Students,
Please respond to the following question in a comment. Be sure to sign your name at the end of the comment to ensure you get credit.
Ericsson uses her personal experience to illustrate some but not all of her categories of lying. Is her allotment of personal reference effective, or does it fragment the essay?
Be sure that as you craft your response you use appropriate and convincing examples and explanation. This response will count as a homework grade.
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23 comments:
I believe that Ericsson's use of personal reference as examples of the different types of lying she explains in her writing is extremely effective in the piece, even though their use may have been disproportionate in comparison with the more extreme, nonpersonal examples she uses. With the use of personal examples of Ericsson lying herself, she exemplifies that she is not an exception to the types of everyday lies people tell; she shows readers that she is not simply trying to teach a lesson to others, but also to herself, reaching out and becoming more personal with the reader. The use of Ericsson's personal references also provides her with ethos, explaining that she is liable to talk on the topic of natural lying. Ericsson executes this piece perfectly, with much of the credit going to these personal references!
-- Katie Spring
I think that Ericsson's choice to use personal examples as part of her explanation only strengthens her argument. Her personal experiences help establish her ethos and give a much clearer understanding to the reader. While her use of more elaborate, less personal examples (the militray family) are helpful they are not as relatable for the readers. Ericsson's personal experiences allow her to really disect the situation and point out how lies may not always be intentional, thus making the reader come to the realization of how frequently they may lie. Some of the more complex lies Ericsson focuses on would not be as clear had she not included her personal experiences. Ericsson did a very good job of establishing her ethos and supporting her argument through personal experiences.
-Anna Wyngaarden
Ericsson's use of personal stories in her descriptions of various lies is very effective; using stories in every description would overload the essay with personal details and distract from the actual point of the piece. Adding several examples from her life helper Ericsson prove her point that everyone lies, however had she included herself in the analysis of every lie then the essay would have read more like an assessment of Ericsson's dishonesty rather than an explanation of all lies in general. The limited use personal experience also helped Ericsson establish credibility and made the types of lies easier to relate to; Ericsson states very simple examples of her previous lies, but since anyone could have told the same lie, she effectively proves her point without the piece being too personal.
Lucy Wooldridge
I believe that Ericsson’s use of personal experiences is very effective, but only to an extent. They reach out to the reader, making the experiences very relatable. Her definitions of each type of lying helps the reader clarify what she was trying to say, but doesn’t always make them easy to relate. Her façade example, when she wears sweatpants instead of work clothes sets up a connection to the reader. I for sure, would wear sweatpants over work clothes any day of the year, and now that I understand where she’s coming from, reading on seems more desirable. However, too many personal experiences could break up the essay. Ericsson balances the right amount of explaining with her own tales. The scarcity of them make anyone, wanting to know more about her life. If every type of lie was associated with a personal experience, it might get boring.
-Mikki Warszawski
When Ericsson uses personal experiences, she explains the type of lie in an incredibly relatable way. Ericsson's use of personal experience exposes similar experiences of the reader. A strong connection is formed with the reader over those shared experiences. Readers will understand and believe Ericsson because they relate to the examples she gives. Too many times while reading this essay I recalled events when I lied exactly like her. When I recalled those lies, I was even more convinced of her argument.
She understood how often those lies went unnoticed in society, and she used that to her advantage. Her ethos skyrocketed her ethos when she opened the reader's mind to those lies in society.
-Nick Paulson
When Ericsson used her personal examples of the different types of lies; She explains is very quasieffective. Her personal experence established ethos and logos throughout her argument. This made the essay more plausible and tranquil for readers to relate to. Had she not use these personal examples of her's, this essay would have been more complexed and much harder to comprehend. Ericsson did a vast job of supporting many and thorough details.
-Petra Washington
Through experiences such as encounters with a stereotyped truck driver and a man who was seeming rather than being, Ericsson effectively uses a limited selection of personal reference to illustrate some of her categories of lying. By including personal experience only in some sections, Ericsson cogently asserts that lies are an universal part of life and successfully manages to not undermine herself while explaining that she herself is a liar. Also, through the profession of lies she has told, Ericsson firmly establishes a connection with the reader by indirectly encouraging them to recall their own experiences and relate to her argument. This undoubtedly contributes to the cohesive flow of the essay as a direct effect of the inclusion of a restricted amount of personal references.
-Rachel Kauwe
The personal experiences reflecting various forms of lying that Ericsson utilizes in her essay are a great illustration of balance between definition or exemplification writing and personally relating with the reader using specifics; by making this connection to the reader, she in turn leads the reader into connection with her main subject, completing the rhetoric triangle. This mixture of personal and impersonal experiences also helps her to establish credibility, without changing the purpose of the essay and completely making it a narrative about her life. Especially with a subject as broad as lying, it is very useful to show its role in individual, private life and public life, as well as defining what the different forms of lying are; because Ericsson accompanies each form of lying with these experiences, personal or not, it brings the piece together, instead of fragmenting it.
