Spring Break

Since this week we can write about whatever we want I am unsure of what I want to write about. So, I guess I will just talk about the tentative plans I have for spring break. Some of my friends and I are planning on going to Washington, D.C. for spring break. One of my roommates has not been there before so that should be fun. I know that they are setting out itineraries for what we should do each day. It should be fun all five of us crammed into one car driving to D.C. :) I am excited about where we are staying. Some friends of ours that have already graduated from Clemson live there and so we will be staying with them. So, I am really excited about getting to see them. I am definitely ready for a break from school work and its only three weeks away. It always seems like school flies by really fast during the spring semester. Anyway, these are my tentative plans for my spring break!!!

Cover Letters

I thought the website was very helpful. I have already had to write a mock cover letter for another class, but this has definitely helped. I did not realize that the cover letter is more or less all about the company and what you know and how you can benefit that company. The sample cover letter was helpful to see how long it should be. I also did not realize that you could include a hand written p.s. at the end of the cover letter. That was an interesting little bit of information that I did not know. Also, it was helpful to know that you can include testimonials that will help sell you to the company. Overall, I thought this was a helpful website. Knowing that each cover letter I write should be tailored to that company or business well definitely be helpful in the future when I start applying for jobs after graduation.

Interviewing Skills

The articles from this website were very helpful. The two that I have chosen to write about are called "An Interview Strategy: Telling Stories" and "How to Deal With Interview Stress." Knowing how to tell stories about how I handle situations in the past and that this will help me in interviews is helpful. It was helpful that they gave a time limit for your stories (between 30-90 seconds) and ideas to develop your stories with. The article dealing with stress was also really helpful. The relaxation tips were really helpful. Also, the part about not panicking when when there is a pause during the interview is helpful. Because during a past interview I had an awkward pause, so now knowing relaxation tips to get back on track during the interview will be helpful for the next time I have one. I feel like this will be helpful when I go for an interview for a "real" job and the "mock" interview. Knowing how to present myself in an professional and confident manner is very important.

The Art of Persuasion

I choose to write about Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. I love to hear his speeches. Each one is always very powerful. To me, I feel like his entire speech used ethos. He uses many examples of Biblical accounts and examples of events that happened in U.S. history. He establishes himself with his breadth of knowledge. He appealed to logos at the very beginning of his speech. He states that, "something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world." This is a logical statement. There is something happening through the civil rights movement. My favorite appeal that he uses in this speech is pathos. An example of this in his speech was when he used the parable of the Good Samaritan. He says, "That's the question before you tonight. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?" The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" The question is, "If I do not stop to help the sanitaiton workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question." This is a powerful statement and is motivating the people of Memphis to action.

This speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is just as persuasive and powerful as his speech called "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Both of these speeches use ethos and logos. But I think that pathos is the most powerful piece of rhetoric that he uses. This speech("I've Been to the Mountaintop") compared to the presentation in class I feel was more persuasive. They talked about using ethos, logos, and pathos but the speech overall is not as persuasive. Overall, Martin Luther King Jr. is a very powerful and persuasive speaker and uses ethos, logos, and pathos very well.

To find Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" go to this website: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm.