Write an Opinion-Editorial piece taking on the persona and developing your reaction to the speech. This should be a creative response to JFK's inaugural address, so consider the SOAPStone (Subject, Occassion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker) and the words that you choose to convey your reaction. Make use of Pathos, Ethos, and Logos as you frame your response. Also utilize at least 10 devices in your writing (e.g. use anaphora or parallelism--identify in brackets) and 10 vocabulary words (italics). 300 words.
In class, you selected one of the following personas: Soviet Diplomat, Cuban Exile or Civil Rights Activist. Each prompt gives you guided questions to assist with framing your response.
Write an Opinion-Editorial piece taking on the persona and developing your reaction to the speech. This should be a creative response to JFK's inaugural address, so consider the SOAPStone (Subject, Occassion, Audience, Purpose, and Speaker) and the words that you choose to convey your reaction. Make use of Pathos, Ethos, and Logos as you frame your response. Also utilize at least 10 devices in your writing (e.g. use anaphora or parallelism--identify in brackets) and 10 vocabulary words (italics). 300 words.
31 Comments
Jessica G.
8/22/2014 06:22:08 am
President Kennedy,
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Sophia M
8/25/2014 03:40:49 am
I felt as if I was reading an actual letter from a Cuban exile! You did a good job at using pathos especially when discussing the departure of your brother and the hardships you went through. Love the name by the way!
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Caitlyn H.
8/25/2014 04:28:42 am
First of all, I love the creativity of your blog. The form of a letter was neat but the personal touch of naming your character was really great! Secondly, the tone of the writing is very fitting to the Cuban Exile Profile that we were to follow. It becomes clear when you use the aspects of the character's life such as his family situation and why he came to the U.S.A. Lastly, you were successful in using logos and pathos. That was a great touch. Nice job!
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Zach C.
8/29/2014 08:34:48 pm
First things first: I see what you did there with the name. Now that that's out of the way, lets get down to business. The way that you organized your post was great; it flowed well and made it seem as if you truly were Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya Ramirez. Also, it seemed like it was a real letter that you had written to Kennedy, and it was a brilliant idea to post a letter to the president. I can't think of anything that is bad about this post, or anything that can be improved. Keep up the good work.
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Nash P.
9/25/2014 11:21:47 pm
I liked how you stated your points, and you did a very good job getting into character; I found it hard to believe you didn't just copy and paste an actual letter from a Cuban exile
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Zach C.
8/23/2014 01:19:37 am
[Cuban Exile]
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Jessica G
8/28/2014 01:47:31 am
I also choose to write as a Cuban exile, and i admire your approach to this letter. I especially loved your ending with the hasty generalization. Your writing flowed and ended dramatically.
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Shaina L.
8/31/2014 02:44:39 am
You really got into character when writing this. The first few sentences displayed this characterization well. However, as I read on, you strayed from that style of writing and I guess "broke immersion". Other than that little bit, the rest of the piece flowed well.
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Joshua K.
8/23/2014 09:16:01 pm
(Soviet Diplomat)
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Sophia M
8/25/2014 03:46:55 am
This piece was a pleasure to read, you took on the role nicely. I also thought you used the rhetorical devices very well. Although, it was not completely clear which side you were on in the beginning and I would be careful not to become redundant while writing about how the speech made you feel. Overall very good! :)
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Caitlyn H.
8/25/2014 04:41:46 am
The tone that you were writing with correctly corresponded to the tone that a true Soviet Diplomat would have. They would be aggravated with the US and their U-2 flight incident until the American leader took a step closer to diplomatic tranquility. In addition, the list of contrasting political views in between the Soviets and the Americans would be miles long! The emotion and opinions that you expressed in your blog paralleled a true Soviet.
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Cole H
8/31/2014 06:15:39 am
You really get into your writing very well. You actually put yourself in their shoes and your tone reflects that greatly. Your piece is an excellent example of writing with emotion. I did the Soviet a swell and I know it's very difficult not to repeat points. Well done.
Nash P.
9/25/2014 11:23:15 pm
You stated your points nicely. I liked how you incorporated rhetorical devices seamlessly into your letter.
