1. Joel Stein doesn’t participate in the Brief Thompson steps of how to argue.
2. I don’t think he follows this because his writing is for a pop culture magazine. He doesn’t take a formal approach to the argument.
3. Joel Stein is aiming at an audience that doesn’t have the same view about the Yankees as him. Not only is he kinda aggressive in his approach to the argument, but he also makes sure to really drill the reader with multiple reasons why the Yankees are so successful. He provides facts and comparisons that help the audience get on board with his opinion.
4. Stein does a good job of portraying himself as a comical but assertive writer. He’s arrogant and pushy. The reader can tell that he is a real Yankees fan and though he uses sarcasm and humor to get his point across, he is being 100% serious with his efforts.
5. /6. Stein uses the comparison of the Yankees and America as the gap. The way he hypes of America and the Yankees success ties into the events of the time. He even uses this comparison in a way that could distract the reader from reality and what’s actually going on in America.

The Brief Thompson (72-87) & The Purdue Owl on Rhetoric

The Purdue owl video is something I actually found to be somewhat interesting. I knew that overall, rhetoric was the awareness of our word choice and how we choose to present our argument. I thought it was cool to know that rhetoric came from the ancient Greeks and their tradition of preparing for speeches. Just like in this class, we’re learning the best ways to develop, shape and present our argument. We can compare that to the greek experts who taught students these similar tools. I can’t say I’m surprised that some greeks thought the tools of rhetoric should’ve been used by higher class students only. This type of oppression easily reminds me of how different minority groups/classes in history weren’t always given many opportunities in education. Just like in that case, the greeks knew that the ability to convey an argument successfully can give someone some serious power over the people. The reading in The Brief Thompson (72-87) said ” the aim of an argument is to change minds, rally supporters or foster sympathy.” All these appeals can give someone power over the audience. To be able to skillfully develop an argument and effectively present it can really persuade people to do what you want or agree with you. Really what I can say after the video and reading from the book is, I know a lot of people in this class know what a thesis statement is and know the general idea of rhetoric/why it’s important in writing. But, what I realized from this homework is how powerful not only our writing can be, but us as individuals, can be if we seriously put good thought into our rhetoric and how we’re going to deliver our writing so that we can persuade the reader into believing what we’re trying to convey.

The author, Joel Stein, is most definitely a hardcore Yankees fan. His intentions are proving the Yankees worth and showing that no matter what people may think of their brand, they are superior. He doesn’t really treat the opposing perspective fairly because he kinda arrogant in his approach. Some rhetorical context in this writing that he refers to, is the players pay wage and also makes a comparison to other companies that have been crushing it recently. The intended reader is definitely for baseball fans but maybe even some Yankee haters, since he felt such a need to state their worth. Some values that are common in the reader and writer is the whole concept of success in an organization. He even k used the idea of how America runs and it’s success as an appeal in this piece. An illustration the writer used was in his statement “The Yankees are the real America.” I think was able to back up his point by comparing the team to the idea of America being a “melting- pot”. Because where else could blacks, white, asians and hispanics all work together in a 180 million dollar team. In my opinion, the author starts out with a more narrow minded approach then builds on it to help the reader see his point of view. He makes comparisons that the reader can understand. Joel Stein appeals to reason because he makes insights about how America works and links it to his idea of the Yankees standing out and being a great example for other teams to follow. I think the author uses our country to invoke such emotion and convey his meaning of what a strong, profitable organization should look like.