1.
Identify
the nature of proof in Frank's monologue, siting evidence he used in
Charlie's defense.
Frank hits on pathos, ethos and
logos proofs throughout his speech. In Charlie’s defense he brings in emotional
moments when talking about his military experience and how an amputated spirit
cannot be healed. Also when he gets upset and loudly shouts that he would take
a flame thrower to the place. Then another example of the pathos that he bring
into his speech is when he talks about integrity and character, the essence of
what a leader should be made of.
Franks credibility is brought in
at different points of his speech and is preexisting. At the beginning of the
hearing his existing credibility is brought up when he says the people he is
close friends with who asked him to be here on Charlie’s behalf. His ethos is
also built up multiple times when he is referred to as colonel, which brings up
his past credibility and is further solidified when he talks about what he has
seen while in the military.
Then, when looking at the logic
that Frank gives, he uses many different example of logos. My favorite one, by
far is also part of other proofs, which is when he talks about boys having legs
and arms blown off but even worse than this is an amputated spirit for “there
is no prostatic for that”. Also when he uses the nursery rhyme to explain how
their institutional idea of being a cradle of leadership. As he says that when
the bough breaks the cradle will fall. These are just a few of the logos that
is seen in the speech, there are many more including when he talks of Charlie
coming to the crossroads and they should let him continue on his journey. All
of these examples help to give logos to the speech.
2.
Of
the four styles of dramatic or vicarious proof, which did Frank exploit to
turn attitudes around about Charlie? How did this style function in terms of
reason?
We see the narrative proof when
Frank takes about how he has been around and seen young men who had their arms
and legs blown off in battle. He shares this short narrative to help give him
credibility to show he knows what life can be like and how bad things can be.
Also it pulls an emotional response when he ties it to Charlie and how they are
amputating his spirit and there is no prostatic to fix it.
Also he gives a testimonial proof. This comes up when he says that
Charlie’s soul is intact, followed by asking everyone if they know how he knows.
From here he tells them that someone tried to buy his soul but Charlie was not
selling. This is Frank giving a testimony of Charlie’s character and
value. We also see a short testimony
given when he tells the committee that they hold Charlie’s future in their
hands, how it is a valuable one and how they should believe him on this
subject.
Frank used a good number of anecdotal proofs as well. These short
narratives that make a point in a hurry can be seen many times. One that I
liked was when Frank was talking about the cradle of leadership, and if the
bough breaks the cradle will fall. He used this short anecdote to help prove
his point and what was great about it, is it was their saying that he used in
hampering them. Another is seen just after he talked about his military
experience when he says they think that they are just sending this great
foot soldier back to his home state “with his tail between his legs” but he
goes on to say that he feels they are destroying his soul. All because Charlie
is not a “Baird man”, which Frank turns into an insult, as compared to what
they first considered to be an honorable title.
3. What cultural myths or images were employed to increase
the appeal of Frank's argument? How did this influence his attempted shift of
opinion?
The Wisdom of the Rustic was used when Frank
was talking about how George is “hiding in big daddy’s pocket”. Here Frank is presenting
how Charlie is the little guy who has come a long way up the stairs of life.
How he comes from Oregon to make a new life, but George is a joke, nothing more
than a daddy’s boy.
We also can see The Possibility of Success being used when Frank points
out that Charlie’s future is a bright one that needs to be protected and
embraced, not destroyed. He talks about how he has the makings of a great
leader, they just need to continue to let him work at becoming one.
The Presence of Conspiracy I feel is seen also in the example of George hiding
behind his father’s money. This was brought out in the open by Frank to also
show how George was being let go because of his father’s influence with the school.
This is, in my opinion, a great example of how corruption can influence so many
different aspects of life.
Next we also see the Value of Challenge when Mr. Trask recommends that Charlie
is expelled to the board. However, Frank challenges this idea with the use of
strong expressive language and louder tones, which shows his willingness to
challenge what is being done. It is this value in a challenge that keeps him
going when he is told he is out of order and he pulls them back into a reality
that what they are attempting to do here is what is truly out of order.
Lastly we do see a little of the Eternal Return. When Frank talks about
the people, whoever they were, that went to this school the spirit that they
left there is now dead, due to what they are now doing. Basically strongly
hinting that they need to reform back to the basics. This is also seen when he
talks about their mottos and saying about the cradle of leadership and yet the
leaders they seem to want to produce and nothing like the leaders that anyone
would ever want.
