in praise of the f word argumentative essay

In Praise Of The F Word Rhetorical Analysis

In Mary Sherry’s essay, “In Praise of the F Word,” she praises the power of the f-word. She argues that the word is a source of strength and liberation for women. Sherry believes that the f-word can be used to empower women and to encourage them to take control of their lives.

The use of ethos in Mary Sherry’s essay is very effective. By praising the power of the f-word, Sherry is able to convince her readers that the word is a valuable tool for women. She uses personal anecdotes and examples to support her argument, and she makes it clear that she is not advocating for violence or vulgarity. Rather, she believes that the f-word can be used as a means of self-empowerment and liberation.

Ultimately, Mary Sherry’s essay is a powerful argument in favor of the f-word. She makes a convincing case that the word can be a source of strength for women, and she provides concrete examples of how the word can be used to empower individuals. Her use of ethos is very effective, and her essay is sure to provoke debate and discussion.

There are always those who do not comprehend in school, but they receive passing grades. In Mary Sherry’s essay In Praise of the F Word, she discusses the subject in greater depth. The essay explores how the American education system passes you along without considering your pace or skill level. She also talks about how unready the American public is after high school and college. Her essay also covers her son and one of his experiences at high school. Her ethos usage isn’t very significant in the essay itself, but it accounts for most of her ethos in her bio.

Mary Sherry is a high school graduate, which gives her some ethos because she has been in the schooling system. Mary Sherry has also been teaching for about twenty years. This would be another example of ethos due to her experience in the field. Mary Sherry’s use of logos is present throughout her essay In Praise of the F Word. An example of logos would be, “The average American worker today is vastly better educated than his or her counterpart of a generation ago” (Sherry Mary 1). Mary uses this quote to back up her opinion that the education today is not good enough.

Another example of logos used by Mary Sherry, would be “We need to radically redefine ‘competence’ and ‘ success’”(Sherry Mary 1). She uses this logos to try and get her opinion point of view across to the audience. The pathos that Mary Sherry uses is shown best towards the end of her essay In Praise of the F Word. An example of pathos would be, “We need to radically redefine ‘competence’ and ‘success’” (Sherry Mary 8).

Mary Sherry is trying to evoke an emotional response from the reader so they will agree with her opinion. Another example of pathos that Mary Sherry uses is when she talks about her son Joe, and his experience in school. She states, “Joey was bored and unchallenged in high school. He coasted along, doing the minimum to get by” (Sherry Mary 3). Mary Sherry is trying to evoke sympathy from the reader so they feel bad for her son and his experience in high school.

In her essay, she employs a relatively little amount of ethos, regardless. Her pathos, on the other hand, is considerably more abundant. She utilizes a variety of anecdotes to elicit certain emotions regarding the issue under consideration. Words with a negative meaning are also used effectively to affect our emotions. In Mary Sherry’s essay in praise of the F word, there was less logos than in the other two appeals.

However, even though her ethos is low, it is still there. And although her pathos is high, it does not mean that her logos is not effective. In fact, I believe that Mary Sherry’s essay would not be as successful if she had not used logos in addition to ethos and pathos.

All three appeals are important in order to get her message across effectively. The use of ethos allows Mary Sherry to establish credibility with her audience. The use of pathos helps to engage the audience emotionally, and the use of logos provides logical reasoning for why the audience should agree with Mary Sherry’s opinion.

The ethos employed by Mary was effective in establishing trust, but it wasn’t very widespread throughout her essay. For example, the bulk of her ethos is found in the preface before the essay really begins. She claims to have a bachelor’s degree from Rosary College. She also runs a business that specializes in economic development research. The publication of other magazines and papers, as well as teaching adult literacy courses outside of it all, are all excellent examples of ethos.

After the biography, Mary doesn’t really use ethos again until the end of her essay. She says that the F Word isn’t a bad word, and is used to describe feelings that people have. In order to make her point stronger, she provides examples of how the F Word has been used in a positive way by famous people.

Overall, Mary Sherry did a good job of establishing ethos. However, she could have done a better job of spreading it out throughout her essay. By including it at the beginning and end, she bookends her essay nicely. However, ethos could have been used more throughout the body of her work in order to make her argument even stronger.

