Brian Handwerk Summary

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Brian Handwerk claims in his article “Chimp ‘Girls’ Play With ‘Dolls’ Too—First Wild Evidence”, published in 2010, that female baby monkeys play with dolls, and that this phenomenon occurs through evolution to make the female a better mother. Handwerk uses persuasive appeals, mainly ethos and logos, to reaffirm his point in the article, as well as some pathos. Ethos is used very often in the piece, and Handwerk does an excellent job at communicating the credibility of his sources. The article begins with Handwerk describing some female chimps using sticks as dolls in the wild. Handwerk exposes a possibility of biological reason for these gender roles, caused by evolution to make the females better mothers. Handwerk also humors the idea that the female chimps play with dolls because they want to express their cognitive abilities, and have a capacity for imagination. However, Handwerk never goes over why only the females play with sticks if this is the case, and doesn’t present any research despite having referenced research in the biological idea. This is the only weak point in his article. Handwerk opens his claims with an appeal to Ethos, stating that his sources are experts in their field. Handwerk then reinforced his sources by stating the extent of their …show more content…

Handwerk brings up the similarities of humans to monkeys, using another study, and draws his article to a close with a more personal note than when he started. Instead of making his closing argument lose a personal touch by using scientific words such as “genes” and “biological differences”, Handwerk closes with a more personal, ambiguous note. He doesn’t restate the argument, rather he leaves enough evidence to force you to draw the same conclusion he did, which makes the reader feel more involved with the

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