Essay Analysis Gloria Jiménez wrote an essay at Tuffs University in 2003 named, “Against All Odds and Against the Common Good (Jiménez 116). The purpose of this essay is to persuade and support the following thesis: “Still, when all is said and done about lotteries bringing a vast amount of money into the lives of many people into the lives of a few, the states should not be in the business of urging people to gamble (Jiménez 116).” The evidence given in support of toward this argument does not point toward the proper thesis identified in the beginning of the essay. Jiménez begins with little confidence in her ability to persuade the states to get out of the …show more content…
The author than fails to tell the source of this experiment so the reader of her essay is left wondering if it is even valid evidence from a reliable source. These viewpoints are better placed with a thesis that reads, “States should no longer be in the business of the state lottery.” The evidence she brings at that point covers most of her essay and I do not find them addressing the issue of “the states should not be in the business of urging people to gamble” (Jiménez 116-119). The second to last paragraph actually has the most associability with her main thesis. The logical argument she uses here is a very good point, “Everyone knows tobacco is harmful. What if the state enticed people to smoke (Jiménez 118)?” This is a very good point except the author failed to address why the harmfulness of the state lottery should be compared to the health risk of cigarettes. The issue is not directly addressed as to why playing the state lottery is bad. Without that supporting evidence that argument leaves much to be desired. It can also be argued that no one ever wins from smoking tobacco even if they never get sick from it; their family and friends suffer. Someone eventually does win the lottery and it may truly be a ticket out of poverty. The circumstance surrounding her addresses concerning poverty is where the author makes an appeal to pathos. She states,“the poor
The authors use of pathos in the essay is well planned and is used effectively. The see proof, the reader would have to look no further than the title of the essay: The Logic of Stupid Poor People. The word ‘stupid’ can be seen as a strong word towards someone or a group of people which stirs up emotion into some readers before they even start reading. It grabs interests and makes people want to hear what she has to say. When the author recalls of her past of being raised in a poor family, the author could also be using her stories to make the reader feel sympathy for her and understand the pressure that poor people are put under for them to be able to be considered for certain benefits and help in general. Another example of the author trying to appeal to the readers emotional side was how she concludes the essay with disregarding and opinions others have about the choice of poor people if they were not poor themselves. She states, “You have no idea what you would do if
Summers stating he is glad that one lady has a man to participate, and Mrs. Hutchinson is told to be a good sport. When a group of men starts discussing towns that have given up the lottery, they state those towns would go barbaric and live in caves (Jackson 240). Also, Patrick J. Shields states in “Arbitrary Condemnation and Sanctioned Violence in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery,’’ “[o]ld man warner is the elder of the community and has survived 77 lotteries. He views them as a necessary and good (Shields 415).” This is ironic since a stoning is primitive and not a positive event for a town to hold; thus, stopping the lottery would do the opposite. Also, Mr. Summers states briefly”’[g]lad to see your mother’s got a man to do it’’’ (Jackson 239). This is outrageous since the husband probably died from the lottery. Therefore, being all pretentious about this in uncalled for. Finally, when the Hutchinsons are selected, Tessie states the lottery is unfair; shortly after Mrs. Delacroix tells her to be a good sport (Jackson 241). Although Mrs. Delacroix probably just does not want the lottery to be done again, so she does not possibly get selected. Therefore, this story shows verbal irony when the men discuss the lottery, the boy pulls for his mother, and Mrs. Hutchison being told to be a good
"The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice. The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens. On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate. Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice. Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about. Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective
Pathos: Adichie’s also displays strongly her emotions as she shares multiple stories with her audience like the story of the helper who was a little boy with a very poor family and had nothing. She also utilizes humor to make her point on the essence of stereotyping by telling the story of her room-mate who felt pity for her before even seeing her, just because she was African. Since the speech is mostly a narration from her life, Adichie includes emotions as she talks so that the audience gets to feel what she feels.
The lottery in this country is a big past time for Americans. It gives hope to the hopeless and disappointment to a multitude of participants. A quick view of statistical information regarding the lottery shows that out of all people who take part in this country wide phenomenon, each individual person has a 1 in 175,223,510 chance of hitting the jackpot (AmericanStatisticalAssociation.org). The author of “Against The Odds and Against the Common Good”, argues that the state lotteries are “urging people to gamble”. Gloria Jimenez, of whom is the author of “Against The Odds and Against the Common Good”, creates assumptions that support her stance on her argument. Jimenez also uses the viewpoint from people who disagree with her logic, by stating various counter statements that contradict her stance. To fully understand Jimenez, we have to view the different factors of her stance on why states should not be urging people to gamble, assumptions that she makes to support her stance and countering views of people who don’t necessarily agree with her argument.
