Unit 2 Reflection: Argument/Persuasive Essay – Machiavelli

Erin Annunziato
AP Language and Composition
Gabriele/Pronko period 6/7
27 November 2011

You’re So Machiavellian

From the various history classes I’ve taken, I understand that the Enlightenment was a world-changing era known for philosophers whose ideas continue to govern mankind today. One prominent Enlightenment thinker in my mind is Machiavelli because he was different from his contemporary philosophers; rather than depicting idealistic societies in his writings as Locke and Rousseau did, Machiavelli used The Prince to instruct the Italian princes who ruled his homeland how to protect their city-states effectively in a realistic manner. Machiavelli understood that mankind was not kind at all, and a Prince needn’t be either: his instructions tended to be marked with deceit and manipulation. This is why the adjective, “Machiavellian” is defined as “using clever lies and tricks in order to get or achieve something: clever and dishonest”  in the modern Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Ethical or not, Machiavelli uses historical examples in The Prince to prove that his ideas work and have been used before by various rulers. Recent events show that following Machiavelli’s frank principles determine the success of government leaders today; for example, it is clear that the public supports certain leaders based on their ethical and religious appearance. Another well-known teaching from Machiavelli that I knew even before reading The Prince was that it is better to be feared than loved, but after reading his works, I learned the second part of this teaching: although a leader may be feared, they must not be hated. Riots and revolutions that have occurred within the past year demonstrate that this rule remains cardinal today. Following this rule helps leaders maintain rule after gaining power.
In order to gain power in the first place, however, Machiavelli lays down a persona that leaders must portray to the public in order to gain support. A prince “should appear... to be all mercy, all faithfulness, all integrity, all kindness, all religion” (Jacobus 49). At first, this instruction seemed daunting to me – Machiavelli just described the perfect person. However, I then realized that the key word was “appear.” Politicians did not need to have all those attributes, they only need to appear to have all those attributes. It dawned on me that politicians today put on such a façade all the time; they call it campaigning. I remember seeing advertisements on the television when I was younger showing governors serving soup to homeless people or reading stories to children at their local elementary school as charity work. The clips would not directly say “Vote for this person,” but viewers saw that that candidate had good merit – he was truly merciful and kind to the less fortunate. Or at least he appeared that way. Republican candidates are known for their ‘religious devotion’. A current Republican presidential candidate actually claims to be running for President because God told him to: Rick Perry’s friend released that Perry “didn’t want to do it, but he felt the Lord was calling him” to serve as President of the United States (Shellnutt). Whether God actually did tell Perry to run for Executive Office cannot be proven, but the idea depicts Perry as a faithful and religious person, in accordance with Machiavelli’s teachings. Although some people may consider Perry’s direct instruction from God unbelievable, Perry’s large-scale prayer rally that occurred over the summer (Shellnutt) reflected that many Americans supported him for his religious devotion; Perry puts on a convincing show. Time will tell if he is successful in gaining national power and if he will be able to maintain support if elected President.
Machiavelli had his own ideas on how rulers should maintain support of their public once in power. Although the idea that it is better to be feared than to be loved is known infamously rather than famously, leaders are still wary of this rule and some follow it rigidly. Gaddafi, the former dictator of Libya, ruled his country for forty-two years with an iron fist in order to maintain control and order. However, Gaddafi failed to follow through with Machiavelli’s well-known rule: the second part of the theory is that rulers must not be hated because conspirators would have little trouble rallying support to overthrow a hated ruler. The recent overthrow of Gaddafi, showed me how important the second part of the cardinal rule is for leaders to follow. Gaddafi was known for his cruel and inhumane practices of punishment and torture, and by the end of his reign his people were so frightened that at his funeral many were even nervous to look at his body (Walt). Gaddafi also sexually abused women – another major no-no according to Machiavelli: Machiavelli stated that in order to avoid being hated by his citizens, rulers must “keep his hands off... the women of his citizens” (Jacobus 46). Machiavelli’s words when explaining this idea in The Prince resonate with me not only because I am female, but also because of his bold word choice: “keep his hands off”. It is a perfect example of how Machiavelli wrote realistically rather than ideally: Machiavelli addresses the unpleasant truth that women have been physically and sexually abused in addition to being viewed as ‘less than’ men. Machiavelli uses the image of ‘keeping hands off’ women in order to emphasize that rulers may not abuse women in that way. This is one example of where Gaddafi went wrong: he did not keep his hands off  women, which, in addition to his widespread torture, contributed to not only being feared but also being hated. Just as Machiavelli warned, Gaddafi’s subjects were overjoyed when he was overthrown and many supported his overthrow. After reflecting on Gaddafi’s failure to heed Machiavelli’s caution to avoid being hated, it seemed that being hated and feared went hand in hand. However, I realized that it can be argued that the United States follows Machiavelli’s principle. American citizens understand that if they break the law, they will be put in jail or fined. The key is that American citizens do not fear these punishments in the life-threatening way that Libyan citizens feared Gaddafi’s torture. This prevents Americans from hating the government and demanding its demise. Therefore, Machiavelli’s idea that rulers must aim to be feared rather than loved, while also avoiding the hatred of their citizens can be and is followed successfully today.
While many people look back on Machiavelli as being “clever and dishonest,” I believe that his ideas in The Prince deserve to be remembered in a more positive light. Machiavelli took the ambitious goal of teaching rulers of his time how to rule a society effectively; this requires the public to believe its ruler to be religious and moral. Without following Machiavelli’s instructions as to how to appear this way to some degree, rulers may never have been able to manage their subjects and chaos would have resulted. Leaders today, including those in democratic governments such as the United States, have followed Machiavelli’s teachings. In addition to putting on crowd-pleasing appearance, American politicians have learned to be feared but not hated, which is one of Machiavelli’s most distinguished rules in The Prince. Recent events in Libya have shown that when this rule is broken, the ruler becomes ineffective and can no longer rule. Machiavelli wrote all these qualities of rulers in one treatise in order to serve the current Prince of Italy, but ended up effecting governments centuries later. The next time I am urged to call someone “Machiavellian,” I will step back and think: am I looking at the next President?

