"How Soccer Is Ruining America: A jeremiad" by Stephen H. Webb is a sarcastic article written to be ironic and interpreted as a joke, maybe even mocking the stereotypical American. This article is purely meant to be taken as ironic and as a joke, Webb gets this point across by having no "real" argument, by admitting soccer isn't that bad of a sport, and allowing his kids to play soccer.
In his article, Webb claim he has four main points that prove soccer is "Ruining America" but he makes no real valid argument. Webb first argues that soccer cannot be considered a real sport because most sports require that you use your hands. He also claims that your hands are "holy" while feet are dirty, implying that feet are Satanic. Therefore, Soccer is an ungodly sport, many extremely religious Americans use "God" as an argument for many controversial topics. His second argument is that sports are about breaking kids down before you build them up and that soccer goes way too easy on children. He then begins to compare soccer to baseball, which is considered Americas official sport by most. His third argument is that soccer, coming from Latin countries, is a foreign invasion. This reflects the "stereotypical American" by Webb being completely oblivious to his racist remarks. He casually says that soccer is a foreign invasion and seems to believe that America is superior to other countries by saying statements such as "Americans would never...". His fourth and final argument is that soccer is a feminine sport, therefore; not a legitimate sport. Soccer is a feminine sport because it does not "contain the blood lust of football" and because "girls are too smart to waste an entire day playing basketball". These statements reflect the mindset of the average sexist, American male. In the ninth paragraph Webb says that "soccer is the perfect antidote to television and video games". If he truly believed soccer was ruining America he wouldn't say that it's a good alternative to television and video games when there are a million other sports out there. Lastly, Webb says that all of his children are on a different soccer team and after a soccer game him and his family return happily. If this wasn't a sarcastic article he wouldn't allow his kids to play it, let alone attend their games and leave happily; therefore I believe this is article is mean to be taken sarcastically. In Cotton Mather's Diary entries he addresses a woman who seeks to marry Mather, he refuses her proposal believing it will upset Jesus but he chooses to "save" her by attempting to convert her to his religion. Mather mentioned various of times that he would cry, and beg God to save the gentlewoman and the people of his town. This concern over his community reminds me of Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God because Edwards was also concerned for his community because he believed they were drifting away from religion and would all be cast into hell unless they repented.
Mather's diary entries reflect his inner fear of being cast into hell. Contrary to today's image of God as an "all loving, forgiving" God, back then God seemed to be not so loving or forgiving of you. Instead of spreading love into his worshipers he "spread" fear amongst the people, maybe so people would have a reason to follow the religion. Although it is interesting to read someones diary and see just exactly what is going on in their head, I believe Mather must have had some sort of mental disorder. Questions: Why would marrying the gentlewoman upset his parents? I think once you reach Mather's age you are allowed to make your own life choices and your parents can deal with it. Why is Mather's so afraid that he will be sent to hell if he is a devout man of God? Edwards and Plato both wrote their sermon or book in hopes of helping others. Edwards was attempting to save his community from eternal damnation while Plato wanted to save them from "the cave". The foot sliding metaphor in Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God reminds me of one of the prisoners being dragged out of the cave in Plato's allegory because at this moment both of the "characters" realize life changing aspects. Both works of literature also talk about fictional realities that people thought were real such as the cave in Plato's allegory, the prisoners thought that that was all there is to life and in Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God he talks about heaven and hell which people back then believed in.
Because your readers are the ones who have to do all the reading and analyzing therefore you should care for them since you keep your readers in mind when you write
Sounding like yourself isn't always beneficial to the piece you are writing. Not everyone talks like a scholar, especially teenagers. Teenagers use all types of colorful lingo and slang when they are speaking to someone. Pulling out the thesaurus and looking up words you wouldn't use in an everyday conversation is okay. It makes you sound more educated and gives off the impression that you know what you are talking about. Then again, your readers wouldn't be having a good look at "the real you". Your readers would perceive you as someone who you aren't and you wouldn't be speaking to them how you would normally speak to anyone else, causing you to not a have a real connection to your audience.
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April 2015
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