Rhetorical Analysis Of Sex Lies And Conversation

Jissell Navarrete
Professor M. Harris
English 111
16 November, 2016 Sex, Lies and Conversations
What is the importance of communication? Communication is an important life skill that helps to people connect by building respect and trust; it can resolve differences in the environment. In Deborah Tannen’s essay “Sex, Lies and Conversations” she highlights the different styles of communication of man and woman. Tannen opens her essay with an anecdote that grabs the reader’s attention with her own personal experiences. Tannen discusses how men and women communicate with each other, how different the ways of communications for opposite sexes are, and how this can
She uses this tactic of persuasion to get to the main point on how men and women have grown up with different types of communication with the same and opposite sex. As she states “these systematic differences in childhood socialization make talk between women and men like cross-cultural communication” (Tannen 264). Tannen stated that man and a women have different ways of communicating with each other based on how they are raised to communicate. As kids we grow up to find a friend within the same sex; it’s what they are comfortable with at first. But as we get older and when it comes to talking to the opposite sex it’s difficult because it’s out of both genders comfort zone. She explains in her essay that “intimacy is the fabric of relationships” and girls create and maintain friendship by exchanging secrets, but boys struggle to avoid the subordinate position in the group (Tannen, 264). Another example that Tannen uses logos is by using analogies that make a comparison between the situations a man and woman experience in communication. Tannen uses other well-known sociologists that have reported facts of woman and man communication. For instance, she brings in author Catherine Riessman of “Divorce Talk”, states that,
This can also relate to similar situations or articles that list these differences such as “Are We Speaking a Different Language?” by Lisa Evans where she states “The idea that men and women speak a different language is well-worn in regards to personal relationships”. However, Tannen reassures us, learning about these communication differences can help couples express their feelings and to listen one another. Tannen talks about ethos; Tannen quotes different books and articles to back up her claims. To continue to persuade the reader, we find logos in her essay, because she uses factual evidence to back up her claims, quoting sociologists like Catherine Kohler Riessman who talks about divorce, and also an American psychologist who talks about children’s development. Lastly, Tannen also uses figurative language. She appeals to our emotions and values by talking about how both genders interact with each other, making the reader either agree or disagree. Her strategies are really effective because she builds her credibility, sounds factual and connects to the reader. The purpose of her essay is to illustrate the differences of a men and woman interaction within the conversations in their relationship. And ultimately, she does a good