Did you know over 60% of teens work in the state of South Dakota? South Dakota Workforce: Of that 60%, nearly all of them are taxed and none of them have the right to vote. This is a clear example of taxation without representation: one of the unjust ideals that America strives to stray from. In his essay, “In Defense of Lowering the Voting Age,” Joshua A. Douglas craftily demonstrates the need for sixteen-year-olds’ votes to establish a fair representation in the municipal world through his use of logos, ethos, and pathos. Although Douglas’s use of pathos is sparse, it is impactful because it helps the reader to connect to the text through their emotions. One of the first instances of this pathos is on page five when Douglas writes, “Turning …show more content…
Another example of this occurs on page 6 when he says, “Unless there is a competency-based reason to bar them from voting, then, it seems only fair that we permit sixteen— and seventeen-year-olds to participate in our democratic process.” With this piece of text, Douglas again makes the audience question themselves by providing a time and place in which sixteen and seventeen-year-olds should be barred from voting. As a result of the ethos’s ability to make the reader question their morals, it strengthens the author’s credibility and ultimately remains one of the most important literary devices Douglas uses. Douglas’s implication of logos remains the most impactful literary device in his essay because of his ability to emphasize discrimination while also reaching an audience with a multitude of backgrounds. The first example of logos happens when Douglas cites a municipal election in the U.S. Census Bureau from 2013. It illustrated that the turnout rate between sixteen and seventeen-year-olds was forty-four percent while the turnout rate from the total population was eleven percent (p.
Pathos in persuasive writing involves engaging the readers’ emotion. In the article, Carlson’s use of pathos is clearly present. She uses phrases such as “phenomenal takeover”, “commercial conquest”, “alleged discrimination”, and “cultural insensitivity” to describe Wal-Mart. These are powerful words of rhetoric in the sense that this language is used to a pick a side, one against the Wal-Mart franchise. These statements also arouse emotion by personifying the company as an empire, per say, overtaking territories everywhere. This, along with the use of language, such as discrimination and insensitivity, clearly evoke a negative outlook on Wal-Mart. Carlson is also able to conjure up anger amongst the reader by showing how Wal-Mart could care less for the land they are building on, as workers “had orders to hide any archaeological relics they found.” By presenting a side for her audience to take and her jab at Wal-Mart, Laura is able to appeal to the reader’s emotion and successfully includes pathos in her persuasive argument.
There is an argument in the article “Telling Americans to Vote, or Else”, that is written by William A. Galston. The article states that voting should be necessary for everyone. The author contrasts American voting with Australian voting. In the text, it says,
Logos appeals to reason, which are things like facts and statistics, and it works in the writers favor because it gives more information to the reader, which in turn builds the writer’s case. Nemko opens up almost right away with a “killer statistic” that warns of the fact that even if a student is giving an extended amount of time, if he or she did not graduate from high school in the top half of their class it is very unlikely that they will earn some kind of college degree. That is one statistic that is never heard, which is why it is stunning and a great way for Nemko to start off his argument. The fact that Nemko applies logos to his argument is the first reason why I agree with his proposal that too many young adults go to
One example of Logos is found in paragraph 9: “Three of every five Americans are overweight. One of every five is obese.” Pollan is using a statistic in order to emphasize to his reader the point he is intending to make. Another excellent example of logos would be, “Since the Nixon administration, farmers in the United States have managed to produce 500 additional calories per person every day (up from 3,000, already substantially more than we need); each of us is, heroically managing to put away 200 of those surplus calories at the end of their trip up the food chain.” Most Americans would find this statistic staggering as well as impactful as considering their options in the republic of fat. Another example is when he stated, “Since 1997, an American’s average daily intake of calories has jumped by more than ten percent.” This statistic is showing how the change in calories is increasing our unhealthy eating
I am responding to Micheal Schudson’s essay titled “America’s Ignorant Voter”. He makes several arguments against whether America having relatively ignorant voters poses a problem to our society, and whether it’s becoming worse over the years. One of the arguments he poses as to why Americans seem so clueless about political matters is due to the complexities of our nation’s political institutions.
“It’ll be the ballot or it’ll be the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.” These are the famous words of Malcolm X in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. In April, 1964 Malcolm X stood in front of a large crowd in Cleveland, Ohio and explained what the ballot or bullet meant. He was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and fought to make all African-Americans equal. Malcolm X explained to his audience using a great appeal to ethos, pathos and logos that African-Americans should fight for racial economic and social justice without different religion views standing in the way. He told his audience instead of fighting, meaning the bullet, they could vote for their own leaders or better leaders to represent them, meaning the ballot.
