Rhetorical Analysis of the Healthcare Debate
Paper Structure
I. Introduction
A. Introduce the subject
B. Thesis
C. My experience with the issue transition
II. The Healthcare Debate (will throw in references to rhetoric where possible)
A. Why care about HC?
1. What’s wrong with the system?
2. Unsustainable
3. Why is it this way?
B. How to fix HC?
1. Single-Payer
2. Free-Market capitalism
3. The Public Option
III. My Experience (minimal citations will be needed here)
A. The Rhetoric of Television
1. The election
2. HC
3. OFA (small)
B. Town Hall Meetings
1. Arrival
- The protestors and supporters out in force
- Vandalism at the Green County Democratic HQ (Pelosi and San Francisco)
2. Beck followers (and Tea Party protestors)
3. What news station is the least bias and why? (conversation)
4. Political Information Gathering or pleasing the base? (Driehaus vs. Brown)
IV. The Rhetoric of the Right
A. Fox News
1. The Rightwing narrative
B. Sarah Palin and Friends
1. Glenn Beck and the Tea Party
2. Rush Limbaugh
C. Government Control of HC
1. Death Panels
2. Death of private market?
- Freedom and choice
- Single payer Trojan horse
V. The Rhetoric of the Left
A. MSNBC
1. The Leftwing narrative
2. Countdown – Different rhetorical strategies?
B. The White House and Congress
VI. Conclusion
This is the tentative outline of the paper as it is now. I think this should give me enough to work with. It's not completely filled in yet, but I'll add on/take off things as I see fit from here on out, as I write. I'm aiming at getting one section completely WRITTEN out every day for the next four days, so I'll have a good skeleton essay to work with, adding in more information from the many sources I am sure to have by the end.
This essay will focus on the use of rhetoric by specific groups in the HC debate. It will look at the hows and whys of political groups' rhetorical strategies to see why they might choose to argue that way, what effect they are trying to achieve, and the actual effect (assuming opinion polls reflect the success of rhetoric).
Friday, November 13, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Initial bibliography and comments on developments
Possible sources will be followed by potential purpose in parenthesis.
Bhopal, Raj. "Spectre of racism in health and health care: lessons from history and the United States." (not sure about joural title yet) (1998). BMJ. Web. 8 Oct. 2009..
(I'd like to examine the possibility of racism in this issue, as in, reperations, or common sense?)
Turow, J. "Television entertainment and the US health-care debate." The Lancet 347.9010 (1996): 1240-243. The Lancet. Web. 8 Oct. 2009..
(Because television seems to have a huge influence on the rhetoric of any political debate, this is something I'd like to think about)
Evans, J. G. "The rationing debate: Rationing health care by age: The case against." British Medical Journal 314.822?? (1997). (Site title). (publisher). Web. 8 Oct. 2009..
(This seems like it might be a good place to get an opposing opinion)
Kennedy, Edward M. True Compass. (City): (Publisher), 2009. Print.
(I'm curious to see what the deceased senator has to say about this issue that he cared so much about in his memoirs. I'll try and buy it soon)
Patel, Kant, and Mark Rushefsky. Health Care Politics and Policy in America. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharp, inc., 2006. Print.
(This, I'll try to rent somewhere. It seems like it will have a lot of good information on the subject)
Olbermann, Keith. "Countdown." Countdown with Keith Olbermann. MSNBC. New York City?, New York, 7 Oct. 2009. Television.
(last night there was a very interesting hour long "special comment" that was full of the type of rhetoric that I'd like to examine, if I may invoke the beast without seeming bias)
There are other sources that I know I would like to use that I cannot find right now:
1. Winston Churchill on the subject in America (we do not exist in a vaccum. There's a whole world out there!)
2. Ronald Reagan's nice piece about the dawn of socialism in America (examination of rhetoric)
3. Anything else I can find: News paper articles, new and old, from the NYT and others, to get a better handle on the history of the debate (perspective and historical analysis, analysis of past rhetoric)
This list will get much longer as I go.
