Focus and Rhetorical Appeals Focus Question: what factors are contributing to the poor management and organization of the study group? Focus: • Poor management and organization of the team members and leader (subject) • Fails to provide all the benefits available to the learners in the study group (point of significance/persuasive response) Credibility Appeals (Ethos) 1. Shared values: the importance of the learners, our number one priority; teamwork, because work gets done better as a team; team members’ contributions to the study sessions’ goals; management and organization, because they show the learners that the groups know what they are doing, and that there is some level of management in the group. In the end, this leads to effective sessions; study groups: worthwhile and beneficial when sessions are productive (I realized this as a learner in the group.) 2. Shared background/experience: We all share the experience of being a learner in the study group, learning and improving because the team members and leader were well organized and managed. The group has a good reputation and is known for its productive study sessions, so we all know what successful sessions look like and we have all seen learners receive the benefits that the group has to offer. We share the experience of there once being good management and organization, and each session had a goal that was achieved. We share the experience of choosing the values that are needed to guide the group into the future. 3. Preference to writer’s position: The part of the position as a writer that will make readers listen to me is the role that I have as an assistant. This role will allow my readers to comprehend that I know what I am saying and that the issue I am calling to action is for the improvement of the groups and their learners. It will also be important to remind them that we have all been learners in the group; that personally, the advantages gained are because of the organized team members and leader who taught me; and that the learners that we currently have are here for that and not otherwise. Affective Appeals (Pathos) 1. State of emotion you want readers to feel: Since my focus has to do with the poor management and organization that fail to provide the benefits for the learners, I would want my readers to feel what it is like to have their group totally disintegrate. I have seen the best primary-level study group in the country collapse because of issues such as ours. This study group’s team members’ underperforming led to unorganized and meaningless sessions, and the leader lacked strong leadership and management skills. In the end, the group was too far gone to turn around. The group eventually lost all its learners, and a primary-level group was no longer available. The readers would suddenly feel perturbed and would consider the fact that this could possibly happen for our group if something were n ...

1. Focus and Rhetorical Appeals
Focus
Question: what factors are contributing to the poor management
and organization
of the study group?
Focus:
• Poor management and
organization of the team
members and leader (subject)
• Fails to provide all the benefits
available to the learners in the
study group (point of
significance/persuasive response)
Credibility Appeals (Ethos)
1. Shared values: the importance of the learners, our number
one priority;
teamwork, because work gets done better as a team; team
members’
contributions to the study sessions’ goals; management and
organization,
because they show the learners that the groups know what they
are doing, and

2. that there is some level of management in the group. In the end,
this leads to
effective sessions; study groups: worthwhile and beneficial
when sessions are
productive (I realized this as a learner in the group.)
2. Shared background/experience: We all share the experience
of being a learner
in the study group, learning and improving because the team
members and
leader were well organized and managed. The group has a good
reputation and
is known for its productive study sessions, so we all know what
successful
sessions look like and we have all seen learners receive the
benefits that the
group has to offer. We share the experience of there once being
good
management and organization, and each session had a goal that
was achieved.
We share the experience of choosing the values that are needed
to guide the
group into the future.
3. Preference to writer’s position: The part of the position as a
writer that will
make readers listen to me is the role that I have as an assistant.
This role will
allow my readers to comprehend that I know what I am saying
and that the
issue I am calling to action is for the improvement of the groups

3. and their
learners. It will also be important to remind them that we have
all been learners
in the group; that personally, the advantages gained are because
of the
organized team members and leader who taught me; and that the
learners that
we currently have are here for that and not otherwise.
Affective Appeals (Pathos)
1. State of emotion you want readers to feel:
Since my focus has to do with the poor management and
organization that fail
to provide the benefits for the learners, I would want my readers
to feel what it
is like to have their group totally disintegrate. I have seen the
best primary-level
study group in the country collapse because of issues such as
ours. This study
group’s team members’ underperforming led to unorganized and
meaningless
sessions, and the leader lacked strong leadership and
management skills. In the
end, the group was too far gone to turn around. The group
eventually lost all its
learners, and a primary-level group was no longer available.
The readers would
suddenly feel perturbed and would consider the fact that this
could possibly
happen for our group if something were not done.
2. State of emotion you want to avoid: I want to avoid

4. emotional manipulation. I
do not want the readers to feel as though I am trying to control
or contrive them
by exaggerating events to make myself seem more vulnerable.
Avoiding this is
important because my readers would feel that they should be
embarrassed for
not seeing the underlying intent or net benefit that fixing the
issue would bring
to the group. If this happened, the readers would no longer be
interested in my
paper and the issue would be ignored.
Rational Appeal (Logos)
1. Example story or narrative:
Benefits of a study group:
• Learn new study
skills
• Exposure to different
perspectives
• Motivation
booster

5. • Procrastination
solver
• Discussion and
interactive
environment
• Promotes
critical
thinking
These benefits are not possible if the team members and leader
do not do what
is necessary and there is poor management and organization.
For example, to
enhance the idea of what an ideal study group looks like, I
could describe the
characteristics of one.
2. Definition: A study group is a group of people who regularly
meet and provide
an environment for people to externalize their thoughts on
shared fields of
study, learn more, or become better at studying.
3. Model or plan: I know of a college-level study group within
the country that
quickly dissolved into chaos because there was not some sort of
management
and organization. The group dealt with this issue by planning
and organizing
before each session. Their leader kept sessions on track and
moving forward.