-Margaret Gunn
Ericsson’s use of personal experiences is very effective in my opinion because she does not use her stories every time. Personal experiences are a key part of her essay because it establishes her credibility and shows that everyone lies. When she speaks of lies that many people have heard of, such as the sergeant in Vietnam, it complements her personal experiences which helps prove that everyone lies. By mixing in historical examples like the Bible omission with her own lies, it reinforces her point that lies are everywhere.
Of all things, I feel like the quotes at the beginning of each section fragment the essay because she never addresses the quotes in her explanation of the lie.
Blake Moushon
Ericsson's use of personal experiences and examples further proves the main point of her arguement. A main point of this essay is how these forms of lying have come across various situations of many humans. she points out how often these lies are told, and also how often they are received. She, being part of the human race, proves her point by talking about her many personal experiences, along with witnessed and generalized instances of lying.
The fact that she included such examples reflects her ethos-- she is credible (to an extent) to discuss the causes, effects, and reasoning for lying amongst humans, which of course includes herself. In addition- and much more simply- her including the examples has, without a doubt, made this essay much more appealing and easier to relate to.
-Adrianna Graves
Although these personal examples show the authors relation to the argument, there are too many, which makes the reader too focused on Ericsson rather than the message about how everyone, including themselves, lies certain ways. By giving a personal example for every type of lie, the reader is overloaded with small, pointless examples of her lying. Since lying is a universal thing, not a personal one, the reader cannot see the widespread effects of lying. The reader is reading about the ways WE lie, not about how Ericsson lies. It would've been more effective to give examples of people all around the world to show how universal lying is and not just restricting the examples to herself.
-Hope Allen
Ericsson's use of personal experience to exemplify the different types of lying is very effective even though she doesn't use these examples for every type of lying. She is able to strategically use examples in places where her explanation is more shaky, so that the reader is able to understand exactly what this type of lying entails by relating to her own life. She doesn't need personal examples for kinds of lies that we as readers can easily relate to because by the time she would normally use an example, the reader has multiple examples already in his or her head. The use of examples also strengthens her ethos by showing that she is also susceptible to lying and knows plenty about it. She is able to portray the pros and cons of lying in a way that the reader cannot dispute because she has examples to back up her hypotheses.
Ericsson's use of personal examples was both distracting and ineffective in her argument. Her examples were vague and caused me to question whether or not they were actually true. The example of her partner and children were basic, and while they could have been vague in order to connect to the audience, they seemed to be superficial. These examples would have been much more effective had she included names or descriptions in order to bridge the gap between her highly analytic writing style and her slightly personal examples. The vague and sporadic qualities of these examples felt as if Ericsson had done the job halfway. Unfortunately, these "personal" examples effectively undermined her ethos while Ericsson attempted to appeal to pathos, and made the essay much more difficult to follow because they created fragmented tonal shifts.
-Alexis Crewse
Ericsson uses personal experience in the piece "The Ways We Lie" to help us understand how each of the lies work and what they look like. The explanations help especially in parts of the paper where the definition may not be as clear and understandable as others. These examples were in no way ineffective because they help the reader to associate a definition with a real life experience. These examples also show the reader how these types of lies may be acceptable and how everyone uses them; they help us associate ourselves with Ericsson and the ways that she admitted she has lied.
The addition of her personal experience is effective because it illustrates how the role of each lie actually does play out when she provides us with her own example to support her.Though,not making all the examples just relate to her own experience was a good idea becuase doing that exposes lying as an universal activity rather then an individuals problem. We all lie in some way shape or form. Mixing it up between personal and non-personal experiences supports the argument that we all lie.
Ericsson's use of personal anecdotes in this otherwise logical piece is clearly successful. With the obvious intention of connecting the readers to the information, Ericsson closes the gap between logic and emotion. A reader presented solely with explanation may become easily confused or bored. By weaving examples of family and friends into a string of facts,Ericsson was able to apply to the reader's pathos, creating a deeper understanding of the text. For instance, Ericsson's example of telling her husband that her day was good even though it was not is one experienced by a majority of people at some point in their life. Therefore, most readers will understand and relate.
-Sarah Laskowitz
The many personal examples Ericsson uses are meant to establish legitimacy, which they do; Her ability to unashamedly own up to these forms of lying only raises my respect for her as an author and a commentator on the human condition. However, I liked her examples where she was the one lying, as opposed to the one being lied to in the situation. For instance, her anecdote about how she found out a friend was putting up a facade made me question whether she had had her feelings hurt, and that was why she was inspired to write the whole piece. Besides these small nit-picking criticisms, her personal examples did establish ethos for me. Having been in many similar situations myself, she became more relatable to me, as a human being who isn't perfect and acknowledges that fact. The examples undoubtedly contribute to the flow of the essay, and were essential in the reader's accepting of the piece as a whole.
~Rishi R.
