D O E R R I E S
P
icture thousands of citizen soldiers seated in an amphitheater on the south slope of the Acropolis in the ancient city of
Athens. It’s the early spring of 409 B.C., and for more than 20
years the Greeks have been fighting a war on multiple fronts
against their indefatigable adversaries, the Spartans.
54
Vol. XXXIII, No. 3, Fall 2016 © 2015 Bryan Doerries
DOI: 10.1215/07402775-3712969
THEATER OF WAR
The theater rumbles with footsteps as the
soon takes the stage, crawls out of his cave,
men climb the aisles to find their seats. At day-
opens his throat, and begins to wail. He wails
break, the blast of a trumpet signals the begin-
for himself. He wails for his friends. He wails for
ning of the City Dionysia, that great festival of
the war dead and their children, and most of
dramatic performances: three days of plays
all he wails for the warriors who are watching
written and performed by combat veterans, for
him wail.
large audiences of combat veterans.
Today’s tragedies were written by a retired
He is wailing on their behalf.
general named Sophocles, now in his late 80s.
A CURE FOR “ENDLESS AFFLICTION”
He had been elected general twice during his
Ancient Greek tragedy was, and still is, a pow-
long tenure in the Athenian army and still car-
erful tool to help people suffer openly and
ries on his shoulders the weight of the countless
communally, mitigating the cumulative effects
men he led into battle who never returned.
of prolonged trauma that can corrode an indi-
The crowd suddenly silences, as the entire
vidual or a state. Today the vast and untapped
army leaps to its feet in one fluid movement,
potential for this type of theater to propagate
while 10 commanding generals progress to the
healthy responses to stress is wholly underes-
front of the theater to take their seats in ap-
timated. In performing Greek dramas, there is
pointed thrones. Behind them the audience
healing and hope—not in the plays, which are
is tightly packed. Soldiers stand at attention,
bloody and despairing, but in the people who
shoulder to shoulder, according to tribe, which
come together to bear witness.
is their military unit, and according to rank. The
Over the last eight years, I’ve presented
hoplite cadets are squeezed into the nosebleed
dramatic readings of ancient tragedies for
section in the very back.
military and civilian audiences all over the
Though it’s hard to make it out from the
world, and from this I’ve learned that these
rear of the theater, a solemn religious cer-
plays can teach us to listen to one another and
emony has begun, a funereal rite. The armor
to share the burdens of suffering as one com-
of the war dead is being bestowed upon their
munity. The great Athenian poets were not
bereaved children, who walk slowly to the cen-
bent on sending audiences home, debilitated
ter of the orchestra, their heads bowed. There
with pessimism and grief. Instead, they gave
is hardly a dry eye in the house as the war or-
voice to timeless human experiences that,
phans—now wards of the polis—collect their
when viewed by an audience that had shared
fallen fathers’ shields. The Athenians have lost
those experiences, fostered compassion and
thousands of men already this year to war, yet
positive action. The key is finding the pieces
they’ve had no time to grieve their losses, no
that resonate with people who have lived, in
sanctioned occasion on which to express the
some direct way, the age-old stories the play-
fullness of their emotions, no safe place to
wrights describe.
scream … until now.
Take Sophocles’ Philoctetes—a play about
The actor playing Philoctetes—a warrior
a Greek warrior who, on his way to the Trojan
abandoned by his own troops on an island—
War, is bitten by a poisonous snake and, after
BRYAN DOERRIES is the founder of Theater of War, a project that presents readings of ancient Greek plays
to military and civilian communities to help initiate conversations about the wounds of war. He is the author
of “The Theater of War: What Ancient Greek Tragedies Can Teach Us Today” (Knopf, 2015), “All That You’ve
Seen Here Is God: New Versions of Four Greek Tragedies” (Vintage, 2015), and “The Odyssey of Sergeant Jack
Brennan” (Pantheon, 2016).
