Did My Car Join Al Qaeda Rhetorical Analysis

According to the Prentice Hall Reference Guide, persuasive essays are designed to

convince “readers of your point of the view” (4). In his essay “Did My Car Join Al Qaeda?”,

Woody Hochswender writes about the stereotypical view of SUVs and defends his stance

by applying his experiences with SUVs and relating to others who own SUVs. Although

Hochswender uses ethos and pathos to build his argument, he places more emphasis on

his opinion rather than on facts, and thus, his essay, “Did My Car Join Al Qaeda?”, fails to

convince the audience of his positive view on SUVs.

There are several points in the essay where Hochswender uses pathos to prove his stance.

For example, in the first paragraph, he tries to grab sympathy as an SUV owner

by asking,

“Does that make me a bad person?” (154). He also pulls the family card by stating, “if some

drunken driver veers across the center…I would prefer that my 9-year old and I not be inside a

Corolla” (155). He succeeds in capturing my attention emotionally as an SUV owner and as

a family person; however, his view is based solely on experience.

Hochswender uses ethos by admitting that “SUVs use a lot of gas,” but he explains his

reason for using an SUV and states that “the roads are covered with insidious stretches of black

ice” (154-155). Furthermore, he claims that although fuel consumption is one thing “It all comes

down to home economics” (155). He uses practicality to sway the audience, but the facts that

are used to support his claims such as rollover accidents cannot be controlled or the
well-publicized notion against SUVs lack cited sources. He defends his SUV, but he fails to

defend all SUVs.