"Forgiveness" by June Callwood

Serious

“The moral vacuum left by the pervasive disuse and misuse of religious tenets has allowed a secular forgiveness industry to spring into being.” (163)

Conversational

“Apologies are iffy because often they are contrived or coerced.” (163)

“Maybe it works" (164)

“The reward for giving up scalding thoughts of reprisal is peace of mind. It is worth the candle.” (165).

Example & Illustration

“Maybe it Works. Hilary Clinton apparently forgave her sleazy husband because she knows he had an unhappy childhood”(164).

Contrast

Narration

Persuasion

“Unforgiving people, some studies show, are three times more likely to have heart disease as people who don't carry grudges[...]Heart attacks occur more often in blow-top people who have unfortified egos, the very ones most apt to be relentlessly unforgiving.” (164)

Religious

“the ability to forgive is a central tenet of every major religion in the world-Christian, Judaic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic” (162).

Authoritative

“Theologians such as Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama” (163), as well as a “notably philosopher Herbert Marcuse” (163).

Public Service

“Brooding about revenge only serves to unhinge reason. If people don’t rid themselves of wrath, personal growth stops cold” (165).

“The reward for giving up scalding thoughts of reprisal is peace of mind. It is worth the candle” (165).

"Forgiveness" by June Callwood

Ideas,Issues,and Connections

Q and A

Lines of Reasoning

• What is one thing that you could never forgive someone for and why?

Types of Appeal

• Do you feel forgiveness is necessary to move on? Why?

• In Callwood's essay, she focuses on forgiving others, but how do you think you would behave/react if someone had to forgive you?

Pathos (Emotional)

Forgiveness may be hard and long

Main Ideas

Examples fom the text:

Necessary

Cannot start until the victim lets it go

• The boy who was beaten several times by his father for being gay
• The pastor whose family had been wiped out by the Khmer Rouge,
• Etc.

Connections

The topic of forgiveness is a very emotional one for several people

Self

Ethos (Credibility)

Thesis

Society

Many anecdotes = a lot of research

Forgiveness is a long and hard process that cannot begin until the victim comes to terms with the situation

“If people don’t rid themselves of wrath[...], [t]he choices are to enter a state of forgiveness, which is a triumph of generosity” (165)

“Forgiveness of a great wrong may take longer. the process can’t even begin until the injured person stops crying.” (165)

Target Audience

• People who have been wronged by others and have yet to forgive them

“It satisfies the requirements of their humanity that they gradually ease away from the primitive thoughts of revenge that once obsessed them” (162).

Purpose

“If people don’t rid themselves of wrath, personal growth stops cold” (165).

“The reward for giving up scalding thoughts of reprisal is peace of mind. It is worth the candle” (165).

• Targeted age group: Most likely 18+, specifically around the age range of 20-30

“Catastrophes such as divorce, job loss, rape, robbery, infidelity, and slander are all assaults on personal dignity and self-respect” (164).

• Could also include teens who have been wronged by their parents, friends, etc.

“Adults still distressed by abuse, neglect, or rejection in childhood are urged to consider what happened in their parents’ childhoods—often, bad parenting comes from being badly parented" (164).

Targeted education level: Secondary school and above

Reason? Diction.

• Persuasion

Towards victims to forgive the people who have wronged them no matter how great the damage

• A Nazi hunter named Simon Wiesenthal and how he was asked by a dying officer who killed many Jews to forgive him.

Methods of Development

Rhetorical Devices

“A small boy... was beaten severely many times by his father, to the extent that the boy not infrequently required a doctor to stitch up the wounds... That boy... says he will never forgive his father” (162).

“Simon Wiesenthal...was taken to the bedside of a dying SS officer...and [the officer] asked him, a Jew, for forgiveness. Wiesenthal was silent and left the room, but was haunted ever after” (162-163).

Anecdote

“Adults still distressed by abuse, neglect, or rejection in childhood are urged to consider what happened to their parent’s childhood – often, bad parenting comes from being badly parented” (164).

Periodic Sentence

Idiom

Topic and Main Points

• Displays anecdotes about many unforgivable situations.

Diction & Register

Tone

Informal

Frequent use of colloquial language

“Apologies are iffy because often they are contrived or coerced” (163).

“...it is the other person’s problem for being thin-skinned” (163).

“Maybe it works. Hillary Clinton apparently forgave her sleazy husband because she knows he had an unhappy childhood” (164).

Occasionally Formal

“The moral vacuum left by the pervasive disuse and misuse of religious tenets has allowed a secular forgiveness industry to spring into being. People who yearn desperately to rid themselves of an obsession for vengeance will seek help in curious places” (163).

Callwood’s tone changes several times depending on the specific point she is focusing on

• We must forgive others, especially when it’s hard.

Mood

Sad

Sympathy

Mad

Concern

Motivation

She's trying to motivate people to forgive others.

, “... unforgiving people, some studies show, are three times more likely to have heart diseases as people who don’t carry grudges” (164).

"The reward for giving up scalding thoughts... is peace of mind" (165).

Point of View

• Forgiveness is necessary for growth and healing since one cannot move on if they cannot forgive.

3rd person plural

“The process can’t even begin until the injured person stops crying” (165).

“Some people are marvelously unbroken by great justices” (165).

Subjective

Adia, Danielle, Eleshia, Hannah, Leeah