FALL 2016
55
E S S A Y | HISTORY’S GHOSTS
contracting a chronic illness, is abandoned on
After reading a damning report in The Wash-
a desolate island by his own troops. Willing
ington Post in February 2007 about Walter Reed,
himself to survive, believing he is suffering for
the nation’s flagship army hospital, and seeing
a reason, he sleeps in a cave, forages for food,
photographs elsewhere of American soldiers
and scavenges for herbs to dull the pain of his
waiting for treatment in understaffed hospitals,
wound, all the while hoping that he will one day
it occurred to me that through modern medi-
be rescued.
cine we had developed the ability to save the
But no one comes to get Philoctetes off the
lives of more soldiers than ever before. Roughly
island, at least not until the Greeks learn from
95 percent of the injured service members who
a Trojan seer—nine years later—that they need
lived long enough to receive medical treatment
him and his invincible bow to win the Trojan
would survive their injuries and return to the
War. But by then it’s too late. Years of isolation
States to begin the long road to recovery. Due
have stripped him of his humanity and his abil-
to major medical advancements, more than
ity to trust the very men who have, at long last,
30,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghan-
come to save him. In spite of overwhelming
istan sustained and survived moderate to pen-
bouts of unbearable pain, Philoctetes refuses to
etrating traumatic brain injuries, sometimes ac-
accept medical treatment from the army and
companied by multiple amputations and other
the nation that betrayed him.
complex wounds that would have been fatal
during any previous conflict.
PHILOCTETES
But by saving so many lives, we had also
Imagine my surprise
refined our ability to extend the agony and
when I awoke, the tears
isolation of wounded soldiers, like Philoctetes,
I shed, the sound of my
stranded on islands of chronic illness. We were
sadness. All of the ships
creating a subclass of profoundly injured vet-
in the fleet had vanished.
erans who would be dependent on the care of
Alone with my infection,
others for decades to come.
I knew only pain. Time
Over the previous year, I had directed sev-
demanded that I scavenge
eral readings of my translation of Philoctetes at
for food with this sacred
venues in New York City. Philoctetes was the
bow, which saved my life.
first play I had translated. I had been drawn to
it because of its vivid depiction of chronic ill-
I would crawl through deep
ness and its impact upon patients and caregiv-
mud on stiff knees, scraping
ers. The performances, which were always raw
my rotten foot against rocks.
and powerful, seemed to leave people buzzing
When water was scarce, I
in their seats, unsure how to respond to the
survived by collecting ice.
graphic, unbridled depiction of human suffer-
I spent cold winter nights
ing, but wishing to talk about it.
without fire, but rubbing
After one reading in the basement of the
stones together for their spark,
Culture Project, an off-Broadway theater com-
I saved myself from certain death.
pany in the East Village, a doctor contacted
So you see. I have everything
me, suggesting that Philoctetes might be used
I need here in this cave, except
to frame conversations about doctor-patient
a cure for my endless affliction.
relations at a teaching hospital or medical
school. He encouraged me to reach out to the
56
WORLD POLICY JOURNAL
THEATER OF WAR
directors of “medical humanities” programs
broke the story about how the violence from
in the city to see if there might be interest in
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had arrived
such a performance.
on American soil. It began with a summation of
The first call that I made was to a physician
news headlines:
named Lyuba Konopasek, who directed medical humanities at Weill Cornell Medical Col-
Town by town across the country,
lege. Less than three months later, with Lyuba’s
headlines
help, I presented Philoctetes at Weill Cornell for
lar stories. Lakewood, Wash.: “Fam-
an audience of first- and third-year medical
ily Blames Iraq After Son Kills Wife.”
students and faculty members. Though few in
Pierre, S.D.: “Soldier Charged with Mur-
the audience had heard of the play, many re-
der Testifies About Postwar Stress.”
sponded—both ethically and emotionally—to it.
Colorado Springs: “Iraq War Vets Sus-
In the discussion that followed, I was startled
pected in Two Slayings, Crime Ring.”
have
been
telling
simi-
to hear medical students and physicians making
candid and insightful connections between the
Sontag and Alvarez reported that they had
play and their own training and practice, quot-
verified “121 cases in which veterans of Iraq
ing passages from the text and relating them to
and Afghanistan committed a killing in this
professional experiences.
country, or were charged with one, after their
An article ran in the health section of The
New York Times about the Weill Cornell reading.
