Persuasive Writing Reflections

www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I chose to compare Martin Luther King Jr's letter from a Birmingham jail and the speakers' presentation to a letter written by Caroline Kennedy in her support of Presidential candidate Barack Obama. The first example of ethos that I found was actually at the end of Caroline Kennedy's letter. There is a short sentence explaining how Kennedy is the author of a book titled "The Patriot Handbook: Songs, poems, stories, and speeches celebrating the land we love," which establishes her credibility. Ethos can also be found in Martin Luther King Jr's letter from Birmingham Jail. King establishes his credibility early in the letter by stating in the second paragraph that he is the President of the Southern Christian Leadership conference.

I had trouble finding an example of logos, or the appeal to logic, in Kennedy's letter. However, she did state towards the end of the letter that we need a president who runs a dignified and honest campaign, which is a logical claim to make. Logos was easy to spot in the Army recruiters' presentation to the class. They stated that the Army will pay up to $65,000 worth of college loans for recent graduates who enter the Army. Someone with a lot of college debt would likely find this money to be a logical reason to join the army.

There are several examples of pathos in King's letter from Birmingham Jail. King uses phrases like "shattered dreams," "dark dungeons of complacency," "brutal facts," and "yearning for freedom" to appeal to his readers' emotions. Kennedy displays pathos at the end of the 7th paragraph with the sentence; "Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parent's grandchildren, with a sense of possibility." Bringing children into an argument always seems to appeal to emotion.

If I could rate the persuasivness of these three examples, I would find King's letter to be the most persuasive and the recruiter's presentation to be the least persuasive. To be honest, I was not entirely impressed with Kennedy's writing skills, and found myself surprised that she had written a book. But I've never written a book, so I guess I don't really have room to judge. King's letter was of course very persuasive, but the recruiter's presentation left quite a bit to be desired as far as persuasion goes, as I did not find myself wanting to join the army more than I had when I walked into class.