Rhetorical Analysis Of Honesty By Sam Harris

This essay by Sam Harris opened my eyes to new ideals about honesty and deception. I think it was a very well done piece and the author without a doubt was very deliberate in the rhetorical tools he chose to convince readers of his opinion about this controversial topic. Harris uses a particular sense of pathos to convince readers that what he is saying is right. For example, he gives the example that 10 percent of communication between spouses is deceptive (paragraph 24), and again when he asks, “What attitude could be more disrespectful of those we care about?” (paragraph 60). He purposely and subtly implements these claims which deliberately pull at the reader’s heart strings, making them more susceptible to his ideals.
In my opinion, one

of his most effective strategies is the specific definitions he gives for lies and truths. It could have been argued that truth and lies are relative to the reader, but Harris eliminated this claim by stating exactly what he believes and considers to be accurate. Lastly, he also inputs several rhetorical questions to really make readers pause and think about their feelings. I think he does this because it would be easy for people to read this excerpt and decide that they disagree with him and would never be as brutally honest as himself. The use of rhetorical questions forces readers to stop for a second and contemplate the pros and cons about Harris’ statements. All in all, I very much enjoyed this essay. I gained a new sense of what lying actually does to people, and as a more compassionate liar, it really changed my perspective about the benefits of honesty.