Assessment 2

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.