Blog Prompt 3

In the article "The Materialism of Christmas" Richard Hall uses many methods of persuasion that are common in daily life to defend his argument that we have lost sight of what the true meaning of Christmas is.
His first move is to generalize so as not to personally antagonize anyone individual but however to tell the reader, "You are not alone, there are others in the same situation." This step blunts the initial impact of his argument to prevent the reader from feelings singled out and offended so they continue to read on. It does however insinuate that this problem is rampant and that it needs to be addressed.
Another tactic Hall uses is connotative language. He describes the materialistic behaviors of modern society around christmas with such negativity that we are appalled to be described in such a manor. This in turn gets the reader to question their own lifestyles and ask him or herself, "Are my behaviors during Christmas as vulgar as he says?" This is a key stage in his argument, for here he is eliminating any preconceived notions by forcing the reader to question there own ideals therefore leaving them open to his arguments.
A source of defense Hall references is the Catholic Church. He he states that the commercialism and materialism of Christmas is one of the few things that the entire Church agrees upon. Because the Church is often accused of riding the fence on many opposing viewpoints he is telling us that if even this very diverse, indecisive institutions agrees that this is a problem then it must be prevalent.
Overall Hall uses many argumentative techniques one would use in daily life. Among which are; starting out softly, telling the audience it is not only them but everyone, connotative language to give the reader a tainted image, and using a reliable source to back up ones argument.



http://theconnexion.net/wp/?p=2627