Rhetorical Analysis

Allison Gautreau
September 7, 2014
College Writing II
Rhetorical Analysis

Throughout Kathryn Lopez’s article “Egg Heads”, she uses many rhetorical strategies in order to encourage her readers to agree with her argument, as well as to inform them of the harm that is done to young women’s bodies during in-vitro fertilization (IVF). With the use of pathos, ethos, and logos, Lopez makes her argument rather easy to agree with.  Lopez executes the rhetorical element of pathos very well throughout her article. When stating that, “They risk bleeding, infection, and scarring” and “weeks of abdominal pain (At worst, complications may leave her dead).” Lopez uses great emotion. When using words such as, “dead” many emotions can be brought to the reader’s attention, encouraging them to agree with the argument at hand. Emotion is also brought to the readers because Lopez lets them know exactly what these young women are doing to their bodies and for what reasons, such as money. Lopez really gets into the readers emotion when explaining that, “College girls are the perfect donors”, because, who would not get emotional with knowing that young women are basically being tricked into the possibility of damaging their bodies permanently? With no heads up or warning at all. These appeals to emotion in Lopez’s article made her argument very convincing and I believe that many people who read or have read this article will be touched by it emotionally because of the way Lopez has incorporated the rhetorical element, pathos. When Lopez states that, “Unlike sperm donation, which is over in less than an hour, egg donation takes the donor some 56 hours and includes a battery of tests, ultrasound, self-administered injections, and retrieval” she is incorporating ethos in her article. With stating facts about the process of IVF, Lopez shows the readers that she is knowledgeable about the topic and is able to inform them of important information about IVF that many young girls participating in egg donation, are not aware of. By discussing the amounts of money that these different IVF centers are making and the amounts of money the young women could possibly make by donating their eggs, Lopez’s knowledge of the topic is executed yet again. This is informing readers of one of the reasons why young girls are doing this and also shows just how much money this horrible thing is bringing into the economy. By showing her knowledge of these things, Lopez was successful in encouraging women to consider the risks and affects of IVF. Lastly, the rhetorical element of logos has been executed within Lopez’s article as well. Much like the rhetorical elements of pathos and ethos, Lopez has also executed logos successfully within her article. Although Lopez makes it very known throughout her article that she is very against IVF, she continues to show logic of the topic and makes sure that her readers know that she has logical reasoning for her opinion. By explaining the negative effects to young women’s bodies due to IVF, Lopez is able to show her logic of the topic because she states many facts about the effects of IVF, such as, “When too many eggs are matured in one cycle, it can damage the ovaries.” Lopez is able to present much logic of the process and effects of IVF, causing many readers to agree with her argument and executing the rhetorical element of logos successfully. In my opinion, Lopez did a very good job in executing these three rhetorical elements. By using pathos, ethos, and logos, I believe that she was able to persuade many readers to agree with her opinion of in-vitro fertilization. With that being said, I believe that her article was a success and that she was able to inform as well as persuade many of the people that have read her article, “Egg Heads”.

Topic:
Structure:
Purpose is:
Style
Mechanics A Range

(18-20 pts)
-original, perceptive, interesting. -complex, fully fleshed out and explored

-unified, cohesive

-made clear to the reader throughout the essay.

- appropriate in scope for the assignment.

- organic to the essay. Ideas are logically and thoughtfully connected, the structure works for the type of essay.

- clearly organized; has smooth, substantive transitions; clear sign-post for the reader to follow.

- has an engaging, effective introduction and conclusion that introduces/concludes the topic in a compelling and unique way.

- has a clearly articulated thesis statement that addresses the major claims or points of the essay

- clearly and consistently indicated in the introduction and throughout the essay.

- consistent with the assignment. - essay makes clear how all parts contribute to the overall purpose and the parts work in concert to achieve the indicated purpose.
Concise, lucid, fluent, graceful, confident; direct engaging voice; displays wit and personality;

Descriptive; honest, genuine voice, unique.

High level of specificity and vivid detail.

-creative title
Very few spelling, grammar, or punctuation problems; flawless MLA style.

B-C Range

(14-17 pts)
-original and interesting.

-complex to a degree, but not fully fleshed out or explored

-somewhat unified, but some elements seem unrelated or divergent

-generally made clear to the reader but at times not fully explained, defined, or outlined.
-could be more appropriate in scope for the assignment.
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-the structure of the essay is apparent but not organic, the essay seemed organized around things external to the essay.

- generally clearly organized, but more substantive transitions and clearer sign-post would help make the structure better.

-has a generally effective introduction and/or conclusion but could more introduce and/or conclude the topic more creatively or uniquely.

- has an articulated thesis statement that addresses the major claims or points of the essay but that thesis could be more clear or developed - generally clearly indicated in the introduction and throughout the essay.

- generally consistent with assignment, with some lapses.

- generally all parts seem related to the purpose, but in some places, the overall cohesiveness could be improved.
Sense of style or voice is evident but it’s
-appropriate for audience/purpose with some lapses
- informal
-awkward
-too wordy
-vague
-cluttered (“it is evident that. . . “)
-paper-ese (“utilize” instead of “use”)
-passive voice
-heavy reliance on “however,” “thus” as substitutes for logical thinking
-title is generic or lacking

Spelling, punctuation, and grammar problems distract from argument.

Problems with:
-MLA citations

D-E range

(Less than 13 pts)
-not particularly original, generic

- simplified, not explored very fully at all.

- not unified, ideas seem unrelated

- not appropriate in scope

-disorganized, repetitious, or choppy.
-contains paragraphs that don’t contribute to the overall purpose. -lacks transitions and sign-post. - lacks or has an ineffective introduction or conclusion

- lacks or has an ineffective thesis
- is not clearly indicated in introduction or throughout the essay.

- not consistent with the assignment.

- essay lacks cohesiveness—not clear how parts relate to the whole. -Problems enumerated above present to an extreme degree

-Slang, insensitivity to occasion or audience.

-Sloppy, lazy, undisciplined, flippant, incoherent.
Pervasive problems in spelling, grammar, and punctuation obstruct meaning/purpose.

Problems with:
-MLA citations
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This is a good analysis of the rhetoric of the author’s argument in the essay. You provide an effective reading of her use of rhetoric essay and make a case for whether you find the use of those elements successful or not, as well as show a clear understanding of the elements of rhetoric and how they are used in constructing arguments. I would have loved to see you give more examples from the text of the problems you point out and also to make clearer what elements of rhetoric these good examples you point out represent, as well as if they are used successfully or not by Lopez to make a convincing case for her argument. In other words, how do these good examples affect the rhetoric of the argument? Do they make her case more compelling? Why or why not? There are also some issues with clarity and style that detracted a bit from the overall ethos, or your own credibility as a writer, of the essay. Overall, though, this is a good reading of the essay that offered rhetorical analysis but one that could have been a bit more developed and explained more fully.
Grade: 85