6. To keep track of information, they found an organizer and kept
agendas so that
the team members knew what to expect and how to prepare for
each session.
This helped their team members prepare sufficiently and
encouraged them to
complete tasks in an organized manner, which enabled a smooth
conduction of
their study sessions.
4. Ideal, premise, or principle: “It is literally true that you can
succeed best and
quickest by helping others succeed.” -Napoleon Hill (Oluoch,
2021)
5. Describe cause/effect: Bad management has caused the
organization issue
within the group. If a group does not understand its mission and
the team
members do not understand their tasks, most of the time it is
because the leader
does not communicate effectively nor has a clear vision of the
group’s purpose.
This hinders the level of productivity and time spent during
study sessions.
6. Consequences: This issue leads to ineffective sessions,
which, in the long term,
could result in lower engagement and morale of the team
members. Sessions
would no longer mean anything to learners, and they would

7. rather self-study.
This could decline the number of learners currently in the group
and those
thinking about joining. The group would eventually
disintegrate, because what
is a study group without learners? Who will the team members
teach and guide?
7. Connection between persons and actions, or the lack of
connection: The actions
of the team members and leader are inconsistent. The team
members have a
history of being organized and doing tasks persistently. The
leader has a history
of managing the group well, so there is a lack of connection
between the
persons and their actions.
8. Means to ends: When learners choose to join study groups, it
is just a means to
an end, a way to make studying easier for themselves.
9. Direction in a stage or process: Those who do not think that
study groups are
beneficial might argue that the sessions often turn into social
events where very
little study occurs. They believe that self-studying, because of
less distractions,
is more efficient.
10. Classifications: Most of the current learners are starting to

8. believe that study
groups generally are not beneficial, but the truth is that the team
members and
leader in this specific group are blocking them from obtaining
their benefits. As
a result, they think it is not worth being in a study group.
11. Comparisons and contrasts: There are those who think that
study groups are
based on heterogeneity or homophily and grow the majority of
issues in a study
group. They think that the learners raise conflicts, especially if
there are cultural
differences to bridge or there is a language issue to contend
with. However, this
is not the case for all study groups. As can be seen with my
group, the issue is
not caused by learners, but by the people that make up the
group, which are the
team members and leader.
12. Shared authority: Universities such as Florida National
University encourage
the use of study groups so that students can gain a better
understanding that
cannot be gained in school. They are saying that study groups
are a way to
show others that you are invested in yourself, which will gain
their respect.

9. 13. Analogy: Study groups make students more like oysters
than sausages. The job
of teaching is not to stuff them and seal them up, but to help
them open and
reveal the riches within.
Reference
Oluoch, S. (2021, May 24). You can succeed best and quickest
by helping
others succeed. Success Afrika. https://successafrika.com/
Caruthers 1
Caruthers 5
Alice Caruthers
Dr. Danita Berg
COM 1101
September 25, 2022
Semester Paper
While the cause of my brother's behavior may be much
deeper than the church he belongs to, this particular church
exhibits cult-like tendencies because a significant time
commitment is expected from its member. Most of its members
joined during a very vulnerable time in their lives. The church
is involved in every aspect of your life, from work to your
family and everything in between.
My brother's church has cult-like tendencies because every
member must devote a significant amount of time to its
activities and practices. From the 1930s, cults emerged as the
object of sociological study from the perspective of studying
religious behaviors. In the 1940s, the Christian anti-cult

10. movement started to oppose some sects and new religious
movements, terming them "cults" due to their unorthodox
beliefs. In the 1970s, the secular anti-cult movement resisted
specific groups in reaction to acts of violence committed by
group members. These groups, primarily called cults, practiced
mind control of their members and linked to strange religious,
spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Thus, cults remain
exploitative, weird groups with uncommon beliefs. Word of
Faith Fellowship, located in Spindale, North Carolina, and
Remnant Fellowship, located in Brentwood, Tennessee, are
some renowned religious-based cults in the United States. The
former started in 1979 when Jane Whaley and Sam Whaley
converted a former steakhouse into a chapel, while the latter
began in 1999 courtesy of its founder, the late Gwen Shamblin.
As of 2021, my brother started showing strange behaviors
that were out of character for him. In the previous years, I had
not noticed strange behaviors from him. We always came to
each other for everything and had practically no secrets between
us. However, I was shocked after noticing some devastating
behaviors such as isolating himself from our family members,
seeking validation from the church elders, crossing biblical
boundaries of behavior, and emphasizing special doctrines
outside the scripture. I found that what started as a staunch
Christian had developed into something darker, emerging far
from our original upbringing. After a few months, my brother
stopped visiting our church and fully embraced his new church.
In this new church, he would spend most of his time in church
and would return home during late hours even on non service
days. On one of the Sundays, the church had convinced my
brother to stop pursuing a law degree and instead go into
theology, to my surprise he agreed. He went on to switch to a
different university and even quit his job per the church’s
request. Most of his friends and family who knew him were
shocked by the uncommon changes in his personality.
Previously, he had an ever extraordinarily extroverted
personality, but now he was a complete introvert toward anyone