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Sophia M
8/24/2014 06:10:10 am
As a young child I attended an all black elementary school. I would walk to school with my African American friends, eat outside in the schoolyard with fellow African Americans, sit in class with my African American classmates… all of whom were African American, and only African American [narration and amplification]. I would ruminate all day and night trying to figure out the reason why we couldn't all be one, and why this extent of segregation was being condoned. I began to have faith when the Supreme Court ruled that public schools must be integrated. Although, my high hopes were shot down with an enormity of disappointment when I found myself at an all black university and feeling exacerbated [subordination]. I felt that the ruling was spurious and thought that if the Supreme Court was not going to do anything about the segregation then I was [cause and effect]. I have become a member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. The committee desegregates lunch rooms and is planning on venturing onto other domains. I was with the committee when I heard Kennedy’s ethereal inaugural address; it was music to our ears [exaggeration]. “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning – signifying renewal, as well as change”[illustration]. Unity was in the air, tangible almost. Is there going to be a change? Is this really a new beginning? [rhetorical question]. Kennedy is not philistine like all of the other white politicians of this century [hasty generalization]. John F. Kennedy has truly outdone himself, I was not expecting much from a man who chose a dilettante such as Richard M. Nixon to be his vice president. I was thrilled that Kennedy did not belittle what has happened, but embraced that it did and expects a complete metamorphosis [parallelism]. He ultimately won me over with his discussion of change, because there is no hope, hope that we will now be one! [exclamatory].
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Joshua K.
8/25/2014 06:49:04 pm
I enjoyed reading this as it seems like this could be an actual sort of biography for an African American in the day, but also logically sounds like an opinion one would have about Kennedy and the events going on at the time period. The devices and words combine well to create a strong, persuasive argument in why it is so great Kennedy became president.
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Jessica G
8/28/2014 01:52:44 am
You really got into character and your writing flowed well. I could practically visualize what I was reading because of your descriptions and use of imagery. Good job, Sophia! :)
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Torin C.
8/24/2014 08:36:06 pm
John F. Kennedy, your words have reached me and I support your beliefs. My country of Cuba is in turmoil. Our leader Fidel Castro has lied to my people; he claims independence, yet he beds with the Russians, he promises freedom, while putting the gun to our head and pulling the trigger. Fidel executes my people and he looks for financial support from the USSR. You are truthful, a trait seen rarely in leaders, you claim that America has done little to stop Communism in my country, although it pained me to hear that it gives me reassurance that maybe you will do something. The Russian claim that they will only come to our aid if America attacks. They still send in troops, they change our learning, try to change our beliefs, make us a satellite nation. America will not attack, I hope, but they use it as a excuse to rob us of freedom. You talk about how the countries of North America need to band together to fight Communism. Show us, show me, that you have the integrity, to bring down such a tremendous enemy, my people depend on you and the American belief that all men are created equally, that we all share equal rights and freedoms. That we will not have a dictatorship, but a Democracy, so the voice of the people not one man will be heard. I have faith that you will do your job proudly. For us and for you, give my people the freedom that they deserve, and bring Fidel Castro to justice for his crimes against his own people. You speak of the things America has not done against Communism, show us what can be done against it and show us how to get our freedom, for the Cuban people, thank you.
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Joshua K.
8/25/2014 06:47:16 pm
I really like how you worded everything and made it sounded like you were actually an exile from Cuba and know about the horrors going on there, but also how well you represent the personality of the such a person and how they would truly feel about Kennedy, nice job.
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Gabriel H.
8/25/2014 02:44:39 am
Soviet Spy
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Logan H
8/25/2014 03:39:39 am
The whole world was expecting Mr. Kennedy’s politics to be different than President Kennedy’s, but perhaps no one except his greatest enemies could have anticipated such deception. A man who says he would have risked losing public support to apologize to the U.S.S.R. then spends his inaugural address subtly vilifying that same country will never really negotiate. Kennedy predicted the future with this warning, “All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days…nor in the life of this Administration…” What is most upsetting though is not that Kennedy is not interested in a compromise to bring tensions to a close, it is that he finds from every angle the perfect words to criticize the Soviet Union and then pretend he has said nothing. Who, many would ask Mr. Kennedy, is this tiger that you mention? Or these unspecified “hostile powers”? What are “both sides”, who “these enemies”, who is it that a weaker U.S. would “tempt with weakness. Undoubtedly it is understood that you mean the U.S.S.R., and we understand you say “Communism” in your address a hundred times without using the word, and it is understood that by design these words were not found in the address. This speaking in abstracts may raise political support at home, but internationally you raise many doubts. Can we even hope for tough decisions to be made for the sake of the world community if it will risk domestic disapproval? Or worse, will Mr. Kennedy hold that personal grudge against Communism and the U.S.S.R. that is so commonplace in America. It was expected that President Kennedy would be anti-Communist, and maybe we can be happy that it was not Nixon, but the least we could have hoped for was some kind of offer of friendship, not a slap in the face designed to lift the spirits of petty citizens. To advocate the buildup of the U.S. military yet in speeches fear “the steady spread of the deadly atom” does not inspire support but with a people that have already been swayed to elect him. Now to suggest a better start, perhaps Mr. Kennedy should apologize for his inaugural address as well as the
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Caitlyn H.
