Designing Your Own Baby Rhetorical Analysis

Genetically modifying a child is acceptable only if done for the right reasons, according to Makenna Bindel in Designing Your Own Baby, particularly when the genetic modification is done to benefit the health of the individual. Bindel uses a stream of rhetorical questions to generate a line of thinking among the reader, and appeal to a mother's instincts to make the audience feel as if they were a mother asking herself these questions, as well as exposing the fact that some people genetically modify their children for beautification purposes. Bindel also uses an extreme form elitism to appeal to the poverty-struck community with children that are suffering from possible medical issues that are not able to afford the ridiculous sum that it costs

to genetically design a child. Through the satirical approach, Bindel suggest a ridiculous resolution that every 10-12 weeks a mother has a doctor's appointment where she will be able to design and modify a new part of her child.
Bindel often uses sarcasm throughout her essay to express irony. It's obviously genetically impossible for a child to ¨ come out of the womb with a six-pack,¨ but the fact that it is impossible keeps the piece light-hearted(¨Design Your Own Baby.¨ Social Satire Synthesis Essay, Smithville High School, 2018) . By being ironic it keeps the reader entertained allowing the writing to be more captivating so the reader does not get easily uninterested. Using irony also creates a sense of tension without being sardonic and coming off as rude or too pushy. Bindel also states that someone should genetically modify their child to ¨avoid having a fat baby,¨ which is clearly sarcasm because a mother commonly loves her child no matter the size or shape, and almost everyone loves babies when they are chubby. Bindel says in her essay that ¨there is nothing better than an emotionless child,¨ obviously being sarcastic because no mother wants her child to be emotionless and incapable of love. By using sarcasm throughout the whole essay, it keeps it light-hearted and fun clearly showing that the intent of the essay was for comical purposes and not serious.
Throughout the essay Bindel uses a sardonic tone as well.

Bindel says that designer babies¨ also promise no reproduction of a psychopathic child,¨ which has a dark tone to it because people are born with mental illness and usually can not help it. Also in the essay the author writes that ¨the thought of having a mentally ill child is already unsettling so why not take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity of creating the perfect genetically modified child,¨ which could be interpreted as sardonic because it refers to mentally ill children being a problem and an outcast from society rather than be accepted. Bindel uses extreme sardonicism when she states that ¨It makes perfect sense of wanting to abort a potentially crazy or ugly child from being brought into the world, it's already going to be set up for failure if it is ugly,” the ridiculous nature of this sentence sets the context of the solution to the proposal of designer babies. By using sardonic tone throughout the essay it allows for a more entertaining

appeal.
Bindel appeals to trust of the middle-lower class population of the world.

Bindel states that ¨designing a baby is a costly process,¨ which means that only most of the upper class population can only afford to genetically modify their children. Bindel also says that ¨ who knows how much a poor or nice person could corrupt a perfect child?¨ In her essay she really means that children should be raised by nice and kind people who have ethical values instead of wealthy people who just want to design their own child for the benefit of looks rather than the health benefits that they were intended for. In Bindel´s essay she states that ¨ If designer babies are reasonably priced, then that could potentially give poor people the chance the afford them,¨ being sarcastic, she really means that designer babies are so overpriced that not even people who need them for ethical reasons are able to afford them. Bindel also quoted that ¨Even if someone is the most friendly and kind-hearted person ever, but they are poor they should still be denied a designer baby¨ by saying this Bindel really means that the determination of a designer baby should not be determined by wealth, but determined on the values and qualities a person holds. By stating this it helps Bindel appeal to the emotions of struggle that people with less income face. By creating a sense of trust and understanding for people with lower income it helps Bindel appeal to a larger portion of the

audience.
Bindel states that although there are many benefits to designer babies most of the people who are genetically modifying their children are doing it for the wrong reasons. She states that most are doing it for the purpose of making their child more attractive, when it was invented to prevent genetically inherited diseases. Throughout her essay she uses rhetorical questions leaving them open-ended for interpretation. By leaving them open-ended it allows the audience to interpret what they want from the reading rather than forcing an idea upon them. Bindel also uses irony throughout her essay to keep the mood light-hearted and build up suspense among the audience. As well as using irony she uses sarcasm to also prevent the essay from going down a dark path. Another rhetorical strategy Bindel used was sardonicism. She uses a sardonic tone to make the reading more entertaining for the reader. Last of all, Bindel uses elitism to appeal to the middle class and lower class of the community of children with mental illnesses. She uses this appeal to make the community feel as if they are being recognized and there are other people out in the world who need a designer baby for health benefits instead of wanting an attractive child.