Cotton Mather Assertion Analysis

    In Cotton Mather's speech, he asserts that witches are popping up all over America and that he is a "witch expert". He calls the people "monsters of the bubbling deep", suggesting that they come from hell. Their "maker" obviously wouldn't be God, but Satan himself, so these "codlings" wouldn't be holy and good. Mather says these things to scare people into believing what he says; it established him as a credible person.
    In order to convey his assertion, Mather uses syntax and analogy. Rhyme was used at the end of the sentences in order to keep what Mather says in the listener's heads, furthering their paranoia of witches. The people are referred to as "codlings" of a greater, darker power. This analogy removes the humanity of the non-believers from the believer's minds; the believers then see them as less-than themselves.

John Winthorp Assertion Analysis

    John Winthorp asserts that his paritioners are the figurative "people on the hill" and that they must uphold their "perfect" religious lifestyle in order to succeed in the New World. There is much emphasis on what would happen if anyone failed to do their part for their religion. This instills a feeling of anxiety amongst the paritioners to do their best and to not fail, or they will all suffer the consequences.
    In order to convey this assertion, John Winthorp uses syntax and simile. The entire "paragraph" is actually just one sentence; giving no time for the paritioners to think about what Winthorp is saying. The paritioners just accept it and move on. They also believe that they are superior to others or are the "city on the hill". Winthorp persaudes them to believe that they are better than others through the use of simile.

Plato Assertion Analysis

    In Plato's rhetorical question, he asserts that he is trying to make people begin to question life and how life affects people. Plato raises the question of how we perceive reality, whether we are living it through being asleep and dreaming or actually being awake and living reality as it is happening. His goal of making us think this way is to get people to begin to question life in order to learn more from it.
    In order to prove his assertion, Plato uses paradox and rhetorical questioning. The very question Plato asked is a paradox because he could be right and he could also be wrong at the same time. Both answers would work because nobody knows the true nature of life. The question he used is also a rhetorical question because it wasn't asked to obtain an answer, it was asked to make people think and question life.

Chief Joseph Assertion Analysis

    In Chief Joseph's surrender speech, Chief Joseph asserts that he was tired of his children dying and wanted to surrender from the battle. Many of his tribe ran away and died due to the fighting, and it made Chief Joseph sick. There was too much suffering for his heart to handle, so he surrendered his tribe and took a loss for the greater good of his people.
    In order to support this assertion, Chief Joseph used syntax, diction, and imagery. Since English was not Joseph's first language, the syntax was very simple and "to the point", making it easy to understand. Similar to the syntax, the diction in the speech wasn't extremely complicated, allowing for further clarity of what Chief Joseph was asserting. Finally, imagery was used to persuade the combatant that he was to surrender with examples such as starvation, freezing, and death.

John Fire Lame Deer Assertion Analysis

    In John Fire Lame Deer's commentary, he asserts that the Native Americans were perfectly fine before the white people came to "civilize" them. The author says that there was no crime because there was no reason to commit crime in the first place. Just the same that when someone was suffering, friends from the community would gift them what they needed to get that person back on their feet. John Fire Lame Deer seems to even be saying that their society was and is much more civilized than the white's idea of society.
    In order to support his assertion, John Fire Lame Deer used satire and parallelism. Satire was used throughout the enite text, emphasizing that the Native Americans "never would have known how to function without the white people", when in reality the Natives were doing so much better without them. Parallelism was used to emphasize the unity throughout the commentary by continuously using the word "we" when explaining how peaceful the Native American society before the whites.

James Baldwin Assertion Analysis

    James Baldwin makes the assertion that American citizens should stop feeling guilty over oppression; that everyone should just move on and accept the fact that it happened. "Guilt is a luxury we can no longer afford". Oppression is just holding civilization from progressing and moving on from the guilty feelings associated with it will improve our nation as a whole. Guilt was placed onto the American men, not specifically any race, but just American men.
    To enforce and support his assertion James Baldwin uses metaphors and syntax. The main metaphor of his commentary is, "Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford.". This portrays guilt as being a good thing that is getting way too expensive, so we need to look for an alternative. We, as a people, need to live without guilt that oppression and slavery has existed and just move on with our lives. Syntax is used because the first 2 sentences are very short compared to the third sentence. The second sentence provides the metaphor, while the third sentence explains the metaphor in its entirety.