But last night, I saw the special edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which consisted of the host chatting for an hour with the American public, putting his own personal spin on the issue, and attempting to transcend the political mud slinging. It was a very good edition of the show and I would like to get a transcript of it. There were many points that he made that I would like to consider discussing in my paper. He added a human element to the debate that I feel has been generally lacking from both the left and the right. It's about people, after all. That's what he tried to drive home. All the "liberals" want is to make it less easy for insurance companies to be able to sentence people to death. They are, after all, the real death panels. And although I don't consider this to be a matter of opinion, I'm sure that those who disagree with the whole idea would. I will try to keep this type of talk out of the paper as much as possible. It will be difficult to discuss the issue objectively, but I'm sure I can do it. Some subtextual leaning to the left will be fine though, right?
My mind's buzzing with ideas. I just need to hit the books, gather some research, organize, outline, and set the ball rolling and the fingers typing. I've been thinking about this issue all summer and am glad for the opprotunity to write a nice long paper about it.
Bhopal, Raj. "Spectre of racism in health and health care: lessons from history and the United States." (not sure about joural title yet) (1998). BMJ. Web. 8 Oct. 2009.
(I'd like to examine the possibility of racism in this issue, as in, reperations, or common sense?)
Turow, J. "Television entertainment and the US health-care debate." The Lancet 347.9010 (1996): 1240-243. The Lancet. Web. 8 Oct. 2009.
(Because television seems to have a huge influence on the rhetoric of any political debate, this is something I'd like to think about)
Evans, J. G. "The rationing debate: Rationing health care by age: The case against." British Medical Journal 314.822?? (1997). (Site title). (publisher). Web. 8 Oct. 2009.
(This seems like it might be a good place to get an opposing opinion)
Kennedy, Edward M. True Compass. (City): (Publisher), 2009. Print.
(I'm curious to see what the deceased senator has to say about this issue that he cared so much about in his memoirs. I'll try and buy it soon)
Patel, Kant, and Mark Rushefsky. Health Care Politics and Policy in America. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharp, inc., 2006. Print.
(This, I'll try to rent somewhere. It seems like it will have a lot of good information on the subject)
Olbermann, Keith. "Countdown." Countdown with Keith Olbermann. MSNBC. New York City?, New York, 7 Oct. 2009. Television.
(last night there was a very interesting hour long "special comment" that was full of the type of rhetoric that I'd like to examine, if I may invoke the beast without seeming bias)
There are other sources that I know I would like to use that I cannot find right now:
1. Winston Churchill on the subject in America (we do not exist in a vaccum. There's a whole world out there!)
2. Ronald Reagan's nice piece about the dawn of socialism in America (examination of rhetoric)
3. Anything else I can find: News paper articles, new and old, from the NYT and others, to get a better handle on the history of the debate (perspective and historical analysis, analysis of past rhetoric)
This list will get much longer as I go.
But last night, I saw the special edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which consisted of the host chatting for an hour with the American public, putting his own personal spin on the issue, and attempting to transcend the political mud slinging. It was a very good edition of the show and I would like to get a transcript of it. There were many points that he made that I would like to consider discussing in my paper. He added a human element to the debate that I feel has been generally lacking from both the left and the right. It's about people, after all. That's what he tried to drive home. All the "liberals" want is to make it less easy for insurance companies to be able to sentence people to death. They are, after all, the real death panels. And although I don't consider this to be a matter of opinion, I'm sure that those who disagree with the whole idea would. I will try to keep this type of talk out of the paper as much as possible. It will be difficult to discuss the issue objectively, but I'm sure I can do it. Some subtextual leaning to the left will be fine though, right?