This is all due to the trust that readers have in her life story. Because all of this faith in her life narrative is centered on her biography, if someone skips over that chapter, they will miss out on all of the trust that was built throughout reading it. This isn’t to say Mary Sherry’s essay had terrible ethos; in fact, In Praise of the F word has enough ethos to persuade readers to believe what Mary has to say.

Mary Sherry talks about how the F word is not a bad thing, and that it can be used in good ways. In Mary’s essay, she does a great job of showing how the F word can be beneficial to someone who is trying to get their point across. Mary also uses ethos when talking about how the F word was used in her life. She talks about how it has helped her, and how it has been a part of her life for many years. The use of ethos allows Mary to connect with her audience on a personal level, and makes them more likely to trust what she has to say.

The use of ethos is important in any persuasive text because it allows the writer to connect with their audience on a personal level. When someone is able to connect with their audience, they are more likely to trust what the writer has to say. Mary Sherry does a great job of using ethos in her essay In Praise of the F word, and because of this, her argument is more persuasive.

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In Praise of the F Word by Mary Sherry Critical Analysis

The article "In Praise of the F Word" by Mary Sherry calls attention to the problems that she has found in our school system. Being a teacher and parent of students, she discovered schools are allowing students to pass without proper knowledge of the material. The author successfully argues that having fear of failing will motivate them to put school and education higher as a priority.

Mary Sherry believes that schools are failing students' futures by handing out pointless diplomas. These diplomas do not help them in their careers as students have never learned the subject. Relieving the students' trouble of failing a class in school might seem helpful, but if they don't know what to do later in life it could hurt them tremendously. One of her students told her, "I was a good kid and didn't cause any trouble, so they just passed me along even though I didn't read and couldn't write" (Paragraph 3). Students' degrees tell employers that they can work as employees. Sadly, some students aren't ready as they never learned. Another problem she discusses is that students aren't motivated about school. Students don't make school a priority because they don't see anything at risk. If schools were to use the "F word" students' would have something to lose. Sherry tells about her son's school,“‘She's going to flunk you,’ I told my son. I did not discuss it any further. Suddenly English became a priority in his life. He finished out the semester with an A” (Paragraph 6). This provides an example to support her claim that fear of failure can motivate students to work harder and make school a priority in their life. A teacher who emphasized failure as a consequence caught his attention to focus in school.

The author Mary Sherry, a teacher and parent gives her insight on the issue. Her intention for writing this article was to share and convince parents and teachers how the school system should change. She does so in an organized manner with a serious and somewhat aggressive tone. Her claim of using the “F Word" to push students to care about school is well supported in her article. She gives many examples of her teaching and parenting experiences to persuade the reader. The end of her article closes with "succeed--or fail. It's time we return this choice to all students". The author makes the reader aware that things must change to reduce the number of students without that chance.

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In Praise of the F Word Rhetorical Analysis

Mary Sherry defines it as “a healthy fear of failure.” She claims the word is a beacon of hope and a source of liberation and strength for women. Sherry believes the f-word can be used as a weapon of power to encourage women to take control of their lives. Let us see how Mary Sherry promotes her idea in this in praise of the f word rhetorical analysis .

Rhetoric Through Ethos, Logos, and Pathos

The author uses ethos effectively throughout the novel. She praises the power of the f-word and convinces us of its valuable nature. Sherry uses examples and personal anecdotes to emphasize her argument. She carefully states that she does not advocate vulgarity or violence. No, she praises the word as she believes women can use it for liberation and self-empowerment.

When put to the test, Mary Sherry’s paper is an excellent argument that favors the f-word. Women can use it to gain strength. A healthy fear of failure is a powerful tool to empower people. Sherry’s ethos provokes discussion and debate. Nobody wants to be associated with failure. Yet she illustrates how numerous people have drawn strength from failure and risen to greatness.

Mary Sherry’s Son

Mary’s son did not pay a lot of attention to his schoolwork when he was in high school. He would sit in the back row and enjoy talking with his friends. Mrs. Stifter would say she would flunk him even if he sat in the front row. When Sherry told her son about this development, she witnessed a sudden change in his life. He started taking his English class seriously and got an A at the end of the semester.