The reporter, Abigail Zuger, described Philoctetes
as “a case right out of a chronic-care ward in
a Veterans Administration hospital,” further
validating my observation that the Walter Reed
story seemed strikingly similar to the Sophocles’
play. It was around then that I started to see the
NO ONE AMONG US IS
INVULNERABLE TO THE
INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR.
potential of Philoctetes to speak not just to medical audiences but to those who had served in
return from war.” Of those cases, three quarters
the military. Philoctetes, after all, wasn’t just a
involved service members who were still in the
chronically ill patient—he was a veteran.
military when the murders took place.
I made phone calls and knocked on the
Sontag and Alvarez continued:
doors of military leaders, trying to find sympathetic leaders at places such as West Point and
More than half the killings involved guns,
the U.S. Naval Academy, where Thucydides and
and the rest were stabbings, beatings,
Herodotus were part of the core curriculum.
strangulations and bathtub drownings.
But most, if not all, of the doors were closed
Twenty-five offenders faced murder,
in my face.
manslaughter or homicide charges for
That all changed on Jan. 13, 2008, when
fatal car crashes resulting from drunk-
The New York Times published an article enti-
en, reckless or suicidal driving. About a
tled “Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign
third of the victims were spouses, girl-
Battles,” as part of a series about the difficul-
friends, children or other relatives.
ties faced by returning veterans called “War
Torn.” With that article, the investigative re-
In every paragraph of the article, I saw writ
porters Deborah Sontag and Lizette Alvarez
large the story of Sophocles’ Ajax, which tells
FALL 2016
57
E S S A Y | HISTORY’S GHOSTS
the story of a fierce Greek warrior who slides
live out all his years.
into a depression near the end of the Trojan
It is pitiful when men
War after losing his close friend, Achilles. In a
hold on to false hopes.
berserk rage, Ajax attempts to murder his com-
A great man must
manding officers, fails, and ultimately takes his
live in honor or die
own life.
an honorable death.
AJAX
Ajax, a decorated soldier from a prestigious
What should I do now?
military family, was considered by many to be
The gods hate me,
the strongest warrior in the Greek army, sec-
the Greeks loathe me,
ond only to Achilles. The Greeks called him
the Trojans despise me.
“the shield” because he and his troops always
Perhaps I should set
fought in the most dangerous battles and sus-
sail for home, across
tained the greatest losses, as they shielded the
the open sea, leaving
rest of the army from the worst attacks. And so
behind ships and men,
by recounting the story of Ajax, including his
and the sons of Atreus?
bloody rampage and subsequent suicide, for
But what will I say
a largely military audience during a century
to my father, Telamon,
in which Athens saw nearly 80 years of war,
when he sees my face?
Sophocles, the general officer and playwright,
How will he even bear
was sending a clear message to everyone who
to look at me when I
had served, or who were training to serve: No
explain how I disgraced
one among us is invulnerable to the invisible
our family name for
wounds of war.
which he fought so hard?
Later, in the same article, as if by divine
His heart will break
providence or fate, in a section entitled “An
right then and there.
Ancient Connection,” Sontag and Alvarez put
Should I scale the walls
the missing pieces together and pointed direct-
of Troy and face the army
ly to the person who would help me mount my
by myself, show them what
first military performance:
I’m made of, and then die?
No, that would only
In an online course for health profes-
please the generals.
sionals, Capt. William P. Nash, the
I must do something
combat/operational stress control co-
bold to erase all doubt
ordinator for the Marines, reaches
in my father’s mind
back to Sophocles’ account of Ajax,
that his son was anything
who slipped into a depression after
but a coward.
the Trojan War, slaughtered a flock of
When a man suffers
sheep in a crazed state, and then fell
without end in sight
on his own sword.
and takes no pleasure
in living his life, day
58
For about a week, I searched for, and finally
by day wishing for
located, Nash’s email address. I quickly drafted
death, he should not
my best pitch, crossed my fingers, and hit send.
