The Language of Composition

Jody Heyman's essay "We Can Afford to Give Parents a Break" utilizes many different patterns of development to get her point across about the need for better maternity leave policies and sick day policies in the United States. It is worth noting that Jody's argument is based on several counter arguments. This form of organization is called refutation or refutatio. Also, Heyman refers to these counter arguments as "myths" and addresses each of them. For example, one counter argument was that “Decent working conditions will inhibit economic growth.” She refutes this opinion with fact, stating that Ireland’s “growth rate is among the world’s highest…while ensuring six months of paid paternal leave, four weeks of paid annual leave, short-and-long-term paid sick leave and unpaid leave to meet children’s health needs.” Clearly, Jody’s use of development in her essay contributes to her strong argument.

Several examples of developmental patterns can be found in Jody’s essay. In the first paragraph, she defines the mythology of motherhood in America (an example of definition). This pattern of development is often used as the first step in a debate, as it is used here. In the second paragraph, she uses exemplification-a very prominent aspect to Jody’s essay. She does this by providing many exemplars of countries that do and do not offer maternity leave for new mothers. In doing this she uses comparison and contrast from the number of countries that do have maternity leave to the number that do not. In the third paragraph, she uses narration by telling the reader facts about the benefits of breast-feeding along with consequences of not using the breast-feeding method. The fourth paragraph contains narration again-this time by letting the reader know the amount of countries that guarantee a minimum amount of paid leave. Jody uses exemplification again in this paragraph by providing evidence of why giving parents paid leave can be beneficial to parents, children, and