Contemporary Notes and Passages At Your Disposal

Ethics and Etiquette

  The importance of ethics and etiquette will vary from person to person; company to company; and family to family. The interpretation —or lack         thereof— of what is deemed moral can cause some unintended issues depending on whom one would be interacting with. Ethics are an internal form of moral principle while etiquette is an outward form of the same principles. Other words similar to ethics are: mannerism, decorum, style, or charisma. What constitutes a logical action for one person can be viewed the complete opposite to another—the main conflict with ethics and etiquette. In Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman takes the reader into the dysfunctional family known as the Lomans: Father Willy, wife/mother Linda, oldest son Biff, and youngest son Happy. The family exudes immoral, thoughtless, and misguided actions that are viewed as substantial and well-though-out plans.

Examples of terrible ethics from Death of a Salesman

Examples of “Bad Ethics” in society

Don’t chew with your mouth open while eating

Do not interrupt while someone else is speaking to you/ totally disregard what some has just said.

This can get you into some trouble, especially in a business setting. If you are rude to your superiors, clients, or anyone you have to associate with, ignorance will earn you no respect and possibly get completely shelved.

Poor introductory or dismissal skills

i.e lack of handshakes, condescending towards subordinates, no hello’s or goodbye’s.

Causing trouble for another person just to get a rise out of your peers. 

Aaron F

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Aaron

  The Research Process

              The methods in which a person gathers information to credit the validity of their writing varies immensely from person to person. There is no “end all to be all” of how to research for a paper or some other assignment, but there are ample amounts of helpful tricks that can be beneficial to one’s paper.

Define or narrow a research topic

Broad subject matter will supply a plethora of information; but, much of that information will contain sources that will be of no use to the subject of the paper.

“Sizing down” your topic will give you more trustworthy and precise information.

Easier to relay the message of the paper; no struggle to decipher what the paper is even about.

Can the topic be expanded upon?

Does the demand of your topic contain enough information to supply a paper?

Overly specific papers make it difficult for others to care about the paper; it’s too personal.

Is the material found credible?

Be wary of “.com” or “.org” websites.

Information can only assist writing if the information is true.

What can others learn from this paper?

Research papers are informative, do not fill the paper with opinions and generalizations, the reader will be confused or lose interest.

How could this paper be accredited or used as an asset to someone else’s research?

Assess the information gathered and write the paper.

Plagiarism is a constant issue with high school students, whether it is intentional or not. Under no circumstances is it ok to not credit someone else’s information while being used for research papers.

Make the work yours; generate points and reasons that may be improved with the knowledge discovered from sources.

Rules of Thumb for Sources

Currency – recent/prevalent information.

Authority – The source is credible and has concrete information about the topic.

Purpose – Supports the reasoning or the overall main idea of the paper.

Objectivity – The information found contains no heavy bias towards one side of the subject.

Writing Style – The writing is fluent, coherent, and has little to no destructive grammatical errors.

Wikipedia: One of the most infamously controversial websites for students and teachers across the country. Wikipedia should never be cited as a source, but the information found may still be used. At the bottom of wiki pages (below), there will be hyperlinks directing users to the information used on the page. Those sources are more likely to be beneficial, credible, and citable.  

Works Cited

             Persuasion and rhetoric go hand in hand, and the class has been taught a fair amount of techniques to prove rhetoric advantageous in getting what one wants. Rhetoric is the art of using language in a pertinent and persuasive manner. Persuasion does not necessarily mean one must lie, but just make lemonade with the metaphorical “lemons” provided. The online video “The Science of Persuasion” by Robert Cialdini and Steve Martin delves into the many tactics using rhetoric to gain exigency. In Erik Larson’s Devil In the White City, he writes about two characters: H. H. Holmes, a serial killer, and an architect named Daniel Burnham. Both have clever ways of acquiring what they desire, including theories listed in “The Science of Persuasion”.

           The Killer

Holmes (above), referenced as characteristics similar to Jack the Ripper, is a successful drugstore owner whom has a naturally charismatic attitude and appearance women love. He knows how to use pathos to empathize with his clients so he is to gain their loyalty or business. As this (now) infamous man became more and more renown through the success of his stores, he then gained the power of ethos, or using his status to gain support. To tie in with “The Science of Persuasion”, Holmes used the “reciprocity” method when he took over the Holton’s drugstore. When signing the legal work to transfer ownership to him, he promised that this business will not only aid him, but to the rest of the Holton’s as well. He also let them stay in the apartment above the store.

           The Architect

Burnham, however, does not try to brownnose his credibility into his clients, but rather flat out attests to his plans for modifying the Chicago skyline. When being interviewed for the daunting task of making the first skyscraper, Burnham stated that he would only work with the highest of business men and other colleagues. This establishes his credibility as only wanting the best of work to come from his productions. In relevance to “The Science of Persuasion”, Burnham uses the tactic of “scarcity” by insisting he start drafting immediately or he would take his intuition elsewhere. Burnham also played on people’s emotions by only displaying his passion, risk, and perseverance towards anything he sets his mind to. Most people admired him for such attitude and tended to let their guard down around him and agree with his inquisitions.

           Why did they use rhetoric and persuasion?

Rhetoric is an important asset to acquiring what one desires, and, if used appropriately, can easily be used sequentially to gain exigency. Burnham and Holmes do exactly this, and, for the most part, it works out in both their favors.

            ~Aaron

Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City. New York: Vintage Books, 2003.

Science of Persuasion