Comparing the Effectiveness of Elie Wiesel and Russell Baker
Leah Krainz
Miss Marchek and Mrs. Wood
AP English Language and Composition
10 October 2012
Comparing the Effectiveness of Elie Wiesel and Russell Baker Elie Wiesel’s text “The Perils of Indifference” and Russell Baker’s text “Happy New Year?” convey a common underlying message: succumbing to social culture for the sake of acceptance has consequences. This message is explained in each work through the usage of Wiesel and Baker’s ethos, pathos, tone, figurative language, and rhetorical questioning. These rhetorical devices are used differently in the two texts, as each writer had a different style and audience to compose for. Although each piece was written skillfully and uniquely with a common underlying message, one was more effective than the other. Elie Wiesel conveys a more effective message than Russell Baker, due to his usage of ethos and rhetorical questioning. Elie Wiesel’s The Perils of Indifference was written and recited for The White House on April 12, 1999. In order for him to enforce his message onto his sophisticated and knowledgeable audience, he had to incorporate strong ethos into his composition. Many individuals are familiar with his award winning literary work “Night”, which tells of his ghastly experiences as a Jew during World War II. Although it can be assumed that the audience members at The White House are aware of Wiesel’s background, his usage of ethos in “The Perils of Indifference” paints a vivid image of his past, even if the audience has no prior knowledge of it. The first example of elaborate ethos in Elie Wiesel’s work can be located on the second page, in the second paragraph. Wiesel ends the previous paragraph explaining how “…their [those who are indifferent] lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to abstraction”. He uses the second paragraph to describe the appearance and mentality of the “Muselmänner”, who were “the most tragic of all
Miss Marchek and Mrs. Wood
AP English Language and Composition
10 October 2012
Comparing the Effectiveness of Elie Wiesel and Russell Baker Elie Wiesel’s text “The Perils of Indifference” and Russell Baker’s text “Happy New Year?” convey a common underlying message: succumbing to social culture for the sake of acceptance has consequences. This message is explained in each work through the usage of Wiesel and Baker’s ethos, pathos, tone, figurative language, and rhetorical questioning. These rhetorical devices are used differently in the two texts, as each writer had a different style and audience to compose for. Although each piece was written skillfully and uniquely with a common underlying message, one was more effective than the other. Elie Wiesel conveys a more effective message than Russell Baker, due to his usage of ethos and rhetorical questioning. Elie Wiesel’s The Perils of Indifference was written and recited for The White House on April 12, 1999. In order for him to enforce his message onto his sophisticated and knowledgeable audience, he had to incorporate strong ethos into his composition. Many individuals are familiar with his award winning literary work “Night”, which tells of his ghastly experiences as a Jew during World War II. Although it can be assumed that the audience members at The White House are aware of Wiesel’s background, his usage of ethos in “The Perils of Indifference” paints a vivid image of his past, even if the audience has no prior knowledge of it. The first example of elaborate ethos in Elie Wiesel’s work can be located on the second page, in the second paragraph. Wiesel ends the previous paragraph explaining how “…their [those who are indifferent] lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to abstraction”. He uses the second paragraph to describe the appearance and mentality of the “Muselmänner”, who were “the most tragic of all