Students need a little push to succeed in life. Mary claims that every year, many 18-year-olds receive useless diplomas. They are victims of a convoluted education system. She talks about how a fear of failure motivates many students to work harder—Sherry advocates for Mrs. Stifter’s type of class. Threatening to flunk students is a great motivator. You can argue about the morality of using fear to get results, but you can’t deny better grades helped these students.

Mary Sherry had been teaching for almost twenty years when she wrote In Praise of the F-word. She is a high-school graduate, making her the perfect candidate to present ethos; she knows the schooling system. Logos appears in examples such as when she mentions that an average American worker in her time has much more knowledge than one from the previous generation. While this may sound like a good thing, she believes the gap should be wider.

The author also shows an in-depth use of logos when she states that we should radically redefine success and competence. This is to ensure her audience understands this point of view. She tries to evoke an emotional reaction from the reader to consider the validity of her opinion. Mary’s son’s transition in school further exemplifies this as he goes from coasting by to getting As in his English class.

Sherry generously uses pathos in her work. She uses various anecdotes to bring out an emotional response toward the issues under discussion. Mary Sherry uses words with a stinging effect to evoke emotion. Her son’s dismal performance and rejection at school are examples of this. He is deemed a failure before he even tries. His redemption evokes a feeling of triumph in all of us. Everyone loves a good underdog story.

It would appear that Mary Sherry makes a pretty compelling argument in her work. She shows us how failure does not define a person. Only by picking oneself up and using it as a lesson does one succeed through failure. She illustrates how the underdog, in this case, students, can draw strength from low points in their lives and create a better life for themselves.

We hope this rhetorical analysis shows the value of strength through failure. Buy a rhetorical analysis from Masters and PhD degree holders with not less than ten years of academic writing experience. 

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How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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“In Praise of the F Word” Mary Sherry

In the article, “In Praise of the F Word” Mary Sherry argues that flunking students is a method that has been effective in the past and is still effective todays day, and anyone needs to see is as a positive teaching tool. Sherry indicates that flunking students is a method that motivates students to study more and to be more responsible for what is their responsibility. Students challenge is not to get an A or B, but to succeed or to fail. Being in front of this challenge students try to work harder in order to succeed. In the article, Sherry uses pieces of evidence from her personal experience and examples to support her thesis. Also, her article is well-organized, and Sherry uses an academic language. However, Sherry do not consider many aspects that might affect students. She gives to much importance the example that she gives with her son. But can only a person represent all students? As a result, her argument is not convincing, and her try to persuade her audience fails.

The first reason why Sherry’s argument is unconvincing is because it lacked evidence. She uses as evidence her personal experience and the example with her son, but she does not support her thesis on studies or researches that shows that flunking students is an approach that has given positive results not only in her case. In the article, Sherry points out that “young people generally do not have the maturity to value education in the same way my adult students value it” (560). Which means high school students even if they know that the teacher will fail them, they still do not consider school as their main goal. Some students after knowing that the teacher is going to fail, they demoralize. They lose the desire for learning and going to school. When the teacher says them that he/she is going to fail them, they do not think teacher is doing that because he/she wants them to improve their learning skills, or because teacher wants them to be prepared for the future career. In my experience, what students think in this case is that teacher do not like them, or teacher is doing that with purpose and they are afraid to go school. Or in the worst case students think that they are going to fail anyway, there is no reason for attending school. Sherry mention that “‘She’s going to flunk you,’ I told my son. I did not discuss it any further. Suddenly English became a priority in his life. He finished out the semester with an A” (560). Beside all, he is the son of a teacher. She might has her effect on the change that her son made suddenly. From a student whom teacher was going to fail, to an excellent. There will not be the same situation if the guy will be the son of a housekeeping or the son of a habitually worker.

