Analysis Of The Cult You Re In

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Imagine living in a society where everything is uniform. Anything you wear, eat or think is controlled. Then you realize that your life is not actually yours. This sounds bizarre, but it’s true. Without knowing it, everyone dreams of the same things in life; the perfect job, the perfect family, or the perfect house. We may not all agree to this, but the fact is that we all dream the same dream. In some way, we are all part of one big “cult” because our desires are similar to one another. When the word “cult” comes to mind, it has a negative connotation. American society makes most of its profits by the use of advertisements. In Kalle Lasn’s essay “The Cult You’re In,written in 1996, he uses rhetorical tactics such as ethos, pathos, and logos to illustrate how ads increase a person’s desire for goods and services that he or she may not want. There are some aspects of as in his essay that are rhetorically effective; however, there are some aspects of his essay that are not. Lasn uses second person point of view to establish ethos. He employs “you” throughout the essay because he wants to connect more with his audience. The word “you” shows how informal Lasn’s essay is. He also establishes ethos with his audience by using personal anecdotes. Finally, Lasn utilizes satire as his way of poking fun …show more content…

He tries to grab the attention of his audience whom includes anyone who desires what they cannot have. Lasn also draws in his audience’s attention when he writes about “The state college you graduated from left you with a $35,000 debt” (pp 114, paragraph 4). This quote implies that the average college student always has student loan debt. Nothing in life is perfect so someone is always dreaming of a better life thinking that all their problems will be solved. But nothing is set in stone. Famous name brands mentioned in the essay continuously show how luxury is one of the things a person desires to

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