Rhetorical Analysis Of Bernard Roth's 'Achievement Habit'

William McEwen
Professor Weatheril
English 121.4
September 13, 2016
Rhetorical Analysis “Reasons are bullshit”(Roth 41), author Bernard Roth states in his book The Achievement Habit. Chapter two which is based on reasons and the BS behind them gives great detail of what the mind truly thinks, but just doesn't fully interpret. Roth covers this topic with lots of personal beliefs and evidence. Roth touches on all the topics of rhetorical appeals throughout the entire second chapter, in an efficient, but very unusual way. Roth likes to speak directly to the soul and heart of the reader, using real life examples, along with personal evidence. He touches specific calmly on the topic of “reasons”, claiming they are no more than “…excuses

Roth gives stories and examples in very different, but ethical ways. Roth creates an activity in the chapter, following the subtitle, “A Good Reason”(Roth 42). The activity involved the use of the word “reason”, in a way of evolving yourself around the idea and focus of which it truly means. Roth claims this game involves a partner, and the partner must begin every sentence with “The reason I…”, the other partner would then respond, “That's a good reason”, every time. After a few minutes the partners would then switch. This game was a great use of ethos, because Roth concludes from the good reason game that every reason isn't truly a good reason at all. The language Roth uses throughout the chapter of reasons is very intelligent, along with the tone he puts into his writing. He uses very meaningful, but as well sarcastic tone to grab different aspects and thoughts for the reader. For example, Roth uses what he calls the life's journey method(Roth 52). This life journey method involved Roth personally asking his students at Stanford “Then what happens”, after they speak about their goals/plans in life. All ended up resulting in death. “So the end is the same. No matter what path you take, in the end you die.”(Roth 53). Roth’s knowledge is far beyond what's actually interpreted, he truly thinks far beyond the outside of the

The writing style Roth likes to use involves lots of positivity, possibly even too much. Some critics claim that the topics could even be described as “common sense”. Critic Bashira said, “If you take to reading self-development books, a lot of his concepts--you'll realize--are hardly new.” Bashira does touch and expose Roth’s writing in a positive matter however, giving Roth the true credibility he deserves as a creative author. Bernard Roth’s story The Achievement Habit, included chapter two, “Reasons Are Bullshit”, which was a great chapter to give affection and impact on all the rhetorical appeals he ended up covering. The ways Roth expanded on the topics showed how creative and intelligent the Stanford professor truly is. Roth is a reliable source and showed great effectiveness in his arguments, throughout the chapter. Reasons are truly