WORLD POLICY JOURNAL
THEATER OF WAR
Less than 24 hours later, I received his reply:
circles is rarely enticing. But fully staging a Greek
tragedy is fraught with risk, especially for new
Bryan,
audiences. The last thing I wanted was for the
Thanks for your e-mail. I am not a
cultural baggage and pretension long associated
Greek scholar by any means, but what
with Greek tragedy to get in the way of the audi-
I read about Philoctetes on your website
ence’s connection with the stories.
seems compelling and very pertinent
And so by stripping the performance to its
to our nation and time. I would be very
essentials, by focusing the actors’ talents upon
happy to receive a DVD with a reading.
the power of the spoken word, and by choosing
My address is below my signature.
and adapting key scenes that I believed would
I don’t know that I could help ar-
speak to the issues at hand, I hoped to deliv-
range any readings of Philoctetes in Ma-
er the plays in their purest, most efficacious
rine Corps communities for you, but I
form, while leaving room for the Marines and
wonder if you could give a presentation
their spouses to project their memories upon
(and short reading) for our next USMC
myths from the Trojan War. Also, by presenting
Combat Stress Conference, probably on
an abbreviated selection of scenes that lasted
the first week of May 2008. We have not
just over an hour, my hope was to leave time
nailed down the exact dates and loca-
for a conversation that would be as potentially
tion (though we hope to do that soon),
charged and powerful as the actors’ perfor-
but we will probably have the confer-
mances. From the beginning, the discussion was
ence in San Diego. I can surely give you
never an afterthought. In many ways, I saw it as
45 minutes in a plenary session (we
the main event. I have always viewed our per-
would expect 500?800 people). What
formances as catalysts for discussions that oth-
do you think?
erwise would never have occurred. The readings
Bill
and discussions are one interdependent thing.
A large number of the Marines who showed
THE INTENDED AUDIENCE
up that night probably expected to see a fully
Those Marines who attended the first mili-
staged reenactment of the 300 Spartans brave-
tary reading of my translations of Sophocles’
ly standing down the Persian army at the bat-
Philoctetes and Ajax in a Hyatt Ballroom in San
tle of Thermopylae, featuring hack-and-slash
Diego came on their own volition, choosing an-
swordplay and pyrotechnics.
cient Greek dinner theater over free tickets to
When they discovered four actors in street
a Padres game. The bar and buffet in the back
clothes sitting at a long table in front of micro-
of the cavernous room certainly helped draw
phones, wielding scripts instead of battle-axes
the crowd, as did the presence of several well-
or spears, a sizable portion of the audience was
known actors, including Jesse Eisenberg and Da-
visibly disappointed.
vid Strathairn. But no one who showed up had
any idea of what was about to happen.
But 20 minutes into the performance—
as Bill Camp, the fierce New York actor play-
I wasn’t worried whether the plays would
ing Ajax, wailed and screamed about how he
resonate with Marines—I was worried that no
wished to kill Odysseus, and finally resolved
one would come. I had consciously chosen to
that “a great man must live in honor, or die
present the scenes from Sophocles’ plays as
an honorable death,” before plunging himself
simply and straightforwardly as possible, in the
upon the enemy’s sword—something in the au-
form of a table reading, which even in theatrical
dience seemed to shift.
FALL 2016
59
E S S A Y | HISTORY’S GHOSTS
All the cellphones disappeared. Everyone
experience of war. The Greeks knew that live
in the room leaned forward and “locked on,” a
drama had the power to convey the spirit of an
military term for staring intensely at something
ultimately indescribable experience. Through
or someone without blinking for a preternatu-
their plays, Sophocles and his contemporaries,
rally long period of time. Some Marines rested
Aeschylus and Euripides, forged a common pub-
their heads in their hands, peering through
lic vocabulary for openly acknowledging and
the cracks in their fingers. A few wiped tears
discussing the impact of war on individuals,
from their eyes, tightly gripping spouses’ hands,
families, and communities.
while others smirked at certain words with rec-
To be an Athenian citizen during the fifth
ognition. It was as if these ancient plays had
century B.C. meant, among other things, that
found their intended audience, almost 2,500
you were male and served in the military. Un-
years after they had first been performed.
like the U.S. today, in which less than half of 1
A NEW MODEL OF HEALING
percent of the population has served in some of
the longest wars in our nation’s history, Athens
Dr. Jonathan Shay, the MacArthur-winning psy-
demanded compulsory service of its male citi-
chiatrist who has spent his life working with
zens. In light of this glaring disparity, in a chal-
Vietnam veterans, has advanced a theory that
lenge to readers, Shay wrote in his landmark
storytelling, and Greek tragedy in particular,
1994 book Achilles in Vietnam: Trauma and the
arose and evolved in the Western world from
Undoing of C…
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