My mind's buzzing with ideas. I just need to hit the books, gather some research, organize, outline, and set the ball rolling and the fingers typing. I've been thinking about this issue all summer and am glad for the opprotunity to write a nice long paper about it.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Research paper proposal
For my research paper, I would like to delve into the long history of America’s healthcare reform debate. Politicians keep saying in their speeches that this is an issue that the country has been faced with for as many as one hundred years – most of them say fifty or sixty years, the number always seems to change according to the passion of the speaker at the time. At the moment, I am believe that the topic is very broad and needs to be narrowed down to something a little more specific, and I assume that this will happen naturally as I begin research. There are a few possible directions that I can see this paper going in: How has political rhetoric on this issue changed and remained the same? What affect does political rhetoric seem to have on the people? What seems effective and what seems to fall flat on voters?
I will begin research by first establishing, or reinforcing, my understanding of the reasons why reform must take place (I’m torn between whether or not I should inject my liberal bias into the paper or play both sides. I know I’ll end up giving the conservatives a fair representation, but I believe that if I were allowed to speak from a strictly leftist perspective, the essay as a whole would be a lot more interesting. We will see about that, I guess). There are a few independent groups that have produced lengthy studies about healthcare expenses in terms of the GDP, cost in the ER (out patient care) versus hospital stays (in patient care). From there, I’ll research the political debate. I will start with the debate that surrounded the establishing of medicare. I am already familiar with one aspect of that debate (Ronal Reagan saying communism would come out of reform). From there, I’ll figure out where else to go with the paper, but I have a good place to start.
I will begin research by first establishing, or reinforcing, my understanding of the reasons why reform must take place (I’m torn between whether or not I should inject my liberal bias into the paper or play both sides. I know I’ll end up giving the conservatives a fair representation, but I believe that if I were allowed to speak from a strictly leftist perspective, the essay as a whole would be a lot more interesting. We will see about that, I guess). There are a few independent groups that have produced lengthy studies about healthcare expenses in terms of the GDP, cost in the ER (out patient care) versus hospital stays (in patient care). From there, I’ll research the political debate. I will start with the debate that surrounded the establishing of medicare. I am already familiar with one aspect of that debate (Ronal Reagan saying communism would come out of reform). From there, I’ll figure out where else to go with the paper, but I have a good place to start.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
1pm – At this time I am in Advanced Composition
Internet web pages, which include:
Ads, articles, web addresses, links, videos, journals, blogs, book summaries, etc…
(anything generally associated with the Internet, I probably saw it in some form)
Most info is visual, some is audio (didn’t have my headphones, so I missed that part)
The projector:
Everything that I saw on my computer was also on the projector. Double dose of Internet!
The Professor
Oral information concerning class, directions to websites, etc…
1:45pm – At this time I am walking home, but first, to Chiptole
Bus ads, walk signals, red lights, green lights, street signs, t-shirts, billboards
The Chipotle menu, receipt, names of drinks on the soda machine
My phone, which includes:
Names, the clock, text messages, phone numbers (I didn’t call anybody. Replied to a text though)
2pm (or around there) – I am home, and watching the news for a while
The news:
News ticker, stock updates, story title, MSNBC logo, the name of the show is at the top left
Oral communication from the anchors and the people who come to the studio… they’re all trying their damndest to convince me of something.
Commercials with text (disclaimers, floating words of persuasion: "EASY!")
3pm and on:
took a gander at my school books: text, page number, chapter, titles...
video games (Halo 3): names of other players, chat over headsets, indicators on the screen organized in an efficient manner that tell me how much ammo, health, etc. I have, as well as a radar, you know how it goes. In between games, there are ads for xbox live while a new game is being found. I listen to the radio and its ads and music and news updates while playing.
And becuase I play video games for way too long at a time, that's about all for now.
Internet web pages, which include:
Ads, articles, web addresses, links, videos, journals, blogs, book summaries, etc…
(anything generally associated with the Internet, I probably saw it in some form)
Most info is visual, some is audio (didn’t have my headphones, so I missed that part)
The projector:
Everything that I saw on my computer was also on the projector. Double dose of Internet!
