Shermine Narwani and Maysaloon Albadri - Research Paper Example

?Ghadeer Alturki Ms. Boznat Eng 190 21 Feb 12 Shermine Narwani and Maysaloon Albadri For quite some time now, the news coverage on Syria has been focusing on the current issues, which aims at replacing the incumbent regime. Shermine Narwani, a journalist who had travelled to Syria, believes that the media is undermining the Arab League Mission’s efforts, and that they only tell half-truths, about the events in Syria. However, Maysaloon Albadri, a critic of Narwani, uses logos and the rhetoric appeal of pathos to discredit her assertions. In this article, I will illustrate the manner in which Maysaloon and Narwani have applied logos, pathos, and rhetoric appeal to make their claims appealing to the audience. Maysaloon begins his essay by analyzing the nature of Narwani’s article. He points out that any well-written and relatively neutral article that raises the slightest doubts that Assad’s regime is killing its people should not be taken seriously. He explains that Narwani’s article, which talks about the regime killing its people, is distributed crazily and cited as future proof that Syria subjected to conspiracy (Maysaloon 2). The point that he is trying to put across is that the fact that a piece is well-written does not mean it holds the truth. Essentially, Maysaloon uses this kind of argument, which is based on credible evidence, to invalidate the assertions of Narwani in a way that really appeals to the readers. This is a perfect application of logos, which increase authenticity of the author’s claims. Ideally, the reader would identify with this kind of logic, which is very appealing and convincing. Maysaloon increases the appeal of his argument by logically analyzing the happenings in the Arab League, in a way that disputes Narwani’s main theme. Narwani explains that there are armed groups fighting the regime, which were not mentioned in the protocol. Maysaloon acknowledged this as a fact, but uses pathos to create a false sense of pity for Narwani’s tendency to create fabrications of the issues regarding the international media. This aspect is brought out clearly when he says “It is curious that Miss Narwani seems to think that the conventional narrative does not mention an armed element to Syria’s uprising, when it does” (Maysaloon 5). Here, Maysaloon uses the word ‘curious’ to create the illusion that he would not expect a person of the class of Narwani to reason in such a manner, and could not identify why she misunderstood traditional narrative. This word is used to create a condescending tone and pathos, which is a clever way improving the appeal of one’s ideas. Ideally, the pathos and logos are used to portray Narwani as incapable of writing sensible articles for media publication. The use of logos throughout the article, therefore, makes the readers want to know more about what Maysaloon is discussing, and identifies with Narwani’s assertions as lacking credence. In her article, “Foolishly ignoring the Arabs League report on Syria” (Narwani 1), Narwani says that the international media completely ignores the armed entities that are also fighting against the regime, a fact that Maysaloon disputes strongly by use of logos. As a result, the audience is easily convinced that Narwani claims are misinformed. To support his divergent views, Maysaloon says that the conventional narrative that Narwani refers to exist only “in the mind of most ardent supporters of Assad”. He adds that the media has, in fact, made many reports about groups such as the free Syrian army and other local groups that are attempting to protect themselves from the regime (Maysaloon 5). Maysaloon further discredits Narwani through a simple observation that she never cites any reference or source regarding the claim that there is a media conspiracy, which undermines or degrades the Arab League mission. Maysaloon is also using logos through reasoning and logic, in order to rule out the farces, and hence, seek the truth. Narwani’s notion regarding conspiracy has no foundation and, therefore, cannot be taken as anything beyond a mere allegation or accusation. Narwani’s article is useful for good rhetoric but, in many instances, Maysaloon has proven it to be a form of sophism. Narwani concludes her article with a couple of very strong assumptions that essentially sum up the purpose of the article. She restates the media’s lack of coverage in Syria and seems to defend the Syrian regime. She claims the citizens of Syria do not want any international help and that the regime is rather compliant with regard to the demand of the Arab League protocol (Narwani 3). Narwani has an excellent grasp of rhetoric appeals. Apparently, she uses pathos in her article quite frequently in an attempt to appeal to human’s natural compassion and pity. Initially, the reader wants to believe what Narwani writes because it is well-written. Maysaloon, however, reminds us that in order to find truth, we must question the source and doubt what we are told, to facilitate our own investigations. As previously mentioned, Maysaloon does this through two different rhetoric appeals; that is, pathos and logic. The aim of Maysaloon is to portray everything that Narwani puts across as untrue. He deems Narwani’s conclusion as untrue when he says, “unfortunately this is a poorly referenced and researched article that appears to be more interested in resolving an artificial argument” (Maysaloon 8). According to Maysaloon, Narwani has not used logos in her article, and as a result, she has written a pro-regime article arguing against a false claim. Maysaloon uses pathos throughout his piece to discredit Narwani to the point of mockery. In his analysis, Maysaloon is actually mocking Narwani because he “builds up a straw man- the international media ignoring armed groups- and then proceeds to fight him viciously” (Maysaloon 5). Basically, Narwani is not even capable of creating a true argument, leading to Maysaloon’s mockery of her, and an attack on her journalistic abilities. His other appeal to discredit Narwani lies in his usage of logos by illuminating the dark unproven aspects of Narwani’s article by simply doing the proper research and reasoning through the claims. Conclusion I have found Maysaloon article very affective in presenting the intended message. The primary objective of the article is to draw the attention of the audience to recognize the fact that Narwani’s claims are unfounded and untrue. He has actually managed to draw a strong appeal of the audience because he has, on one hand, supported his argument with a verifiable logic and, on the other hand, made it clear that Narwani’s claims have no backing at all. The readers cannot help but believe Maysaloon’s argument, and lose confidence with Narwani’s arguments. The manner in which Maysaloon has put across his argument and then went ahead to provide evidence for the same has really attracted my attention. Indeed, I found his argument interesting and felt like reading more and more. As such, I can conclude with authority that Maysallon’s article was perfectly effective. Works Cited Maysaloon Albadri. “Commenting on the Arab world: its history, culture and politics” The Degeneration of a Nation, 3 May 2012. Web. 5 May 2012. Narwani, Sharmine. “Foolishly Ignoring the Arab League Report on Syria.” Alakhabar English. 4 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 May 2012 Read More