Speech

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and is used daily in life to try change the opinion or viewpoint of someone. The basic goal of rhetoric is to try and show a listener and/or reader that the points that you are arguing for are more valid points than those who are in opposition. One small piece of advice though is to not try and outdo a rhetorician with rhetoric.

The three most basic principles of rhetoric that are used are ethos, pathos and logos. These principles when used well can be very efffective; if not, then persuasion will not take place and one might lose their argument. I'm here to tell you a little story about a recent experience with rhetoric from a first hand point of view.

Elders, parents, and teachers will almost always believe that what they know is correct and somehow a step above what another may believe. Mind you that opinion and bias may come into effect here from my personal experience. I have recently been put into a situation where I've wanted to argue a point to the extreme of where I got things my way. I know that life is not fair and things will not always turnout according to how you want them to. In trying to get a teacher's point of view changed, I tried using logos which is the logical appeal and use of reasoning.

My logos appeal was essentially that things are better than they were before and I had shown much improvement from the beginning of the road. This was not seen the same way by my 'superior' but more or less seen as the fact that it was expected to be much better and then flipped back around saying that it was better yes, but there are many more ways that it could have been altered to make it even better. Tell me you don't expect an amatuer on the PGA Tour to knock off Tiger Woods do you? Its not going to happen except with much experience and only then is the golfer going to have the rounds of his/her life and have Tiger have one of his off days in order to be better than him.

The second approach used was that of the ethos which is developing credibility to one arguing a certain position. Attemping to do this, I used examples from the past of my history and what I had done and what I had done to try and improve things from my past. Unfortunately, to no avail, this did not work either.

I chose not to hit on the last appeal of Pathos because it simply was not relevant. I thought that I could persuade the teacher by telling them that I had gotten numerous speakers into their class and that they had 'thrown me under the bus' on numerous occasions asking me to speak for other classes and present things, however, I chose not to take that route. Instead, I listened intently as they instructed me on the grade appeals process. That might have to be a route that I take instead. I guess only time will tell, but not too much. I guess Ill have to use the time inbetween to work on my rhetoric skills for the future. Life moves pretty quickly. If you don't stop and take a minute, you might miss it.

The Ageless Wonder Kid

Will Brett Favre come back for an 18th season or will he hang his helmet for the final time.

Brett Favre came into the leage in 1991 as the second overall quarterback drafted and the 33rd overall pick. He is currently the ONLY member of the 1991 draft class from the first two rounds still active in the NFL. The only other one was fellow 17-year vet. Ted Washington who went down in October with a season-ending knee injury.

Farve led the youngest team for the 2007 NFL season to the NFC Championship game, before an overtime field goal left the Packers without a trip to Super Bowl XLII and Favre still in search of his second Super Bowl victory.

Now that the young Packers team has some valuable playoff game experience, a motivated head coach and an optimistic outlook for next season, Favre truly has something to look forward to next year. The question on everyone's mind is if he will take the steps necessary to come back for his 18th season to try and win it all.

This past season, Favre spent his weeks lighting up the record books. Week 4 in Minnesota, he hit a 16-yard pass to Greg Jennings for his 421st touchdown breaking Dan Mario's mark.

Week 15, he hit a 7-yard slant route to Donald Driver for the NFL's All-Ttime passing mark breaking yet another one of Mario's records. There are plenty of other records that he holds such as touchdowns, wins, completions, attempts; hell he even broke the record for most interceptions during the 2007 season.

Brett Favre has already established his legacy as a quarterback in the NFL and the question that remains is if he will come back in order to lead his team to a victory in his final game as a player. The Packers established a defensive dominance during the season and the team should only get better through this April's NFL draft. Family has long been a big part of Favre's life and been a motivating factor in his past decisions on whether he would continue or not. The day after his biggest role model and father Irvin Farve's death, Brett threw for 399-yards and 4 touchdowns against he Oakland Raiders. Favre has had ups and downs over his career, but the family support has kept him going through the years and breaking through the record books.

Farve has the Packer's record for most games played and is currently the Cal Ripken of football with this 253 consecutive games started. The only player in NFL history with more consecutive starts is the "Ironman" of football Jim Marshall. Marshall started 282 consecutive game and 302 including the playoffs for the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings.

Records have never meant anything to Favre, but he wants to win. He is a winner. He always has and always will be a winner. If he does not see the opportunity to win, then Favre will most likely not return for his 18th NFL season. The 2008 Green Bay Packers though will be returning young and more experience players to their 13-3 season from a year ago and as long as Favre returns, the Packers have the opportunity to go all the way. Look to see the timeless Brett Favre starting at Lambeau gun-slinging like the kid that he is in 2008.

Go Pack Go!