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Secondly, by not considering all environments from where students came and all problems that they have, make Sherry’s argument weak. Sherry emphasize that “We excuse this dishonest behavior by saying kids can’t learn if they come from terrible environments. No one seems to stop to think that – no matter what environments they come from—most kids don’t put school first on their list unless they perceive something is at stake” (560). According to her, students must put school as their first priority, even if when they go home, they find their parents fighting because their father is drunk and has spent all the weekly incoming that they will use for buying food and other services that family need. What if students do not have a shelter when to put their head and sleep at night. What if there is nobody to take care of them, to cook and they go at school without anything on their stomach. Should still be school the first priority of these students? I do not think so, there are other vital priority for these students. School is another problem for them because instead of searching for a place when to sleep at night, or finding food to survive another day, they have to go at school too. Passing more then half of the day there, and then going back at their bitter reality. Sherry adds “ I know one example doesn’t make a case, but at night I see a parade of students who are angry and resentful for having been passed along until they could no longer even pretend to keep up” (560). She does not give any evidence to support her counterargument. She just mentions it and then goes back to her first point, giving details and examples to support her thesis. This makes her argument less convince because looks as she is not interested to see what happened on the other side, flunking makes her son to be better and that’s how it will work with all students, that’s what she lets readers understand.

Finally, Sherry’s audience is made up by teachers and parents, but she does not include students which makes another weak point in her article. The entire article talks about students and their studies, but at the end she excludes them from her audience. This is a topic that has to do directly with students and weather includes or not they are part of her audience. They are more interested then anyone else to know the positive and negative effect of flunking. Knowing more about flunking and why flunking is a good teaching tool as Sherry said, will make students seeing flunking in a different way, it will make them to see the positive side of flunking. For example, if they repeat the class, they are more prepared compared with other students because they had done these lessons before and it is going to be much easier now, they have advantages from other students. So, if they work a little bit harder they will succeed without any problem. Also, her thoughts are in contrast with each other because one time she said that it does not matter from which environments students come. Which means they are not affected form family or sociality, but now Sherry emphasizes that “It would mean that teachers would have to follow through on their threats, and parents would have to stand behind them, knowing their children’s best interest are indeed at stake” (561). So, her thoughts are unclear, and this makes her argument unconvinced for readers.

In conclusion, in the article “In Praise of the F Word” Sherry do not consider many aspects that might affect students study. Her argument is not based on evidence or researches, it is based only in her personal experience and examples. The attitude that she keeps is not the attitude of a teacher and so much less of a parent. She looks very immature and it makes her argument ineffective, so her try to convince her audience fail. Excluding students from the audience is inevitable because they are the center of the discussion. However, Sherry leaves them out, she made up her audience by teachers and parents. How can teachers find a compromise between flunking and students? Well, it will happen if students pay more attention to studies and teachers be more reasonable with students.

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Summary of in praise of the f word.

Sherry argues that teachers flunking their students should be seen as positive teaching tool, and rates the expression Of confidence by both teachers and parents that the students have the ability to learn the material presented to them. She would never forget the teacher that grabbed the attention of her world-class charmer's son. Mrs.. Stiffer

In Praise of the F Word Short Summary

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In praise of the f word essay

• Category: Education
• Published: 02.10.20

In Mary Sherry’s essay, “In Praise with the F Term, ” the writer encourages almost all parents and teachers to use failure being a form of reassurance. Sherry want for them to utilize it as a way to encourage students to accomplish better and want more when it comes to their education. What Sherry features is that the threat of flunking is a “positive teaching tool” (566).

In Praise of the F Phrase by Jane Sherry Summary

Mary Sherry in praise of the F word uses a various examples to aid her assert.

The author’s main supply of evidence used to support her claim was personal encounter. Sherry stocks and shares with us her son’s senior year high school experience. He was not investing in the necessary work needed in class and his British teacher, Mrs. Stifter has not been willing to tolerate it. The lady then believed to Sherry that she would flunk her kid. Without having noticed this type of way before Sherry was flustered.

Not really once just before had her son been threatened by a teacher that way, but the lady managed to go along with her strategy in the end. Her son noticing he would fail and not graduate student, made The english language class a priority and handed with top marks grade (Sherry 565).