For example, the emotion is felt when Kozol speaks to a student from a New York, Bronx high school, “Think of it this way,” said a sixteen-year-old girl. “If people in New York woke up one day and learned that we were gone…how would they feel? Then when asking how she thought the people of New York would feel she replied, “I think they’d be relieved” (Kozol 205). By mentioning the thoughts and emotions of individuals involved with the issues of school system segregation and inequality his reader cannot help but develop a feeling of empathy for children that feel as if no one cares about them and their issue. Kozol also uses pathos effectively by reading letters to his reader he received from young elementary school children that are not afforded the same amenities as other children in wealthier school systems, amenities such as toilet paper or the appropriate amount of restrooms. Which causes students to hold the urge to relieve themselves out of fear of being late for class (Kozol 214). With the proper use of pathos, Kozol places the reader in the same situation and assistances the reader with an understanding of his reason for conveying a concern to help children in this unfortunate situation. Another example of Pathos is when he speaks of the letters that came from third-grade children asking for help with getting them better things. He mentions a letter that had the most affected on him that came from a girl named Elizabeth, “It is not fair that other kids have a garden and new things. But we don’t have that.” (Kozol 206). This example being only one example of the few things mentioned in the letter. The tone of the little girl from when Kozol reads gives a pitiful and sad feeling. By stating this, it acts on the reader’s emotional state which creates a sense of wanting to resolve the problem of
...adults compared to older adults were less likely to respond that voting was extremely important for good citizenship (133). He concludes that it is too late for the generation of young adults that do not feel voting is an important civic responsibility, however, that it is not too late to convince them that politics matter by showing them that they are giving their opportunity to make important decisions that may impact their lives to others who have different ideas. One may agree with Wattenberg’s idea that habits follow people throughout their lives instead of changing as they cycle in life. His personal accounts are an impactful way to illustrate the importance of building a sense of duty at a young age and carrying that responsibility throughout one’s life.
He uses Logos in his speech to show the reasoning behind what he is saying. For example, when Fredrick Douglass was speaking about how he will see America’s Independence Day from the slaves’ point of view. He doesn’t hesitate to declare that it never looked blacker to him due to the character and conduct of the nation and slavery. He explains his statement with reasoning making the rhetorical appeal Logos. Fredrick Douglass also uses Pathos during his speech to provoke emotion in the audience. An example is in the third to last paragraph he was expressing his anger for what America has done and that they should be punished severely. “Had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” This contains many strong words that he wants to use to provoke an emotion of rage or disapproval in the audience. He also wants to show how he feels about America’s slavery and the punishment they should face. These are two rhetorical appeals Fredrick Douglass uses in his speech to persuade the
This article advocates for the drinking age to be lowered. It presents the arguments in a very clear manner, with a bulleted list of 18 statistics that prove why it is unnecessary for the drinking age to be 21. The main argument of this article is that it is ironic that “Someone can join the military and die defending their country, but they can’t legally have a beer.” The first few examples use logos to appeal to the audience by giving legitimate statistics that prove how it makes sense to lower the age. It then uses pathos, by giving scary statistics that talk about drunk driving and other harmful behavior that actually prove to worried parents that statistics are lower in for these things in states that allow drinking at 18. Obviously parents
Politics is dirty and competitive and has not changed between 1879 and 2018. It is a complex system of jargon, charm, facts, and lies. Mark Twain’s “The Presidential Candidate” satirically expresses the essence of both old-world and modern politics as a presidential candidate who blatantly tells the truth of his wrongdoings. As a politician, one must be an open book. Their life must be truthfully written on the pages for the readers to analyze and evaluate their credibility as leaders. “The Presidential Candidate” resonates both in 1879 and 2018 with his use of humor, use of diction and use of subtlety.
The author uses pathos and logos several times in this writing. Pathos is in use when the author says, “Attempts to add sexual orientation to the federal statute began shortly after the brutal murder of young Matthew Sheppard in Wyoming, apparently because of his homosexuality.” He uses logos when he says, “ the yearly number of hate-crimes charges brought by the Justice Department dropped from seventy-six in 1996 to twenty-two ten years later.
Quindlen uses logos effectively by using facts from other sources. It shows when she tells us that, “The agriculture Department estimated in 1999 that twelve million children were hungry or at risk of going hungry.” This is only a small example of the facts she uses. Another example is when she tells us that, “A group of big-city mayors released a study showing that in 200, requests for food assistance from families increased almost 20 percent, more than at any time in the last decade.” These examples show how she is using logos to persuade readers.
To enforce voting to be mandatory , this will prompt more Americans to pay attention to the choices for their representatives. Mandating would stimulate the demand side, motivating voters to understand and acknowledge who they are voting for. Therefore , voting is to be a responsibility than a option.
In “You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re a Voter,” author Anya Kamenetz states her belief that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. Kamenetz gives several premises to her argument.