Grant Pendergraft
Mrs. Erwin
English II
20 January 2023
Jay Heinrichs is Very Good at Arguing Thank You for Arguing, by Jay Heinrichs, but more specifically, his section Remember Aristotle’s definition of virtue: A matter of character, concerned with choice, lying in a mean, is a persuasive essay on implementing rhetoric back into the curriculums of schools. He believes that if the population was taught rhetoric, the community would change for the better. He believes that when rhetoric is introduced into society, we will be less susceptible to tricks that currently fool us. This includes everything from candy bar ads, to American politics. In Heinrichs’ writing, he uses specific language to persuade the reader with his argument, and he calls the reader to action.
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In this section, he mentions very influential philosophers. Among these is Aristotle. These big names are thrown around and it can be very easy for an average person to feel overwhelmed by the genius that Heinrichs uses to support his argument. In his introduction paragraph, Heinrichs states, “...our definition of virtue becomes the opposite of Aristotle’s?” and then goes on to say, “You get an antirhetorical nation, like the one we have now.” thus seeming to want to use ethos, or an appeal to credibility and ethics (Heinrichs). Interestingly enough however, ethos is part of Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle. Fascinating that Heinrichs would use one of Aristotle's appeals to appeal to the credibility of Aristotle. His call to authority is not the only way in which Heinrichs tries to impact the