4. Which of Reich's
parables apply or applies to Frank's reasoning?
I feel he applies The Mob at the Gates, when he talks about killing the
spirit of this young man, the spirits of those who came here before are dead,
you are destroying everything this institute proclaims it instills and be
careful what kind of leaders you’re producing here, to name a few. All of these
different parts of the speech help to bring in this idea of how this should be
the place of aspiration for others and they need to be wary of the evil or
corrupt ideas that are attempting to take precedence at this preceding.
Frank reasons how Charlie is a triumphant individual by how he believes
in himself and is willing to take the risk to do what he knows is the right
thing. He doesn’t “rat” out anyone to buy his future, he is not willing to tear
anyone else’s future apart to ensure the success of his own. He has the
integrity, the honor and the character to stick to his principles. Frank unfailingly
shows Charlie as an outstanding person.
Also Frank does a wonderful job, in my opinion, of portraying the idea of
The Rot at the Top. He shows this idea in the short but fantastic portion of
his speech when he talks about how they are going to sacrifice Charlie and
spare George who hides “in big daddy’s pocket”. Showing how George is getting
spared because of his father’s money and not because of any other logical
reasoning.
5. What was Frank's reasoning in terms of logical appeal?
Causal or Cause to Effect
Reasoning- This is shown when Frank says that Charlie is taking the right path
through life and how it is a path about principal that will lead to character.
Also when he says Charlie’s future is going to make them proud and he promises them
that it will, these both show a cause to effect reasoning that if they do one
thing it will lead to the other. It could be that he is right, but there is the
argument that things will not always workout the same way every time,
especially with people, we are too unpredictable.
Reasoning from a Dilemma-This one is also
seen in Frank’s speech. A good example of it is when he talks about what the
school motto is. When he says that the motto is that the boys should inform on
their classmates and anything shy of this would result in them being burnt at the
stake. This he shows as a reasoning between an either or situation. There is,
of course, another option and that is what he is getting at with this portion
of his speech.
Reasoning by Definition-We see this when
Frank uses the example of “you hurt this boy you’re going to be Baird bums the
lot of ya”. This is a sweeping generalization that he makes in order to help in
his persuasion. Which does help to show that what they are attempting to throw
him out of school for is not very well grounded.
Generalization – Frank also uses this when he says they are
“building a rat ship here”. He reasons what they are doing to the one is
applicable to the rest. Which, depending on if he is persuasive enough, we may
agree or disagree with this statement of this place being a rat ship or a place
for snitches.
6. How did Frank's
paralinguistics impact his expression and the meaning of his words? Please give
specific examples – three will do.
Frank’s paralinguistics were very
influential on his expression and the meaning of his words. Take for instance
when he says “and what are you doing? You’re going to reward George and destroy
Charlie”. He slows down when he gets to “destroy Charlie”. Also he gets
quieter, showing a sense of sadness and how the respectable one is Charlie yet
he is the one taking the fall. With this he shows what they are doing is
completely backwards from what they should do.
Also, when he
talks about the committee holding Charlie’s future in their hands he says
“don’t destroy it” short pause “protect it” a little longer pause “embrace it”.
These short pauses help to draw attention to what he is saying, brings emphasis
to his points, the importance of their decision and his view of how they should
choose.
Another example is one of the
times he gets much louder in what he is saying. Take for example when he says “If
I were the man I was five years ago I would take a FLAME THROWER to this
place”! He yells flame thrower to draw in their attention to how far he feels
this institution has fallen in their principles. Also, how they have become so
diluted in what they stand for that they would be better off destroying the
place than even trying to fix it.
7. Discuss Frank's approach with his argument in terms of the four
process premises, from Needs to Consistency.
Frank’s speech covers a portion of
all four of the process premises. Starting with needs, we can see how Frank
uses the Reassurance of Worth. This is shown when he tells us that Charlie’s
soul is intact and you cannot bargain for it. Also when Frank talks of how Charlie has come
to a crossroads and he picked the correct path that is made up of principle and
it will lead to an even stronger character. This Frank does to build up the
worth of Charlie even more than what he has previously done.
Frank also pulls in the need for a
Sense of Roots however, this is done in a mocking way. He makes fun of this by
showing that there is no need for loyalty to this place when he says, that
Charlie doesn’t need to have the label of “being a Baird man”. He is showing
how this loyalty that is demanded of them all towards this school is a sham. It
may have once stood for something and something of great worth, but the level
of excellence has fallen greatly.
Frank touches on a few of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as well. First,
hitting on the idea of belonging intermingled with esteem. This is shown when
he once again mocks the idea of needing to belong to this school. He says that Charlie
doesn’t need to have the label of the school ascribed to him, nor does he need
the esteem of everyone else there. He tells how Charlie doesn’t want another
chance to speak up against his classmates in order to win their approval and
belong to the institution.
Also, we see the need of Self-actualization come up when Frank talks of
his coming to the crossroads in his life and having never took the right path
due to it being too hard. He tells us all of this realization that he came to
about himself to help drive home his point on why Charlie is such an amazing
person. This is all due to the fact that he will not report on the other
students that he saw vandalizing a car.
Emotion is
strongly used by Frank all throughout his speech. Starting with fear, we see
Frank uses this in his speech when he tells them to “be careful what kind of
leaders you’re producing here”. This is done to tell them how they should fear
what they are doing. Based on what he has seen they are not creating even the
basic standards for any good leader.
Also we see
that he uses guilt many times. One example is when he talks of how they are
rewarding George and destroying Charlie. This example from the speech shows how
he is trying to instill guilt into the committee for what they are doing. Also
we see him using guilt when he talks about how they are basically amputating
Charlie’s spirit and there is no prostatic that can fix that. If they do this
they are knowingly destroying a life that can never be healed.
The emotion
that Frank seems to use the most is anger. We see Frank’s anger flare up when
he talks about how they are killing the spirit that the school says they are
trying to teach. Also we see this anger many more times throughout the speech, another
one being when he is told that he is out of order and he stands up yelling “I’ll
show you out of order”. Then continuing in his anger he goes on to say he would
take a flame thrower to this place if he was the man he used to be. Another
example of when Frank uses anger is when he says they are “executing his soul,
and why”. He says these things in anger for he sees the things that they are
doing and being completely wrong and wants to get his point across as clearly
as possible.
We can also see a sense of pride used
by Frank when he talks about how Charlie won’t sell anyone out to progress in
his own future. Then goes on to say how this is called integrity and courage,
the things that real leaders should have. Also when he says to embrace Charlie’s
future for it will make them proud one day. This too shows a sense of pride in
his speech that he uses to try to sway the listeners in Charlie’s favor.
Moving on to look at the third
Process Premise of attitudes. We can see Frank’s opinion throughout the speech many
times. However, to keep it to just a few examples, we see it when he talks
about how they are creating a rat ship and also when he says they are killing
the spirit of the institution. Both of these are his opinions based upon what
he has seen thus far.
Also we see some of his beliefs
come forth in the dialog. One of these is seen when he is talking about what he
has seen in times of war and with the many young men that had appendages torn
from their bodies. After mentioning this he brings up his belief of how these
things are bad, but not nearly as bad as hurting ones spirit, as he says “there
is no prostatic for that”.
I must not forget to mention the
attitudes that we see displayed by Frank. We see some of his attitudes when he
states that what is taking place at this school is a bunch of crap and when
they say excuse me, he says no I don’t think I will. Then in addition to this
he eventually stands up and chews basically everybody out. These are all demonstrations
of his attitudes that were already in existence within him.
We also see part of Consistency here. When we see the source of
dissonance as a Loss of Group Prestige. This is shown when Frank
basically says the school is no longer worthy of their title of a great
institution by what they are doing that day to Charlie. He informs them very
bluntly of this by saying they will be nothing more than Baird Bums should they
proceed. In addition he tells them to “be careful what kind of leaders you are
creating here” to drive home this idea of how they have lost the prestige that
they may have once had as an institution.
Also we see him tie in the Loss of
Personal Prestige. We can see this when he confronts George who is hiding
behind daddy. In addition he calls out the three boys who are making Charlie face
the fire in order to save their hides. Now for my favorite one, when Mr. Trask
hesitates to use his gavel while Frank says someone here offered to buy Charlie’s
soul, only he’s not selling. Frank did these things to create dissonance in George,
the three other classmates, the school and Mr. Trask.
