Greg Power Assignment 2A Rhetorical Reflection Section HA McGough October 4, 20 ! "ra#ing $%& 'here (o )ab* +ames ,ome -rom.

. /'hat0s *our name.1 "his is a 2uestion %eo%le as3 an# are as3e# in almost e4er* con4ersation the* ha4e with a %erson the* are 5ust meeting6 )ut wh*. 'h* is a combination of letters gi4en at birth so im%ortant to how %eo%le see each other. 'h* are certain names more %o%ular than others. 'here #o these names e4en come from. 7n /"ra#ing $%& 'here (o )ab* +ames ,ome -rom.,1 authors Ste4en (6 8e4itt an# Ste%hen 96 (ubner attem%t to answer some of these 2uestions6 )* using historical #ata an# i#entif*ing tren#s, 8e4itt an# (ubner are able to fin# %atterns in how names become %o%ular an# are %re#ict what names are going to be %o%ular in the near future6 8e4itt an# (ubner i#entif* how names ten# to tric3le #own o4er time from high income families to low income families an# e4entuall* a name ten#s to lose its %o%ularit* all together: the authors argue that man* %o%ular names seem ri#iculous 5ust *ears ahea# of their %o%ularit*, but are 2uic3l* a#a%te# into normalc*6 )* re%ro#ucing this essa* for college stu#ents, some but not all of the authors0 message is lost: it is still o%ening e*es to where names come from an# is still an interesting rea# for the new au#ience6 "he essa* /"ra#ing $%& 'here (o )ab* +ames ,ome -rom.1 uses man* statistics to i#entif* tren#s in the %o%ularit* of names across America6 "his use of logos is 3e* to the fun#amental structure of the authors0 arguments6 A %roblem with the statistics gi4en is the* #o not ha4e a source, nor #o the* tell the number of babies with each gi4en name: the* sim%l* gi4e the names in a gi4en *ear with a rating from most to least %o%ular6 "his hurts the authors0 arguments, as without cre#ible statistics their conclusions lose merit6 (es%ite the im%erfection of their statistics, 8e4itt an# (ubner are able to form an argument that is cre#ible for their %ur%ose an# au#ience6 "his article was written to tell how names become %o%ular: b* using logic an# the statistics, the* are able to ta3e the rea#er through how names change in fre2uenc*6 7t ma3es sense that a name woul# start as a /high;en#1 name: %eo%le alwa*s want to im%ro4e their life an# be more li3e the 9oneses, so it ma3es their argument 4er* belie4able6 Peo%le are reluctant to imitate /low;en#1 beha4iors as the* #o not want to associate with %eo%le of lower class lest the* become a lower class themsel4es: thus it ma3es sense names woul# lose %o%ularit* once man* lower class %eo%le begin using them6 8e4itt an# (ubner wrote this article for both e<%ectant %arents an# %eo%le with a curiosit* about their own name6 )oth of these grou%s are able to benefit from this essa*, as it ai#s %otential %arents in %ic3ing a name that will be in st*le for their chil#, an# it #escribes from where a %erson might ha4e gotten their name6 "he te<tboo3 this essa* was re%ro#uce# in #oes not re%resent the authors0 inten#e# au#ience6 Most %eo%le rea#ing this essa* here are going to be college stu#ents: while some will fall into the authors0 secon# inten#e# au#ience, 4er* few will fall into the authors0 au#ience of e<%ectant %arents6 "his means that most of the a#4ice about what names are going in an# out of st*le will not be 4er* useful to the rea#er6 "hese rea#ers are going to be much more intereste# in what changes were ha%%ening between ==0 an# ==> when the* were being born, which this article #oes not a##ress 4er* much6 Howe4er, 8e4itt an# (ubner write generall* enough that this is still an interesting rea# for the non; inten#e# au#ience, an# stu#ents rea#ing this essa* can use the information gi4en to form their own conclusions about whether their name was coming into st*le, at its %ea3 of %o%ularit*, or fa#ing awa* into obscurit*6

)ecause this boo3 is a re%rinting of the essa*, the rea#er is not li3el* aware of 8e4itt an# (ubner0s cre#entials6 "herefore, it is smart that the boo3 %ublishers inclu#e# a relati4el* large #escri%tion of both of the authors6 "his hel%s buil# u% their cre#ibilit* an# #e4elo% their ethos6 "he rea#er is then more li3el* to trust the authors0 fin#ings an# ignore where there ma* be slight ga%s in their research6 "he boo3 further buil#s the authors0 cre#ibilit* b* inclu#ing a %icture of each of the authors6 "his lets the rea#er feel li3e the* 3now the author an# the rea#er becomes e4en more li3el* to belie4e the claims the authors0 ma3e6 8e4itt an# (ubner ma3e an interesting an# %otentiall* contro4ersial claim that the name of a chil# /isn0t li3el* to ma3e a shre# of #ifference1 ? 20@6 'hile ha4ing a goo# name certainl* #oes not guarantee success in life, ha4ing a name that is consi#ere# too o## can set *ou bac3 an# cause others to initiall* 5u#ge *ou6 7n a worl# where first im%ressions mean e4er*thing, this is huge6 ,onsi#er a girl name# 8a;a ?%ronounce# /8a#asha1@6 "his girl ma* in fact be the most intelligent, thoughtful girl on the face of the %lanet6 Howe4er, man* %eo%le woul# li3el* 5u#ge her to be the une#ucate# #aughter of une#ucate#, %oor ?%robabl* blac3@ %arents6 "his is a lot against a *oung girl, an# no chil# #eser4es this unnecessar* bur#en6 Our societ* has a 4er* interesting wa* of c*cling through names in a wa4e li3e %attern6 "he name Amma was hugel* %o%ular aroun# =00, then nearl* com%letel* #isa%%eare# b* the =B00s6 "o#a*, it has returne# to be a to% name across the countr*6 "he u%%er class t*%icall* start naming tren#s, an# as 8e4itt an# (ubner i#entif*, these names tric3le their wa* #own the social la##er gaining %o%ularit* as the* #o so6 Once a name reaches the bottom, howe4er, there is nowhere farther #own for it to go an# it #isa%%ears, waiting for its rea%%earance as the future u%%er class #eci#es it li3es the name again6 Man* of tomorrow0s %o%ular names might soun# strange to#a*: coul# A4i4a be the Ma#ison of tomorrow. 8e4itt an# (ubner thin3 so, but onl* time 3nows for sure6 'or3 ,onsulte# (ubner, Ste%han 96, an# Ste4en (6 8e4itt6 /"ra#ing $%& 'here (o )abies +ames ,ome -rom.61 Convergences: Themes, Texts, and Images for Composition6 A#6 Robert Atwan6 )oston& )e#for# C St6 Martin0s, 200=6 D; 2 6