Analysis Of Robert N. Proctor's 'Go Hitler !'

In “Agnotology,” Robert N. Proctor discusses the topic of ignorance while in “Go Hitler!” Noah Trevor discusses the topic of historical cultural differences. These readings are comparable in ways of the rhetorical elements of logos, and the use of narratives that speak to each validity of the readings. The validity of these reading contributes to the authors credibility and help support the claims Noah and Proctor make. For this reason, Noah uses narratives and the rhetorical element of logos to support the effectual validity throughout “Go Hitler!” to demonstrate that every culture teaches differently regarding historical events, yet Proctor also uses narratives and the rhetorical element of logos to support the factual validity in “Agnotology”
One example from the Proctors “Agnotology” is when Proctor references Socrates. In this reference, Socrates says when people realize how little they know conditions them for upcoming knowledge and that they are wiser than others. This example demonstrates the logic Proctor uses to show his claim of people knowing an insufficient amount about ignorance by referencing to Socrates and promoting that ignorance can be beneficial. One example of logos from Noah’s “Go Hitler!” is when he states that black South Africans do not get offended by the name Hitler because to black South Africans Hitler is not the worst thing that has ever happened to them. This example demonstrates the logic that Noah uses to show how cultures teach historical events differently. Both these examples from the readings contribute to the claim of choosing ignorance over knowing the truth. This claim is supported through the factual validity of Proctor’s text rather than the effectual validity of Noah’s text. This supports Proctor’s credibility towards his claim to persuade the educators that they know an insufficient amount about ignorance. While Proctor’s text has more validity, the example also implicates that life is a never-ending cycle of ignoring the truth. The example implicates this insight by portraying how even in the olden days people had ignorance and ignored the