8/25/2014 04:22:31 am
President JFK,
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Shaina L.
8/25/2014 06:02:30 am
[Soviet Diplomat]
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Cole H
8/31/2014 06:30:06 am
Everyone has their own taste in writing. I probably would have tried to make this type of writing adding more "attitude", but that is a suggestion. Your main points were well made and devices used well.
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Erica B.
8/25/2014 06:45:00 am
(Cuban Exile)
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Frida Ø.L.
8/25/2014 08:54:09 am
John F. Kennedy’s first inaugural address came off very auspicious to me. After years of corruption and false leadership, hope had been rekindled in us Cubans, and a good future for Cuba finally seemed achievable. [Complex Sentence] In Kennedy’s address, while he mentions that they intend to help us, we, as individuals, as citizens of Cuba, as a nation must come together to also rid Cuba of the corruptness it is facing with its current rule. [Repetition] As Kennedy said in his speech, “To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves.” Kennedy also said “..we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas.” These two sentences alone restored some of the hope I had lost when I left Cuba a while back, and they give off great promise. The message being conveyed through these paragraphs in his address may be esoteric for those not indigenous to Cuba or any other struggling nation, but for those of us who are, it had a great impact. [Periodic] I’m truly hoping for this part of Kennedy’s address to make it to life-- that it is not just empty words attempting to motivate the oppressed. [Parenthesis] But as of now, it does not seem like empty words—but rather words full of meaning to Kennedy himself and us, his audience. John F. Kennedy is kind. [Declarative sentence & Telegraphic sentence] This is one of the many ways that he is different from the corrupt ruler of Cuba today. The instigation of Fidel Castro and his revolutionary forces was auspicious to us Cubans, who had longed for years for the end of the corrupt ruling of the Fulgencio Batista government. [Balanced & Compound sentence] However, none of us could have anticipated the great metamorphosis that was to come. [Periodic] I’ve heard several people call this reign of Castro to be a malaise of Cuba, and I find myself unable to say otherwise. [Loose] Castro and his pejorative government have done Cuba no good when looking at the situation from afar, and it is an outrage when it comes to ruling a nation! [Exclamatory] Although Castro seemed like our savior --our hero at the time, we cannot and will not condone or exonerate him or what his government has done. [Subordination & Parenthesis] Because we, as citizens (or now former citizen(s)) of Cuba, held such a deep love for our homeland, it was terrible watching Castro, who was said to be our land’s savior, transforming into a corrupt dilettante which made his language seem like a cacophony and was obstreperous to all of us. Therefore, it is very reassuring to have heard Kennedy’s address, which gave us all hope and the belief of a better future.
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Cole H.
8/26/2014 08:41:19 pm
Soviet Diplomat
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Logan H
8/27/2014 09:15:56 am
Originally I posted my saved version of this assignment without the italics and parentheses and here have reposted the correct one.
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Nash P.
9/3/2014 03:14:25 am
As a young black person living in America, I grew up in a nation of prejudice and judgment, forced to watch as white supremacists vilified my race [amplification] [exaggeration]. I have an innate sense of right and wrong, and knew that my people were being treated unfairly. I held lengthy conversations with my friends about it, and we unanimously decided to join a group, known as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and began to desegregate lunch rooms [Parenthesis]. When my friends and I heard President Kennedy’s Inaugural address, we were stunned; [compound sentence] here was a man who would fight for us, here was a man who would not condone the disparaging of my people, here was a man who knew of equality, here was a man who would not stop until he had assuaged the pain of my people [anaphora]. I was shocked; this man, this politician, could single-handedly cement the tenuous peace between the races, instigating a new era of peace and fellowship. President Kennedy called for unity; he stated that we should “let both sides explore what problems unite us…” a clear message that all people must ban together in order to defeat our truculent enemies, for if we were divided, we would fail [illustration]. “A house divided cannot stand” [telegraphic sentence] [simple sentence]. In Kennedy, I place my trust; and our future [Inverted Order] [Complex sentence]. For without him, what would we do? [Rhetorical question]
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Jesus Sarabia
9/4/2014 04:48:36 am
Mr. President,
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Jared C
9/17/2014 03:18:14 am
Cuban Exile
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Christina D.
10/1/2014 03:55:45 am
Amazing, truly amazing how easily one's own problems can be pushed aside for the sake of another. Already, this country has pushed aside its own social problems to attempt to deal with those of another country. Already this nation has thrown itself into the conflicts of the world. Already, the president is asking for humanity to stop problems of the future, near or not, but it has not even solved its own current problems.
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