Grande’s family already failed twice for coming to this country. If they fail again this time, she will be sent back to her grandmother because her father thinks her mother isn’t doing a decent job of taking care of her and her siblings. The third attempt wasn’t easy, even though they were fully ready and knew what they were supposed to do. The first day of the American school wasn’t easy too. Grande had
In her essay “Against the Odds, and Against the Common Good,” Gloria Jimenez asserts that states should not promote and advertize gambling. Jimenez lists many clever lottery slogans that are deceivingly interpreted. She also argues that these slogans advertise the advantages of gambling and playing the lottery because the money supposedly goes to things such as education and social service. Jimenez explains some arguments in favor of state-run lotteries, such as free participation and the creation of jobs, but argues that they are not relevant to the problem. She briefly touches on a statistic claiming that low income individuals are more likely to spend money on lottery tickets than their opposite, higher income
The article entails information about the numerous benefits of having a state-run lottery. The first portion gives recent information about the economic climate in the United States. As several states are seeking creative ways to meet financial needs without increasing taxes. It is noted that a state lottery is a form of voluntary taxation that allows the state government to achieve enhancements in education, welfare program, public transportation, etc. Secondly, information about the history of the lottery was explained in great detail as to why the lottery is used as a tool by government and other entities dating back over 500 years. Great examples were given such as President Thomas Jefferson using the lottery as a means to sell his property,
Because of everyone's respect for eachother, they kept the tradition going. On line (200) it states “... There's always been a lottery...” Old man Warner added petulantly. Old man Warner believes in the lottery and every year decides to participate in it. The quote relates to this piece of text evidence because even though Old man Warner wants to keep the lottery’s ritual and some people don't, he doesn't cause commotion or any type of disagreement. He accepts how everyone feels even if it's different, while he shares his feelings on the lottery also. On line (202) it states “Some places have already quit lotteries.” Mrs Adams said. Mrs Adam’s feelings about the lottery are different from Old man Warner. Mrs Adams wants the lottery to end by the meaning of the quote. This piece of text evidence relates to the quote by showing two different feelings from two different people and how everyone in the town are friends. All of the town’s people frequently share their opinions and thoughts about the lottery without being discriminated for
Throughout the years, sports have become a major part of society. Sports, a large percentage of the time, are a part of peoples’ lives in one way or another. Whether they participate in them or just enjoy watching them, sports are a big deal to the majority of people. There are also some individuals who have redefined the expectations when it comes to certain sports. For instance, Babe Ruth redefined the way people think about baseball, or Michael Jordan completely changing the game of basketball. But Joe Louis and Venus and Serena Williams have changed their games in a way no one could have imagined. Although “Champion of the World” by Maya Angelou and “Woman Who Hit Very Hard and How They’ve Changed Tennis” by Michael Kimmelman are different, they are similar in the ways they show how the respected athletes, Joe Louis and the Williams sisters, changed the game and were seen using symbolism in racial and sexual progression.
Jimenez also makes a few other assumptions in her essay. She doesn’t explain to her readers what a state-run lottery is and she doesn’t tell us how the process works. It is because of this that I can say that she assumes that her readers will know what a state-run lottery is. She writes that lotteries are harmful,
Peter Singer’s work, “Solution to World Poverty”, goes on to the subject of overseas aid of poor people. Peter presents two examples of times when people are in situations like normal people are in everyday. In the work you obtain the sense that Peter feels strongly that you should donate a great amount of your earnings to the poor. He provides the reader with two examples of people that he thinks people will use to relate. In his first example he gives the reader an extreme and tells the reader that they are similar to the woman but not too similar. In the second example he presents the reader a more relatable story to draw them even closer in, telling them that they are more like the guy than the other woman. Peter Singer was repetitive in his argument, making his ideas clearly, and getting his point across thoroughly using a Pathos strategy, to influence people to donate more of their money to poor children.
When a bureaucratic government is in control and individuals support it, it can lead to a chaotic end result. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson illustrates how, when people lose their morality it can result in barbaric outcomes; ultimately, this continues to be true in contemporary society.
In the short story “The Lottery,” the lottery was important for the society’s rules and traditions. The village society made a decision long ago that this is how they would deal with their population,
“ You cannot ignore the fact that there will be divorce problems, domestic abuse problems, homelessness and addiction problems if you pass this bill ”(Williams). Senator J.T. “Jabo” Waggoner, of Alabama, made this statement opposing the lottery bill. At first glance, this would put fear in the predominantly protestant state of Alabama, which is in the heart of the Bible Belt, as well as surrounding states that are trying to obtain a lottery. However, these problems are prevalent in the country, without the lottery. First we’ll look to Webster’s Dictionary to define gambling. Webster says 1 a: to play a game for money or property b: to bet on an uncertain outcome 2: to stake something on a contingency: take a