Holly Parker

1370 Words3 Pages

“Fiction, because it is not about someone who actually lived in the real world, always has the possibility to be about oneself.” The words of Orson Scott Card describe the argument Holly Parker is trying to demonstrate in “The Real-Life Benefits of Reading Fiction”, that reading fiction makes us better human beings. Throughout this article, we learn about the many benefits to our emotional and physical well-being derived from this kind of reading. Parker’s use of ethos, through demonstrating her expertise and using reliable sources, logos, through her inclusion of important facts and her analysis of evidence, and pathos, through addressing the reader's fears and using inclusive language, creates a compelling article on the benefits of reading …show more content…

She displays her expertise even before the start of the article where it is stated that she is “a lecturer at Harvard University and a practicing psychologist”(Parker). Being a lecturer at Harvard shows her expertise because, as the third most prestigious school in the country and one of the eight Ivy League schools, their process for selecting lecturers is very rigorous. Parker also has her Ph.D., which is the highest level of education one can receive in a particular field and usually indicates mastery of that subject. This impressive resume shows the reader that she has expertise in the field, making it easier to trust the information she presents and therefore strengthening the persuasiveness of her argument. Additionally, Parker develops an ethos by using reliable sources. Building trust in an audience is key to increasing credibility and supporting effective communication, and one way to build trust is by using trustworthy sources to support one’s work …show more content…

Throughout the article, Parker helps ease this fear by demonstrating the benefits that can be derived from reading fiction. For example, when she discusses how fiction “modestly improves people’s capacity to understand and mentally react to other individuals and social situations” she addresses one of the benefits of reading fiction is improved empathy (Parker). This may ease people's fears that reading fiction is a waste of time, because there are real-world benefits to spending time this way. Using this emotional response helps to support her argument because she slowly shows that the positives outweigh the negatives of reading fiction and in this way convinces people that their fear is unfounded. Another way Parker utilizes the audience’s emotions is by using inclusive language. Using inclusive language gives the reader a sense of solidarity with the author. Parker uses inclusive language to show that the reader and herself are not so different in order to persuade her audience to agree with the arguments she is

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