Chapter 7 Rhetorical Activity # 3

Exordium: It isn’t right for companies to constantly suggests benefits, and/or satisfactory conditions (rather than continuing within unsatisfactory conditions) to come to employees over and over, without adequately following through with their promises.

Narratio: Holding meetings every so often to let employees know that the conditions of their work environment will be improving need to be improved. Inappropriate pay, a lack of benefit, conditions of a job that are too demanding, and other problems arising from work environments lead to poorer performance of employees via fatigue, injury, etc.

Partitio: Anger is appropriate when companies treat their employees this way.

Confirmatio: When employers constantly make, and break, promises of better work-related conditions to their employees, these employees have every right to be angry.

Refutatio: Statistics may suggests that when employees think that their working for a company is soon to bring them better conditions than the ones they are currently in, that they will work harder and be more satisfied with their work. Therefore, if employers lead their employees to believe that these conditions are coming, then the workload of their employees will be greater.

Peroratio: This may work for a short period or even a long one if the people are convincing enough. But after a while, statistics may suggests that these effects will end up leaving employees in conditions of worry and stress over losing their jobs for reasons relevant to their constantly being left in states of degradation due to these numerous promises being broken. Perhaps it’s better that the employers keep their mouths shut, promising nothing, rather than constantly belittling the people who are there to make them money. Employees should have rights to protect them from companies being allowed to do this. If the employers are experiencing the same sort of betrayed promises coming to them from those external to these current employee-employer conditions, then they should just keep their mouths shut until something does happen. Other statistics on various other ways of influencing effective workers may just as likely exist. If their goal is to hire people under alternate conditions than the ones that they think are present, then they should not be misled.


Appeals of other emotions discussed:

Shame: The above conditions leave way for employees to rightfully lose respect for their employer. They are taking advantage of a situation, and doing so in obvious ways.

Compassion: Compassion for the employee should be given. Especially when the air does not allow one to hold a voice to speak up on the matter, nor does it allow one to leave the situation.

Hopelessness: Hopelessness is present in the employees due to the reasons listed in compassion, as well as those present in their work efforts potentially being influenced into states of degradation. Not only are they hopeless in the situation and in not being able to leave the situation, but they are also hopelessly left in conditions potentially promoting states of fatigue and depression.