The Professor
Oral information concerning class, directions to websites, etc…
1:45pm – At this time I am walking home, but first, to Chiptole
Bus ads, walk signals, red lights, green lights, street signs, t-shirts, billboards
The Chipotle menu, receipt, names of drinks on the soda machine
My phone, which includes:
Names, the clock, text messages, phone numbers (I didn’t call anybody. Replied to a text though)
2pm (or around there) – I am home, and watching the news for a while
The news:
News ticker, stock updates, story title, MSNBC logo, the name of the show is at the top left
Oral communication from the anchors and the people who come to the studio… they’re all trying their damndest to convince me of something.
Commercials with text (disclaimers, floating words of persuasion: "EASY!")
3pm and on:
took a gander at my school books: text, page number, chapter, titles...
video games (Halo 3): names of other players, chat over headsets, indicators on the screen organized in an efficient manner that tell me how much ammo, health, etc. I have, as well as a radar, you know how it goes. In between games, there are ads for xbox live while a new game is being found. I listen to the radio and its ads and music and news updates while playing.
And becuase I play video games for way too long at a time, that's about all for now.
Initial research plan and more brainstorming
My brainstorming entry from earlier this morning was not so much a storm as a sprinkle of rain, so here's some more from when I am more awake.
I'm betting that if I just start with the general idea of "the history of the healthcare debate," I should be able to find a ton of information, and from there, certain themes will pop up and one of those will become my more narrow focus. I'm thinking about examining the changing rhetoric from either the left or the right or both. I know that Ronald Reagan had a hilarious sort of ad that he sent out in the mail, some thing about how "if we allow the creation of socialized medicine, then we will spend our late years telling our children about how America used to be, when men were free." That right there is the type of thing I'm interested in: how doomsday rhetoric can influence the course of change. My bias says doomsday rhetoric doesn't ever have a positive influence; when political issues are argued in a realm that has been artificially thrown out into the realm of the unforseeable and ridiculous future, what are we really talking about? Or maybe more specifically, what role does fear mongering play in our national debate?
This classroom is panoptic.
I'd like to try using that wiki site to organize my research because I hate outlines.
Research sources:
- old NYT articles
- books on the issue (maybe Sen. Kennedy's book will have something, for example)
- old interviews
that's about it
I'm betting that if I just start with the general idea of "the history of the healthcare debate," I should be able to find a ton of information, and from there, certain themes will pop up and one of those will become my more narrow focus. I'm thinking about examining the changing rhetoric from either the left or the right or both. I know that Ronald Reagan had a hilarious sort of ad that he sent out in the mail, some thing about how "if we allow the creation of socialized medicine, then we will spend our late years telling our children about how America used to be, when men were free." That right there is the type of thing I'm interested in: how doomsday rhetoric can influence the course of change. My bias says doomsday rhetoric doesn't ever have a positive influence; when political issues are argued in a realm that has been artificially thrown out into the realm of the unforseeable and ridiculous future, what are we really talking about? Or maybe more specifically, what role does fear mongering play in our national debate?
This classroom is panoptic.
I'd like to try using that wiki site to organize my research because I hate outlines.
Research sources:
- old NYT articles
- books on the issue (maybe Sen. Kennedy's book will have something, for example)
- old interviews
that's about it
Brainstorming
Hello out there.
I've been thinking for a while that I want to research something dealing with politics. That doesn't narrow it down though. The healthcare debate is tearing through Washington again, so I could start there.
Some ideas:
- How has the debate gone in past decades?
- How has the rhetoric surrounding this debate changed and stayed the same?
- Why are certain demographics for reform, and why are some against?
There's a lot of narrowing down to do. I'm leaning toward picking the second question on this list, and there's a lot to work with there. I'm not sure. I'll think about it again later today.
I've been thinking for a while that I want to research something dealing with politics. That doesn't narrow it down though. The healthcare debate is tearing through Washington again, so I could start there.
Some ideas:
- How has the debate gone in past decades?
- How has the rhetoric surrounding this debate changed and stayed the same?
- Why are certain demographics for reform, and why are some against?
There's a lot of narrowing down to do. I'm leaning toward picking the second question on this list, and there's a lot to work with there. I'm not sure. I'll think about it again later today.
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