Rhetoric One Essays

"Enconimum"

Lauren Barton

12/7/20

WTMA Rhetoric 1

Weekly Writing Assignment 14

Directions:
Please write an encomium praising a virtuous person, thing, idea, or place. It can be a real person, a fictional person, a
person exhibiting a virtue, etc. Length suggestions are below.
● An introduction/prologue with an announcement of the thing or person to be praised. (a few sentences)
● Description/exposition of the person's origins: (1-2 paragraphs). Note that if you are not doing a specific
person, you can do this step by mentioning a few famous people from around the world who have exhibited
that virtue, for example.
a. People.
b. Country.
c. Ancestors.
d. Parents.
● Description/exposition of the person's education and interests (1 - 2 paragraphs). If you are not doing a
specific person, you could talk about how the virtue shows up/plays a part in the fields below.
● Education.
● Instruction in art.
● Training in laws.
● Description/exposition of the person's virtues (achievements, deeds, strength, beauty, etc.). (1-2 paragraphs)
● Make a favorable comparison or contrast to someone else to escalate your praise. - (1 paragraph)
● Conclude with an epilogue including either an exhortation to your hearers to emulate this person, or a prayer.
(a few sentences)

On September 18th, 2020, America lost a dominant political icon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman to become a Supreme Court justice, and she served as an inspiration for many young women across the country.
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 15th, 1933. Her mother, Celia
Bader, worked at a garment factory while her father, Nathan Ginsburg, worked as a merchant during the
peak of the Depression. Ginsburg's mother heavily influenced her early life and instilled a love of education within her when Celia gave up her own education to take care of her brother's college expenses.While Celia attended high school, Nathan didn't, as he had come to America from Ukraine in 1911. Celia was diagnosed with cancer and died only one day before Ginsburg's high school graduation, which was in 1950; Nathan died eighteen years later.
During Ginsburg's teens, she attended James Madison High School, and excelled in the majority of her classes. She graduated from Cornell University at the top of her class in 1954. After taking a break to start a family with her husband, Martin, she went on to study at Harvard Law. However, during her first year at Harvard Law, Martin was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and so she took on the challenge of helping him with his studies as well as working on her own. Despite the stress of being a mother, tutor to her husband, wife and scholar, she also had to face gender discrimination. She was one of the nine females in a class of 500, and if it weren't for one of her favorite teachers, she wouldn't have gotten her first job as a clerk.
She was nominated for Supreme Court Justice by former president Bill Clinton, and used her life
experiences to shape the world for the better. In office, she used her voice to fight gender inequality and to stand up for minorities. Two of the most popular cases she ruled on were Bush v. Gore and Obergefell v. Hodges, which gave women a right to abortions and legalized same-sex marraige. She was also a co-founder of ACLU's Women's Rights Project, which helped aid the quest for gender equality. It wasn't unusual for her to vote against the majority.
Amy Coney Barett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement, serves as a threat to the very achievements she worked so hard to accomplish. Amy Coney Barrett has proven herself to be an untrustworthy judge, as she cannot seperate the church from the state, and has already confirmed her homophobia and her pro-life opinions on abortion around 2017. Many minorities are now scared for their rights, whereas Ruth Bader Ginsburg helped the same minorities gain them.
Thanks to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, people like me have a chance to be happy and to be treated equally. Thanks to her, minorities have been heard, and I know that they will continue to be heard, despite Amy Coney Barrett. She was a wonderful judge, and I hope that, one day, we may gain a judge just as wonderful
as she was