Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in "The Breast Cancer Gene and Me"

In the following post, I will answer questions about the identification and analysis of rhetorical strategies in my text.

williami5. "Breast cancer reflection." 06/09/2012 via Flickr.
Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Appeals to Credibility or Character (Ethos)

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Credibility or Character (Ethos)" on page 182 can you recognize in your text?

• Personal stories
• Word choice
• Tone
• Author's public image
• Information about the author's expertise
• Appeals to values or beliefs shared by the audience

How and why would the authors use these strategies?

• The author would use these strategies to appeal to the sense of trust in the audience. She has a professional reputation as a New York Times journalist, as well as a published author, so her reputation precedes her. Her tone was respectful, honest, and straightforward and her values match those of society. 

How do these strategies affect the audience's perception of the authors' credibility and character?

• Her use of these strategies help build her credibility with the audience. They provide the audience with good reasons to trust what she is saying. 

How does the use of these strategies impact the effectiveness of the text's overall message?

• The text is vastly more effective with her use of these strategies. It helps the audience build trust in her words and are more likely to assume what she is saying is true. 

Does the author seem to have any biases or assumptions that might impact their credibility?

• The author doesn't seem to have any biases or assumptions that IMPACT her credibility negatively. Her bias is justified because of her personal experience on the subject, and I believe it only adds to her credibility. 

Appeals to Emotion (Pathos)

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Emotion (Pathos)" on page 183 can you recognize in your text?

• Personal stories or other emotionally compelling narratives
• Repetition of key words
• Level of formality
• Tone of voice

What emotional responses is the author attempting to create?

• The emotional response the author is attempting to create would be to encourage the audience to get tested for the mutation. Her whole article centers around her personal anecdote. 

What is the actual result?

• The author succeeds in her goals to persuade the audience to get tested for the gene mutation. Her personal narrative is very compelling, especially the pain she endured, both physically and emotionally.

Are these emotions effective or ineffective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation?

• The emotions are effective- nothing encourages people more than fear of having a gene that causes pain on top of the fact that you have cancer. This is effective because it achieves the author's goal. 

How do these emotional appeals affect the credibility of the author or the logic of the text?

• The emotional appeals add to the credibility of the author because her personal experience on the subject automatically justifies anything she says as the truth. She has experienced the pain due to the lack of getting tested for the BRCA gene mutation. 

Appeals to Logic (Logos)

Which items on the bulleted list of  "Appeals to Logic or Rational Decision Making (Logos)" on page 183 can you recognize in your text?

• Statistics
• Effective organization of sentences, paragraphs, ideas, etc.
• Arrangement of text for emphasis/focus

What response is the author attempting to create by employing these strategies?

• The author is attempting to appeal to the logical side of the audience. Her argument is logical: get tested and save yourself the pain. The audience is sure to respond to that in hopes of avoiding pain.

What is the actual result?

• The goal of the author is achieved- to encourage/persuade people to get tested for the BRCA gene mutation.  It's the common sense thing to do, especially because cancer is so prevalent in our society.

Are these strategies effective or ineffective for this particular audience or rhetorical situation?

• The strategies are effective for this audience- everyone. Logic is basic common sense for the public, so it is very effective. 

Reflection

After reading Swati and Chelsea's blog posts on analyzing rhetorical strategies, I feel a lot better about mine. It may be short, but all the answers are there. I'm more of a minimalist in my work sometimes, but I will probably add length to the analysis for the end of Project 2. I liked Swati's organization and answers, they were well-thought out. Chelsea had good use of her authors quotes, which is something I probably should have done.