I do, however, agree with both points of view.  I believe that if both the citizens of the U.S. and our government try to help the veterans, we will be well on our way to treating the epidemic of mental disability due to combat.  With more research under my belt, I have found several articles and statements from the Pentagon saying that there will be an increase in mental health professionals working with new soldiers, current soldiers, veterans, generals.  The U.S. is finally doing something about combat PTSD.

S: Trying to inform the nation of what soldiers experience that could potentially cause them to develop PTSD and other psychological disorders from combat.

O: This applies to any war of the past, present and future.  Anywhere there is combat or fighting, this book applies.

A: It seems to be written mainly for the family members of veterans with PTSD.  It could also be written for the skeptics that don’t believe that PTSD is a real disorder and a real problem.

P: This book was written to inform the nation.  Meagher believes the people on the homefront should be helping the veterans who ultimately give their lives to protect our freedoms.

S: Meagher has a very learned persona in the book.  She provides a lot of information and emotional content that makes the reader want to continue following her research.

tone: Though it is somber at times, the tone remains optimistic by providing links and phone numbers of places to get help for people the readers may know with PTSD or other mental disorders.  She provides stories of what happens when the  problem is left unattended (the somber tone) but also what happens when action is taken.

For an author biography, visit this page.

It is shown that military generals and others who are high in the chain of command push soldiers beyond their limits and don’t offer the support and encouragment that the human spirit thrives on.  With this lack of necessary mental help, soldiers morale breaks down and are likely to develop PTSD.  There are, however, some generals who do well in this aspect.  So as to correct the hasty generalization that it is all their fault we must look at the government institution as a whole.

After finishing this book, I was astounded by the fact that the military and government contributes so much to the development of PTSD.  Since my topic is researching whether or not the government is doing enough to help the mental health of returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, I am in the opinion that they are not doing nearly enough.

The occasion is mid 1900′s during these two wars.  It would occur in any battlefield or hospital that helped house the soldiers suffering from both physical and mental injuries.

The audience that this chapter is intended for would be any family member of someone who is suffering from PTSD, especially war veterans.  Before the chapter begins are two very powerful anecdotes.  The first is from the wife of a Vietnam war veteran who suffered from PTSD and the second is from their daughter.  It helps to put into perspective what children thought of mental health of their parents and the two views could really help an audience dealing with a similar situation.

The purpose of this section, and the whole book essentially, is to help get the word out about PTSD and what it really does to the one actually suffering and the loved ones who deal with the person suffering.  It also works towards better recognition of the war veterans.  The research that Penny Coleman did to write this book is all so that people can understand what they are going through.

The speaker of the chapter is someone who was indirectly affected by PTSD and now wants to help others understand the real problems.  They are empathetic but simply informative on most points.

The tone is mainly didactic because Coleman is trying to inform readers of PTSD and how connected to war it is when referring to soldiers.  The anecdotes in this section however, do hold a very elegiac tone.  The wife and daughter of the veteran are both very emotional and touched, not necessarily in a good way, by how he acted due to his condition.  When reading the quick stories, one can feel the sorrow in their words.

Tone Vocab Power Point

In the first few pages, I found many clear examples of logos, pathos, and ethos.

In terms of logos, Coleman uses many anecdotes of her own from her experiences with her husband. Along with personal stories, she shares the experiences of other wives of veterans who also ended up committing suicide because of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.  There are statistics scattered throughout the actual research portion of the book having to do with suicide rates, how many veterans end having PTSD or other mental health problems, and other percentages and numbers along those lines.  She also gives the definition of PTSD as “a traumatic event in which…the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an even or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others, [and] the person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror,” which is the definition given in the most recent DSM (Coleman 20).

The ethos goes along with the last statement made in the logos.  She references and cites many reliable sources such as DSM and other medical journals from doctors and psychiatrists. Having information from people who experience these patients first hand makes her arguments more valid and reliable.

The pathos that Coleman employs include imagery in all of the stories, a few examples of figurative language, and allusions to other wars and battles in history.  She does connotative language and parallelism in a few places as well.  When describing things dealing with PTSD or depression, she uses words that have an extremely negative or dismal connotation.  However, when she explains how there should be hope and help for those suffering and those close to the ones who are suffering, the tone lightens a bit and her connotation takes a more positive spin.

Publication: USA Today

Author: Marilyn Elias

In this article, Elias uses a few examples of each logos, pathos and ethos.  Some of the examples of ethos that stuck out to me specifically were the references to the American Psychology Association and the National Veterans Foundation.  Quoting and referring to these two organizations build ethos because it gives a credible background to the research Elias uses in her article.

