Argument freedom of speech

Laura Tatone
English 102
1/26/13
Freedom of Expression rough draft
In the United States, freedom of speech is used by the masses to spread information and express opinions and ideas on subjects that can have a wide impact on the audience receiving their messages. Communication among the people is important, but in some cases that communication could be going too far. There is an article called "Protecting Freedom of Expression at Harvard" written by Derek Bok where two Harvard students had hung confederate flags on campus. This display of freedom of speech had offended some students who had associated the flags with the act of slavery and had triggered another student to hang up a flag with a swastika out of retaliation. When someone puts something on display, in this case flags, they are trying to send out a message to those that see it. When that message could be seen as being harmful or inconsiderate, people tend to try to get those messages shut down or removed. In many cases people wonder how far is too far when dealing with freedom of speech. Derek's argues that some people might find the message offensive, but that doesn't necessarily warrant its removal.
In his argument, Derek talks about how the Confederate flag and the swastika brought out debate and disagreement within the University. The flags themselves draw out very powerful emotions, such as slavery for the Confederacy flag and the Nazi party for the Swastika flag. By talking about these flags Derek tries to make an emotional appeal to his audience with them. The flags obviously have a large amount of heavy negative symbolism behind them, but he talks about how the messages from the students could have been misinterpreted. He bases his article on the subjects of the flags because the image of the flags strikes up emotions in people. These emotions help draw his audience into reading the rest of his article.
Derek argues in his article that the right of freedom of speech is important and to censor some freedom of speech because it is offensive is uncalled for. He does state that he believes that there could have been a better way for the students to get their message across then the display that they chose to showcase their message. He states that the students were insensitive with their display, and that those offending by the display outweighed whatever gratification the students had by hanging up the flags. By talking about how he was dissatisfied with the way the students presented their displays of freedom of speech he is sympathizing   with the part of his audience that views the students’ behavior as wrong and helps him obtain some credibility in that he can see the flaws in their actions.
He goes on in his article to how in a Supreme Court case, the use of both of these types of flags to express freedom of speech falls under the protection of the First Amendment. The students had the right to hang the flags, but the how they chose to display their message was unwise and distasteful. This referral of the Supreme Court case helps him to show his readers the reasoning and logic behind how the students were within their rights to express their messages to the public. Nearing the end of his article he talks about how it would be beneficial to educate the students on how there actions affect those around them. He believes that the students would respond better to reasoning and understanding then to ridicule and disagreement by their school and peers.
Protecting Freedom of Expression is important in the United States. In this article Derek Bok argued on how freedom of speech at Harvard is important, but in the right context. There are right and wrong ways to express messages to the public. In this case at Harvard the students were well within their right to express their opinions, but the way they went about using their right to free speech was distasteful. Derek uses the argument styles of ethos, pathos, and logos to increase the argument that freedom of expression is important in his article.