Evaluating Evidence and Assumptions

The evidence that Stein provides us would not be considered accurate. He states no evidence that is supported by facts and he does not supply the readers with any reliable sources. Although the evidence is not factual or necessarily correct, all of the evidence Stein gives his readers is relevant to his claim and supports his opinions. I do not believe that the amount of evidence Stein gives us is sufficient enough to convince his readers of also supporting his claim. Instead, I think it causes the readers to question their own standpoint on this topic as well.

Within the first paragraph, Stein makes the assumption that there are those people that believes we are an underdog nation, that frowns upon the privileged because of it. Stein states that when the underdogs win, it can cause somewhat more excitement because it is unexpected, which is valid. When the unexpected happens, it seems to gain more of a reaction out of the audience. He also relates the Yankees to America, and that people want to come to America for the same reason athletes want to join the Yankees: that there is a better history of opportunity and success.

A lot of the assumptions in this reading could be challenged, because the majority of the evidence is solely based upon opinion. All of the similarities he provides between the Yankees and America could cause the readers to challenge his opinion and disagree with his opinions and perspective. Stein has failed to assume shared beliefs, values or facts that may help the argument because he comes off as very one-sided.

Rhetorical Reading

The purpose of Stein’s writing is to relate the successful, well-known team of the Yankees to America. The tone of Stein’s piece is very satirical, causing the readers to challenge his views and opinions. Stein’s piece also shows authority the way he presents his opinions, possibly causing the readers to agree with him and see his side of the topic. The author offers a lot of relations to make to cause the readers to follow what he is trying to get across, even if they cannot personally relate to the Yankees or athletics, causing the author to come off as knowledgable.

The tone of this writing could cause the readers to not see Stein as fair-minded or trustworthy. He is incredibly one-sided with his work, possibly making the readers not to be very fond of him or this piece, unless they agree with him or are very open-minded. The author’s support of his claim does not come off as very well considered, considering he does not provide the readers with any research or background to strongly support his claim, other than his opinion and the relationships he makes to America. The author does not treat opposing perspectives fairly, calling people “losers” and coming off as very aggressive and angry, attempting to prove his point.

Effective Working Thesis Statement

Stein’s thesis statement indicates that the issue is contestable because many people could object to his opinion. This work is argumentative, but is not factual or accurate, causing it to be fairly easy to argue against. The author does strongly give off what support he claims and why he so strongly supports it, but he fails to provide the readers with good evidence to persuade the readers to also support his claim, unless they already would have going into this reading.

The thesis statement could easily be debated if new information came to the light through research. If any factual evidence was to be used against Stein’s claim, this could cause an easy debate considering he provides his readers with little to none factual evidence. Although the tone is very satirical and aggressive, it does map out the structure of his argument. He provides several ways for the readers to relate to what he is saying, besides the Yankees. Finally, Stein’s thesis statement is apparent to what he would need to include in order for his argument to be believable. Although his writing was very opinionated, I think it was also somewhat persuasive.

Audience

In Stein’s work, I believe his aim of argument would be to either persuade or reinforce. Stein is definitely not arguing to inquire because he is not trying to solve a conflict or create common ground between opposing perspectives. The author is either trying to persuade his audience to agree with his opinion, or reinforce his opinion on those who already agree and why they should agree with him as well.

His audience could be those that need to be persuaded and hold different views, because the way he writes comes off as if he is specifically referring to those people that disagree with him. But, he could also be reinforcing ties with those who share his view because he writes very aggressively. Coming off as not so fair-minded and considerate could cause those readers that you are attempting to persuade to completely want to do the opposite, which is why I believe that an audience that shares beliefs with him would be better suitable for him to get across too.

Supporting the Claim

Stein does not use types of evidence that that the greatest number of people would find persuasive. The evidence that Stein provides his readers with is very opinionated instead of providing his readers with an actual background or research on his topic to convince his readers of otherwise. The only way his readers would be persuaded is from his very opinionated and satirical tone.

Stein may come off as if he is treating his readers that would agree with him as intelligent, but not treating his readers that would disagree with him as intelligent. He refers to those people that disagree with him as “losers” and not righteous. Although he may not come off as fair-minded to his readers, he is very direct with his position and what he wants his readers to think and why. He does not provide his readers with facts, but he provides his readers with ways they can personally relate to this writing and see it as a piece that is not technically about baseball at all.

Words about Words

Stein does not cultivate a trustworthy ethos. His attitude and tone toward the subject makes it hard for him to identify and relate with the readers. Stein is a known author, so his reputation could support his opinion when trying to persuade the readers.

Stein somewhat uses logos as described by the editors. His style and the way he arranges his work to how he addresses the topic is easy to follow and relates to one another. The author does not always use full sentences but his sentence arrangement causes him to be very clear on his claim and targeting his audience.

The use of pathos in Stein’s work is only through aggression and anger. This may deepen the effect of having people relate to him if they agree with his claim, but this could also cause people to strongly disagree with him if they did not initially support his claim. He provides no empathy to those who initially oppose his claim, possibly causing them to not even consider his perspective.