Works Cited

Jacobus, Lee A.. "Niccolò Machiavelli: The Qualities of the Prince." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. 37-53. Print.

Shellnutt, Kate. "Rick Perry’s on a mission from God and ‘more spiritual than you think’ | Rick Perry 2012 Campaign for President– News and updates." Blogs - Houston Chronicle. CNN, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/11/rick-perrys-on-a-mission-from-god-and-more-spiritual-than-you-think/>.

Walt, Vivienne. "Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi's Body Lies in Misratah - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Time, 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097539,00.html>.

AOW 12 Advertisement

Apple created this advertisement to sell a new program that is featured on the iPhone 4 called Siri. Siri can detect and understand voice commands, and can act much like a human personal assistant: it can move meetings, send texts, check the weather, etc. according to what someone tells it to do. The advertisement shows four different people using Siri: a mother helping her child get ready for school, a man finding directions to an expensive-sounding hotel, another man walking in a park, and a small boy looking out the window asking if it will snow. Having all these different people use the program in the advertisement indicates that the audience Apple is trying to appeal to is the general public who can afford it – the hotel name was fancy and foreign, which is why it sounded expensive. The exigence of the advertisement is that Siri was just made, but the context that Apple used as a rhetorical device is that it is fall right now, and that people are thinking about winter and the holidays: although the scenes that featured the adults using Siri looked like the season was fall, the young boy looked up hopefully at the sky and asked if it was going to snow. This reminds the audience of a young child looking up at the sky to see if Santa Clause was on his way yet – Apple is evoking pathos by using a child and by reminding people that it is time to start thinking about giving gifts, and that Siri would be a great gift, thereby evoking logos. The music that plays in the background also sets a hopeful and dream-like mood, as if Siri is a dream come true. Apple goes further as to have all the notifications and actions that the people are using their iPhone 4 for be happy and helpful (tone): for example, Siri tells the mother that she has an easy day ahead which is further emphasized through diction (“only two meetings”). The audience feels reassured that Siri is not too good to be true, and that they can have one too – maybe from Santa for Christmas. Apple did achieve their purpose in interesting people in Siri; I want it.

AOW 11 Text

BBC News – Egypt protests: Death toll up in Cairo's Tahrir Square

This news article describes violent protests in Cairo that happened recently; after the Egypt public was able to overthrow President Mubarak in February, the military claimed temporary rule. Although the new constitution that the military leaders drafted did give power to a democratically civilian-based branch in government, many citizens feel that too much control was left to the military – the military’s policies and budget would not be able to be affected by the civilian-based branch. This article was published by BBC News, a news organization based in England that has bases all over the world. The author establishes ethos by quoting protesters and the BBC news-reporter stationed in Cairo at the time of the protests (rhetorical device). This event is taking place currently in Egypt (exigence) and was written for citizens of democratic countries outside of Egypt (audience) as a reminder that even though the protesters were successful earlier this year in overthrowing Mubarak, they are still struggling to accomplish a democracy (purpose). The outbursts in Cairo and elsewhere in the Middle East were major headlines earlier in 2011 and were widely discussed in outside countries like America. However, they haven’t been featured in the news until now and the events have slipped to the back of the minds of many people outside of the Middle East. This is why the author’s use of imagery (rhetorical device) in the beginning of the piece is so important – the article reads, “police were beating protesters - ‘about 20 or 30 of them I saw, covered in blood’”. This immediately draws attention to the events by evoking sympathy for the protesters, who foreigners cheered for earlier in the year (rhetorical device). The author did achieve their purpose of reminding foreigners that the revolutions in the Middle East are still major issues and have not been completed as successful yet.