Tupac Shakur Assertion Analysis

    In Tupac Shakur's commentary, he describes how the general public of America sees different struggles to persevere and survive as either negative or positive. He compares a broken rose getting praised as strong and unique for going against odds because it grew out of the cement, while a real life human being is viewed as a dirty criminal for growing out of the ghetto. Tupac asserts the statement that Americans' morals are messed up because they won't recognize another human being as strong for fighting through the odds.
    To get his statement across, Tupac used imagery, juxtaposition, and metaphor. By giving the description of a beaten up, worn rose growing through the sidewalk of a city, it allows for the easy understanding of what it would look like and how much it stands out within the dreary blandness that is the city. Tupac then  compares this broken rose with a child that grew up in the ghetto and how similar they are to each other; this was the metaphor.

Elie Wiesel Assertion Analysis

    Elies Wiesel is a survivor of the Holocaust, and he knows a thing or two about taking action in order to make change. He once told a speech to the public in America that asserted his views on how Americans are failing to make change in their own country.
    The Holocaust survivor's assertion in his text is that Americans mostly decide to be indifferent to many, many different causes. He describes love and hate being more similar than we think, the true opposite is indifference; not having any feelings at all towards anything. Another example is that life is not the opposite of death, it is indifference because not caring whether you are alive or dead is what makes you indifferent. Finally, America not joining World War II until Pearl Harbor is another example that may have influenced Wiesel's mindset due to the fact 6,000,000 Jewish could have been saved if America got involved in the War sooner.
    To achieve the assertion that Wiesel conveyed, he used syntax, anaphora, and diction. Syntax was used to compare seemingly opposite ideas, and then refute it by using the word "indifferent", which made the reader think about that word in that situation. Every sentence was structured like this, so that was his use of anaphora. Finally, his use of diction improved pathos with comparing words such as, love and hate, beauty and ugliness, faith and heresy, and life and death to leave an impression on the reader.
   

Bill Bryson Assertion Analysis

    America, home of the Star Spangled Banner and deep fried Girl Scout cookies. Ask almost anyone that grew up in America what they think when they hear the word "America". Some will say power, others will say freedom, but the truth evades nearly everyone. Bill Bryson is one of the few that have moved past the ignorance of " 'Murica " and realized how the big the United States of America's ego really is.
    Bill Bryson asserts that America is a place of "bigger is better" with examples of massive sporting events, a huge military, biggest portions, and even the most devastating nuclear arsenal on this planet.  He believes many Americans are taught these ideas from birth that America is the number one country on the planet due to the notion that "God likes us best". Bryson is saying that America is the most cocky and narcissistic nation on the planet due to the ideals many of the citizens are taught throughout their lives.
    He uses techniques such as syntax, diction, and most definitely satire. His use of syntax provides a sense of humor and lightheartedness throughout the text, such as when he puts the example of devastating nuclear arsenals next to peaceful, patriotic Americans. Diction was used to exaggerate the "power" of America, with words such as perfect, amplest, cheapest, devastating, and productive. Finally, his use of satire improves the tone of the text to not make it as dark as it would have been without it.
   
   

The American Dream Response

    Don't all Americans just want to live out the American Dream? No? Well, it depends on what people perceive as the real American Dream. To some it means to graduate college, have some kids, be wealthy, and even live out a good life. While to others, it may just mean to be happy with what they have and to celebrate that they are "free" in America. John Green delivered satirical commentary on his stand of what he believes the American Dream truly is.
    According to John Green, the American Dream consists of struggling to get to America just to allow your future children to have cheerleader sex. Of course, this isn't the exact American Dream he is referring to, but the idea conveyed by his commentary still stands. John Green, according to his article, believes the American Dream to be a complete joke. Green conveys the idea that a kid's parents worked themselves extremely hard to get him to America, only to have the kid pursue materialistic achievements that won't matter too much in the future. The American Dream has become materialistic to John Green rather than moralistic and equality based as was initially intended. 

    In order to further prove his point that the American Dream is in fact a joke, John Green used many effective rhetorical devices in his commentary. There is a very sarcastic tone throughout the entire text, having the reader believe that the story is silly. He even alludes to Martin Luther King Junior's speeches with the way he worded some of the sentences such as, "They had a dream that one day amid the snowy hilltops of North Carolina...". John Green even uses contradictions to add some humor to the story with the sentence, "...when my parents left Korea with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the considerable wealth they had amassed in the shipping business...".