A Rhetorical Analysis Of Nathan Thornburgh's Argument

In his argument about amnesty, Nathan Thornburgh makes a very good case. He presents real world examples, doesn’t focus on the policy of the issue, and brings it to a human level. His emotional and factual appeals make it a very good read, and very intelligent argument. His writing style makes it easy for any audience to pick up the meaning he his conveying. If your argument is not able to be read by a multitude of audiences, you will not reach the maximum amount of people you can.
In the beginning of his argument, Thornburgh starts off by questioning the way the United States currently deals with illegals (Thornburgh). It captures readers attention and brings them into the article. After this, he brings up the impact of an immigration raid,

By listing each point, it makes the argument concise and easy to understand. When presenting to an American audience, being easy to understand is the most important thing about the work. If you use too much jargon, or take the topic too deep, no one will give your paper the time of day. To further that point, most people will not even try to understand it.
As he begins his first point about the political rigidness of his arguments, he brings up a point about Senator John McCain. In it, John McCain wrote a bill that would bring about programs to help in legalization (Thornburgh). The Senator officially denied that the bill would provide amnesty. Thornburgh argues that the bill is amnesty, which is genius. By turning a reputable figures words against him, it provides Thornburgh’s argument with credibility. By doing this, he is essentially able to use McCain as a source for his argument, providing fuel for his argumentative

They aren’t filled with complicated jargon, and they aren’t filled with buzzwords. He seems to get through to his audience very effectively. The American people are a hard bunch to please. Thornburgh is very good about making sure there is a human element to all of this. Throughout his argument, he consistently references back to Beardstown and the immigrants there (Thornburgh). He also interviews residents, to get there perspective on it. The fact that he puts a face to the issue is what can really move people to accept his opinion on amnesty. During the article, he talks about a girl whose family was deported (Thornburgh). This brings the issue down to earth. Many Americans think that because immigrants come to the US illegally, they are all criminal scum. What Thornburgh does is capitalize on this by showing, that no, they aren’t all criminals. And with Americans, if they see that they are dealing with actual people and not just statistics or drug lords, they will more than likely be moved by this