IRB 2: Bella Tuscany

Title: Bella Tuscany
Author: Frances Mayes
Sections:

1. pages 1-92
2. pages 93-180
3. pages 181-286 (end)

I chose this book because the last book I read was about war, so it was not very happy. This memoir about a woman's experience in Italy seems more uplifting and enjoyable. I've always wanted to go to Italy, because I have family in Sorrento (near Naples), and this book may give me some insight to how rural Italians live (or at least how Italians in Tuscany live).

AOW 10 Visual

Gaddhafi gives a Democracy lesson to Scott Walker

Created by Kaveh Adel, a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, this political cartoon, “Gaddhafi gives a Democracy lesson to Scott Walker,” relates the riots in Wisconsin to those in Libya; both happened around the time this cartoon was made in 2011 (exigence). Scott Walker is holding a pair of scissors, while the crowd next to him is holding signs that read “Jobs” and “Education” suggesting that they are responding to Walker’s funding cuts in these areas as result of the poor economy. Walker is scratching his head with a skeptical look on his face as Gaddhafi shows Walker how he handles the outcries for democracy in his country: he destroys them with missiles and bombs. At the time that these riots were occurring, there was a rumor in America that the riots against state and federal funding cuts could turn as radical as those in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries. This cartoon had the purpose of rejecting those rumors: with the use of facial expression, Adel showed that Walker did not believe Gaddhafi’s response to his protesters was right, and would not shower bombs and missiles on the American crowds. Adel also rejected that rumor with placement: Walker is lowering his hand holding the scissors, which represents that he has stopped funding cuts and is trying to figure out what to do in response to the public’s protests – another difference between the two rioting situations. Adel appeals to pathos by including a child in the crowd rioting against education cuts in Wisconsin. Not only does this evoke sympathy for the Wisconsin rioters, but it implies another difference from the riots in Libya because there are no children in Gaddafi’s riots. This is because the rioters in Libya and the rest of the Middle East were mainly independent-minded college students who wanted to improve their country, not innocent parents and children responding to funding cuts in jobs and education that hurt Wisconsin families. Adel did achieve his purpose, because it is clear to the viewer that the riots in the Middle East and the riots in Wisconsin in 2011 were not similar, and therefore could not be executed or handled the same way.

AOW #9: Last IRB Post

The last three sections of my independent reading book, “The Forever War,” by Dexter Filkins, discussed war in the Middle East further. Filkins focused on the fighting in Iraq in addition to continuing his reflection on the fighting in Afghanistan, which I discussed in my last post. He described different battles between the Northern Alliance, the Taliban, Al Queda, and the United States; by using different anecdotes he portrayed the overarching idea that these Middle Eastern countries have experienced war for a very long time, and probably will always experience war. Fighting is apart life there, and the only way men survive is by joining the stronger side before it marks them as enemies and kills them.

Rhetorical Analysis: Filkins was the rhetor of this story, and the audience was the American public, which is apparent by the way Filkins explained certain concepts. For example, in the beginning of the story, Filkins told that one of the only activities of entertainment was watching prisoners have their hands chopped off for petty crimes: it is apparent that he is writing for an American or Western audience because if he was writing to Iraqis or Afghans, this practice would not need such detailed explanation because it would have been commonly known. In his detailed explanations of such awful and almost unbelievable practices in the war-torn countries (i.e. the hand-chopping) Filkins is appealing to logos in order to give the reader insight into why these practices are followed today. Filkins appeals to ethos by citing interviews of specific commanders, soldiers, and civilians, and therefore proving to the audience that he is using primary sources. One prominent way Filkins appeals to pathos is by using diction that evokes sympathy for soldiers, even if they are jihaadis fighting against American soldiers. For example, on page 61, Filkins describes tending to a young Jihaadist soldier who was dying in an abandoned house. He describes the soldier as “very young,” “thin,” and “delicate”. By using such gentile language, Filkins evokes sympathy from the audience. This allows the audience to read the description of how the characher became a jihaadist (like many other Taliban and Al Queda members, he was tricked by other extremists into “killing the nonbelievers”) without automatically judging him as an enemy. In this way, Filkins shows that many of the jihaadists are actually pitiful young men who did not intentionally sign up to kill Americans. This alludes to the message of the book: the War on Terror is a complex war unlike any other because many of the soldiers fighting against the Americans do not mean to to fight the Americans. Filkins presents this message through short anecdotes he recorded during his time as a reporter in the Middle East. In addition to this style of using anecdotes, Filkins uses a mix of long and short sentences in order to quicken the pace of action scenes and build suspense (syntax). Being a reporter, Filkins tries to remain unbiased; however, it is clear that he views many events with an American perspective. For example, he wrote that, like many Americans, he was very surprised and disgusted when he watched the Taliban cutting off the hands of prisoners. This perspective was reflected in his use of imagery throughout the book. For example, his description of the man on page 61 might have been different from a Taliban’s description of the man; a Taliban might not have thought this man to be young because many Taliban soldiers are young.