Storytelling: For or Against

The past couple of weeks we have talked and reminisced upon storytelling. In class, Dr. Melzow has asked us multiple times to think of stories that our parents told us when we were younger. Each time she has asked us to do this I find myself drawing blanks. I simply can’t remember anything my parents might have told me. Upon further thinking, I really don’t think my parents told me stories or urban legends to scare me into being careful about things and for this I am extremely thankful. I personal did not enjoy reading any of the urban legends that we read in “Reading Culture” this week and I am a college student. There is no way that I would ever tell my kids some of those stories. This isn’t coming from an overprotective mindset or outlook on life, but rather was mindset that I want my kids to have pure minds and thoughts. These stories are evil and why should I bring evil into my kid’s minds? If I don’t want my kids to do something, I will simply tell them why they shouldn’t do something or go somewhere and will give them a clear vision on why I am asking them of that. Then, they will see where I am coming from and will know that I only want what is best for them. I would much rather speak truth and give reasoning than to scare someone into believing what I am saying. Do you agree with or do you think this is being a little extreme?

Manti Teo

Manti Teo went from a household favorite to a disgraced figure very quickly. Losing the Heisman trophy to Johnny Manziel and getting blown out by Alabama in the national championship game are the least of his worries right now. He has lost his own personal dignity and credibility. Reports came out that the “girlfriend” he was “dating” was actually a fake identity that Teo was tricked into believing. Some would say that Teo was involved with the whole scheme to give him a better chance of winning the Heisman. And some would even go as far as saying that Teo did all this to hide the fact that he was gay and wanted a fake girlfriend to cover it up. Either way, Teo has become a very disgraced figure on college sports.

In the culture that we live in today, the media has a lot of influence on celebrities and the image that they portray to the public. Although the media has crushed Teo’s image and not many people believe in him anymore, some people still do trust him.

I found two blogs about Teo and their opinions on the whole situation. Each blog used the rhetorical appeals of logos, pathos, and ethos to convey their opinions of Manti Teo. I found it very interesting that the blogs each ended with a paragraph showing support for not Teo and building his reputation up. This was effectively done by the use of pathos by both authors. Even I started to rethink my beliefs on Teo after reading those paragraphs. The authors really pulled at my emotions which made me question my beliefs and outlook on the whole situation. The blogs were different in the fact that one recognized what Teo did, but didn’t want to blame him. The author even sympathized for him and felt his pain. He even went as far as saying that he is a champion in his eyes. The other blog also recognized Teo as a liar and stated what he did was wrong, but then went on saying that Teo was the perfect person to attack because of his honesty and trust in other people. The author also states that the world could use some more people like Teo due to his trust in other people. Both blogs use logos to present the facts about Teo lying because they are undeniably true.