Among the many night college students that Sherry teaches stated, “I was obviously a good youngster and did not cause any problem, so they will just handed me along even though My spouse and i didn’t read well and couldn’t write, ” this kind of example demonstrates instead of the educator using a method that gives her the power the lady needs, college students do because they please with little effort. Sherry’s son was your type to receive away with many issues until now faced with the fear of failure.

The best strength in Mary Sherry’s argument is definitely the involvement of her evening students. I believe the things some of them had to declare about their personal education experiences helped me understand fully and support Sherry’s assert. I have as well personally read people issue their reasons for receiving their particular high school diploma, I have observed people claim they by no means received a passing level on an job but a new great romantic relationship with the teacher, so they will passed the course.

The things that some of the learners stated and experienced were examples of what I saw in my high school. We enjoyed the way the essay flowed, not a thing seemed to be randomly put and was easy enough to interpret. Lastly, I appreciated the way Mary Sherry included her personal experience with her son, it absolutely was a way of displaying that circumstances where students are used to simply going by will be happening almost everywhere.

The greatest weak spot in the disagreement is the not enough a possible outside the house source. I would have liked to see amounts or a study conducted to determine how various students have noticed situations wherever they failed to have to do much to earn their degree. I also think it would have been completely great to include other teachers’ perspectives on this subject and if whether or not they believe that it is a good idea to reward the F word. I think research could have made the essay a lot more reliable and persuade readers even more.

General, Mary Sherry presents her audience having a compelling and convincing argument. I believe your woman did an excellent job about persuading visitors to accept this form training to help improve education by saying that, “students don’t set school first unless they will perceive something happens to be at stake eventually. They’d somewhat be sailing” (Sherry 566). Sherry did a good job on repeating the need for possessing a fear of failing and getting the threat of flunking as a positive form of teaching for students in a way to convince her readers.

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Biden Seeks to Head Off Escalation After Israel’s Successful Defense

The president told Israel that the interception of nearly all of the Iranian drones and missiles used to attack it constituted a major victory, and so further retaliation might not be necessary, U.S. officials said.

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By Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear

• April 14, 2024

President Biden and his team, hoping to avoid further escalation leading to a wider war in the Middle East, are advising Israel that its successful defense against Iranian airstrikes constituted a major strategic victory that might not require another round of retaliation, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

The interception of nearly all of the more than 300 drones and missiles fired against Israel on Saturday night demonstrated that Israel had come out ahead in its confrontation with Iran and proved to enemies its ability to protect itself along with its American allies, meaning it did not necessarily need to fire back, the officials said.

Whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his government will agree to leave it at that was not yet clear as the country’s war cabinet met for several hours on Sunday to make decisions about its next steps.

The leaders of the Group of 7 major industrial democracies echoed Mr. Biden’s message on Sunday morning, condemning Iran for the attack and warning that it could provoke what they called an “uncontrollable regional escalation” in the Middle East.

“This must be avoided,” the joint statement said. “We will continue to work to stabilize the situation and avoid further escalation.”

Although damage from the attack was relatively light, the scope of the strikes went well beyond the small-bore tit-for-tat shadow war between Iran and Israel in recent years, crossing a red line with the firing of weapons from Iranian territory into Israeli territory. Had defenses not held, scores or hundreds could have been killed.

American officials said it was clear to them that wide-scale death was Iran’s intent, despite the fact that its leadership telegraphed the attack well in advance, publicly and privately. Officials said that even as the attack was underway, Iran’s government sent word through Swiss intermediaries that it considered the matter closed.

“I mean, look at the size and the scale, the scope of what they fired into Israel from Iran proper: more than 300 missiles and drones,” John F. Kirby, the national security spokesman at the White House, said on Sunday on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” “They wanted to cause damage — no question about that. But they were utterly unsuccessful in doing so.”

Emotions were running high among Israeli officials during phone calls with American partners late into the night, and the pressure to fire back was consequently strong. The U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions, stressed that the decision about whether and how to respond was ultimately up to Israel.

Israeli jets early on Sunday hit structures in Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah after the Iranian-backed militia sent two explosive drones into Israel, but it was not clear how related that was to the Iranian airstrike.