By Ericsson's use of [her] personal experiences with lying, I feel that she completely highlights and addresses the reality one goes through every day; whether that be the "being lied to" or the "liar". When the author talks about how she commonly tells lies every day without recognition, it provides structure for her argument by tying it back into human characteristics-and that we all have lied before at some point. By labeling herself as a lair, it is not only showing that she is including herself, but connecting to the readers as well. Each of the 10 examples of lying contributes to the reader's understanding of it by connecting the reader to the author. As well as connecting, her usage of ethos provides as crediblity to speak on this topic. Ericsson does a great job of explaining indirectly how we don't recognize how much we lie in society today.
-Laura Owen
I think Ericsson's use of personal examples makes her essay very convincing and very relatable. Throughout the essay, she dissects the different forms of lying and their consequences; whether they affect the liar or the lied to. Because she provides examples and support for both sides in her everyday life, it provokes your own self reflection on how much you lie, and how much you're probably lied to. She also elaborates on the underlying or blatantly obvious consequences- whether they give someone temporary peace of mind or if you delude someone (or you are the "deluded") to the point they really believe a fantasy that you painted for them instead of facing reality. Also, the fact that she herself is guilty of lying establishes her credibility to speak on the topic, her ethos,and makes her more relatable to the readers so that they can understand.
-Lauren Phillips
Although using personal experiences is usually an easy way to relate both your argument and yourself to your audience, I feel that Ericsson's use really detracts from her essay and argument, turning an already weak argument even weaker. All of the examples she used, especially the one about Rabbinical legends leaving her "stunned," seemed overly specific and many times, quite ludicrous. Ericsson opens her essay by giving us the definition of lying,signalling that she intends to show her audience how each form of lying she describes falls under this definition. Instead of trying the broad approach that relating her topic back to the definition of lying requires, she chooses to add in unnecessary anecdotes about how these forms of lying have impacted her. For example, after multiple paragraphs outlining the evils that stereotypes and cliches perpetuate, she decides to end with a personal example of how she was "humbled" when she described her foul mouth as that of a "truck driver," prompting a truck driver's objection that her never cusses. If the most horrific story of stereotyping she can think of is slightly offending a truck driver, there's really no need to include it, especially at the end, as the only effect it has is to counter her previous argument of the ruinous effects of stereotyping. Overall, although her personal arguments help explain the form of lying Ericsson is addressing, they detract so much from her argument that it becomes almost comical at points.
Sorry for the late response.
Ericsson utilizes personal anecdotes while explaining the different parts of a lie in her piece. Her intentions are positive and simple enough- she appeals to establish her ethos. Her personal anecdotes at the beginning are strong; the "everyday" example of the mundane white lie to "not break his back" is an effective and clear example, as is the facade example. These entice the reader and establish a clear connection between the reader and Ericcson (has Ericsson been studying the writer/reader/argument triangle?)
However, her examples in the body of the essay leave quite a bit to be desired. Her omission piece is absolutely horrendous, with vague biblical references which seem forced, esoteric, and entirely too long, which distracts from her argument and undermines her ethos. The goal of using personal examples is to connect the reader to the writer; Ericsson pushes the reader away and comes off as out of touch. One might wish that she had "omitted" this obscure reference, or at least not written three long paragraphs on it.
On the other side of the spectrum is the truck driver example. It was almost hilariously vague and lightyears away from the ultra-specific nature of her previous paragraph. It is devoid of emotion and specifics and almost seems made up. When there are many, many well-known cases of stereotyping in contemporary knowledge, an example from the outside would have served the piece better than this awkward example.
Ericsson was wise to use personal examples in her essay "The Ways We Lie" because it established her ethos and helped the reader relate to her piece on a deeper level. Ericsson uses examples from her every day life which makes her statements more effective and clear to the readers. With out giving such personal examples of the ways in which we lie, it would be a lot harder to understand all the different types of lies we tell. While reading about the white lie I found it more helpful when Ericsson gave the example of telling a friend they look good even when they "look like hell" (pg 121). I personally am guilty of telling people they look good just to comfort them and spare them of the embarrassment of being told they look bad. Ericsson relates these lies to so many parts off everyday life that it makes the reader realize how frequently we tell fibs. The reader forms a personal relationship with Ericsson while they read this piece because of how well and effectively she established her ethos and personal relateable examples
Liza Dugan
I believe that if anything, the personal experiences that Ericsson uses only advance her argument by helping to establish her ethos. The main point of this is to introduce the forms of lying that she herself has discovered. I feel that if she hadn’t used her personal experiences she wouldn’t have had as much credibility, and her piece would have had the feel of a research report. I myself think that she used an appropriate amount of personal points to make the essay relevant. So in conclusion, the use of examples strengthens her ethos by showing that she is also guilty of lying and is not being condescending towards those that do. I don’t think that people would be able to relate to distant examples, for instance not everyone has a family member or friend that has died in the military.
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