Liar,Liar, Pants on Fire

Ethos, or the lack thereof, and Second Chances

For weeks now, we have debated Truman Capote’s credibility (or lack thereof) as he wrote his iconic book, In Cold Blood.  After confirming certain of the alleged discrepancies that appear in Capote’s book, it is up to each reader to decide whether to accept Capote’s version of the Clutter murders or to search for the “truth” in another forum.  Moreover, if you should decide that Capote is not a reliable narrator, it is your decision whether to read another of Capote’s books, or, more specifically, whether to give Capote a second chance.

Questions of ethos abound in today’s world as well.  Just recently, newscaster Brian Williams admitted that he was less than candid in describing an apocryphal attack during a helicopter flight in Iraq.   Now that Williams has been caught in a lie, NBC has suspended him for six months without pay.

What do you think?  Should we extend a second chance to those who betray us?  Should we cut them out of our lives and instead switch our allegiance to someone more reliable?

For your next writing assignment, please go to our class page on scoopit:

http://www.scoop.it/t/ap-rhetoric-at-reagan

Now read the following three articles:

“An Honest Reporter and His Antithesis,” by Peggy Noonan;

“The Act of Rigorous Forgiving,” by David Brooks; and

“David Brooks’ Pity Party” from salon.com.

Now think about dishonesty and forgiveness and write a paper on dishonesty, Capote, Williams, and your personal position on lies and second chances.  In your paper, you must include the following:

A description of Capote’s alleged bias in In Cold Blood;

A description of Brian Williams’s prevarication;

An embedded quote from each of the scoop-it articles;

A concession and rebuttal; and

Your personal outlook on second chances and your own example to support your position.

Your paper must be at least 650 words in length.  You must bring a hard copy of your paper to class on Wednesday, March 4^th, for ratiocination; your revised draft is due to turnitin.com on or before 11:59 on Friday, March 6, 2015.