Mr. Biden spoke with Mr. Netanyahu on Saturday after the Iranian attack and repeated his “ironclad commitment” to Israel’s security. Mr. Biden urged restraint, telling Mr. Netanyahu that it was time to “think carefully and strategically” about the risks of escalation if the Israelis respond in kind with military force, according to one senior administration official.

In a statement released after the call , Mr. Biden hinted publicly at a desire for actions that would not continue a cycle of retribution.

“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” Mr. Biden said.

“Taken together, @JoeBiden’s message is designed to gently persuade #Israel not to pursue further escalation,” Robert Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote on social media .

That is likely to generate criticism of Mr. Biden from conservatives, some of whom quickly went public urging a powerful military reprisal against Iran — not only by Israel, but by the United States, as well. “We must move quickly and launch aggressive retaliatory strikes on Iran,” Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, said in a statement posted online .

Speaker Mike Johnson partly blamed the Biden administration for the Iran strike because of what he called its “undermining of Israel and appeasement of Iran.” He did not mention that he himself has so far failed to permit a floor vote on bipartisan legislation passed by the Senate providing security aid to Israel and Ukraine. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House Republican leader, said that “in light of Iran’s unjustified attack on Israel,” the House this week would consider aid to Israel, but he gave no details. Mr. Johnson also said on Sunday that the House would take up Israel aid in the coming days.

The eruption between Israel and Iran came at a time of great tension between Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu. In a call only 10 days ago, the president threatened to rethink his support for Israel’s war in Gaza if Mr. Netanyahu did not do more to alleviate civilian suffering in the enclave, leveraging American backing for the first time since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel.

At the same time the two leaders clashed, Israel had just executed an airstrike against the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, Syria, killing seven Iranian officers involved in covert operations in a move that threatened the escalation that Mr. Biden had long feared. Even so, the president made clear that his support for Israel’s security was still unwavering and warned Iran not to respond.

American and Israeli officials spent the past few days coordinating military operations in case Iran did act, and Mr. Biden ordered aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region. Even as the attack began, Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, and the Israeli defense attaché were meeting with officials at the White House to coordinate the response to the attack.

Administration officials were elated at the results as U.S. and Israeli forces knocked down nearly everything thrown at Israel, including more than 100 ballistic missiles, a feat that one official said might be unmatched in military history. Jordan intercepted projectiles crossing its airspace , saying it was guarding its own security.

American officials said U.S. fighter jets shot down more than 70 exploding drones in the attack, while two Navy warships in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed four to six ballistic missiles and an Army Patriot battery in Iraq knocked down at least one missile that passed overhead. The number of drones and missiles that Iran launched — more than 300 — was on the high end of what U.S. analysts had expected, one official said.

On Sunday morning, Mr. Biden spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan about the attack and called two members of the 494th and 335th fighter squadrons to praise them for the successful mission.

Even though Iran did little tangible damage, it signaled after the strikes that it was ready to stand down — and clearly hoped to avoid direct engagement with the United States. “The matter can be deemed concluded,” the Iranian mission to the United Nations said in a statement . “However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe. It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!”

The situation was reminiscent of January 2020, when President Donald J. Trump ordered an airstrike in Iraq to kill Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani , who led the powerful Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps . Iran retaliated by firing missiles at well-defended U.S. bases in Iraq with relatively little damage, though about 100 U.S. military personnel were wounded. It then sent a private message saying it was done. Mr. Trump chose not to retaliate, and fears of a cycle of escalation faded.

In the days leading up to the attack on Saturday, Mr. Netanyahu warned Tehran not to act, saying, “Whoever hurts us, we hurt them.” But because Israel was not badly hurt, Mr. Netanyahu may have some room to declare victory and move on. Israeli officials were not clear on their intentions.

“The campaign is not over yet — we must remain alert and attentive to the instructions published by the I.D.F. and Homefront Command,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. “We must be prepared for every scenario. Having said this, we have thwarted the most significant wave” of the attack, “and we did so successfully.”

The American argument was that because Israel also successfully took out those senior Iranian officers in Damascus two weeks ago without paying a significant price, another round of military action could be deemed unnecessary.

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington.

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker

Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Biden and his administration. He has reported on politics for more than 30 years. More about Michael D. Shear