Logos that I found while reading the article was the short anecdote at the end of the article having to do with the veteran who called the hotline run by the National Veterans Foundation.  There are also several places where Elias uses numbers and statistics about how many returning soldiers suffer from some mental disorder, most commonly PTSD or depression.  The numbers also show how many soldiers are in their second, third, or fourth deployment.  There were also several quotes from experts in the article.  Most of them were from military officials or colonials or from representatives of the two organizations mentioned earlier.

While reading, the most difficult appeal to find was pathos due to the informative nature of the article.  However, the anecdote at the end builds pathos along with its logos.  The description of the man calling the hotline “in a hysterical state” and describing all the things that were happening to him at once makes one feel sorry for the man and the hardships he’s going through.

Here’s a related article that compares and contrasts the symptoms of PTSD to mild brain traumas.

*This is an older article (posted 8/14/08), but the information still holds true in most cases.  The effects that the war and violence has on soldiers is still the same.  The only thing that may vary from the time of publication to now would the statistics, and even those more than likely won’t vary by much.  I also chose to read this article to see how interesting of a topic it would be for my argumentative research blog.

Publication: The New York Times

Author: John Tierney

The subject of the article is, in essence, describing the science behind gossiping.  It talks about how with children and teenagers, insults or rude remarks escalate in severity if the conversation about another person goes on without interruption. Further on in the article, Tierney talks about how the same chain of events takes place in offices and other places of work with adults.  Though the comments may be more subtle than those of teenagers, they hurt just the same.

The occasion of the article is November 2, the date it was published on the internet.  The subject of this article does, however, take place everyday in every office in the United States, and around the world.  It also happens everyday in schools with children and teenagers.

The audience could be administrators or managers who are looking into preventing and recognizing office or workplace gossip.  It could also be written for other researchers who are studying the sociology behind the workplace and how people interact in that environment.

The purpose of the article is mainly to inform the audience of the effects gossip can have on people and on their work environment.  It is meant to teach and report statistics and facts.

The speaker of the article is someone who presents himself very well even though he may not necessarily be a scientist or researcher in the topic.  He has a broad understanding of what his topic is all about.

The tone of the article is informative, as this is the main purpose as well. The author simply wants to let the readers know what is going on with the new research pertaining to office gossip.

Publication: The New York Times

Author: Benedict Carey

The subject of this article is the always controversial topic of the purpose of dreaming.  The article describes the way Freud and Jung interpret dreams, which are the ways most psychologists and therapists have been interpreting them for a long time.  However, the article also describes new interpretations.  Dr. J. Allen Hobson, a sleep researcher at Harvard, believes that dreams serve as a warm up for one’s brain.  Dreams, in Hobson’s mind, are there to get one’s brain prepared to take on the day.

The occasion of this article is November 9, 2009 since this is when the article was published online.  The subject of this article, essentially dreaming, also takes place in the mind of every person on Earth every night.

The audience of this article would be psychologists and therapists who both agree and disagree with Hobson’s idea.  It’s written for those who agree so they can read into what he actually thinks a little better.  It’s written for those who disagree maybe to show them a research based paper with proven facts so as to help sway their opinion in favor of the article.  It could also be written for psychology students who are interested in what happens in our brain during sleep.

The purpose of the article is mainly to inform readers of some reasons why scientists and psychologists believe that we dream.

The speaker of the article is someone who seems fairly interested in the topic of dream interpretation.  

The tone of the piece is didactic.  The article is meant to be informative and teach the reader something new about potential reasons for why we dream.  Or it is meant to teach the reader more about reasons for dreaming that they may already be familiar with.

Publication: The New York Times

Author: Richard A. Friedman M.D.

The subject of the article is that children are naturally programmed to love their parents and be attached to them whether their parents are kind to them or not.  Parents who’s behavior is considered toxic can do damage to their childrens’ brains and self esteem.  Abusive parents tend to cause depression later on in life.  Psychologists rarely suggest that adults need to sever relationships with parents, but if it is more emotionally damaging than helpful, it is the only thing they can do.

Sometimes the best way for adults to overcome depression caused by their parents abuse is to cut their parents completely out of their life.

The occasion of the article is October 19, 2009, which is when the article was published online.  It is a problem, however, that is happening all around the world with anyone who has or had abusive parents.

The audience the article was intended for would be people who have abusive or “toxic” parents.  It could show them that they aren’t alone in their struggle to beat depression and may encourage them to seek professional help.

The purpose of the article is to explain what kind of damage can be caused by these abusive and “toxic” parents.  The article talks about how the depression not only causes problems with self esteem but also causes extensive damage to the brain.  The depression kills cells in the hippocampus region of the brain that is responsible for sorting and storing memories.  Antidepressants and cutting ties from the toxic parents help to rebuild these cells.

The speaker is a professional psychologist who has worked with several patients who have experienced these problems.  He knows what helps and how to handle the situation to the best of his ability.

The tone of the article is informative.  The author is telling his experiences and the facts that are surrounding the topic.