11. outside of the church. While growing up, I believed my brother
may be called to preach one day but I could never picture him
immersing this far deep into the religious rabbit hole. He
acquired a markedly charismatic vocabulary of "spiritual
warfare" and claimed to be directly communicating with God.
The goal of this charisma is to show people how to convert their
admiration into a connection with God (Abby p.12). He revealed
that after this new found perspective came into play, he was
able to see the true nature of our mother. One that was not very
kind.
Additionally, most of their members joined during a very
vulnerable time in their lives. For instance, several members
joined the church during the COVID-19 crisis after losing their
jobs and were desperate for money and a good life. From the
general perspective, cults target youth groups (college
students), mainly the unemployed and those from low-income
families looking for hard-life solutions (Rodia p.9). This target
group is always stressed, depressed, emotionally vulnerable,
lacking family connections, or living in adverse socioeconomic
settings. New college students are prime examples of targets
because they are building their identities and are significantly
separated from family members. The recruitment techniques
tend to entice the hopeless youths while preparing them to
convert their religious faith (Schwartz & Kaslow p.19). The
main cults' psychological practices to recruit members are love-
bombing (cults flood the targets with affection, flattery, and
validation), isolation, and control. However, joining cults
significantly affects the victims' families and friends in the
outside world. These impacts include struggling with multiple
emotions after a loved one joins a cult group and the damage to
family intimacy.
Apart from the reasons linked to religion-related cults, my
brother's strange shift in behavior appears to result from
potential mental health conditions. Thus, his religious beliefs
and practices are strongly associated with hysteria, neurosis,
and psychotic delusions. For instance, his strange declarations

12. about faith in God resulting from watching religion-based
episodes of his favorite TV series implies a significant 'mass
hysteria.' Likewise, psychotic delusions make my brother have
an unshakeable belief in implausible and bizarre beliefs
regarding his childhood, such as a claim that he was treated
unfairly by our mother although her entire world revolved
around supporting him and his goals. As a result of this
potential mental condition, my brother believes that everyone is
against him and refuses to see other sides to the story if they
aren’t from the church. Likewise, depression seems to be
disturbing my brother. For instance, he is not interested in other
social and economic activities despite bringing pleasure but is
focused on religion. He cannot admit that he has a problem and
does not want people to know about it. Since I have noticed that
he has started to miss out on life, this is a sign of silent
depression.
Finally, this church has cult-like tendencies because the
church is involved in every aspect of your life, from work to
your family and anything else. My brother's church is a high-
demand setting with a high level of control and influence over
its members (Dubrow-Marshall & Dubrow-Marshall p.398). For
instance, my brother has a religious devotion to this church. He
has gone so far as to turn him life upside down for these people
as well as isolate himself for at least 7 months for unknown
reasons, but one can only assume it has something to do with
the church. This devotion signifies how this cult-like church has
taken over his free will through manipulation into a belief that
all these practices are what make one a staunch believer.
After joining this church with cult tendencies, my brother
changed his life to comply with church rules and wants. Despite
people reaching out to him about the potential damage his
estranged behavior has caused, he didn’t waver. Since he joined
the church, his entire life has changed to be that of a blind
follower rather than the freethinking leader he once was.
Thus, while the cause of my brother's behavior may be
much deeper than the church he belongs to, this particular

13. church has cult-like tendencies. The high devotion to church
activities and instant shift of behaviors demonstrate how the
church has controlled his life and taken over his free will. As
illustrated, cult groups are exploitative, strange groups with
uncommon beliefs that target the most vulnerable groups, such
as college students and other unemployed young people living
in marginalized areas experiencing social and economic crises.
The recruitment strategies of members to join the cults are
always tactful to resist.
Works Cited
Dubrow-Marshall, R.P., and L. Dubrow-Marshall. “Cults and
Mental Health.”
Encyclopedia of Mental Health, 2016, pp. 393–401.,
https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-397045-9.00153-1.
Ellin, Abby. “Religion Journal; Seeing Overeating as a Sin, and
God as the Diet Coach.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 May
2004, https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/29/us/religion-journal-
seeing-overeating-as-a-sin-and-god-as-the-diet-coach.html.
Rodia, Tina. “Is It a Cult, or a New Religious Movement?”
Penn Today, 29 Aug. 2019,
penntoday.upenn.edu/news/it-cult-or-new-religious-movement.
Schwartz, Lita Linzer, and Florence W. Kaslow. “Religious
Cults, the Individual and the Family.”
Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, vol. 5, no. 2,
1979, pp. 15–26., https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-
0606.1979.tb01263.x.