Logos and Pathos Appeals in Taking What is not There - Essay Example

He aims to convince the affected communities along these water sources to organize and mobilize against taking more than what actual water levels are and to fight water pollution. Midkiff seeks to persuade people to conserve water and to ensure that politicians manage the waters more efficiently through equitable treatment of all users, and he effectively uses pathos and logos appeals, where he describes, compares and contrasts current and recommended systems that can improve water management and conservation, and uses irony and sarcasm to provoke a sense of urgency in attaining his rhetoric.

In order to effectively persuade people to understand the gravity of the water management problems in the country, Midkiff uses description to show how serious America’s water problems are, with specifications for the Colorado River and Rio Grande. These specifications appeal to the rationality of the people, so that they will understand that their demand for water is way beyond the production capacity of their water systems. For the Colorado River, Midkiff illustrates that the 1920s flow of the Colorado River is not the same as present times: “Recent estimates indicate that only 10 percent of the flows in the 1920s now reach the gulf, and this trivial amount is heavily polluted with agricultural runoff- pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer” (2). . ime the Rio Grande arrives at the International Bridge, it looks far from the lush and clean river its used to be: “The barely flowing water is a putrid greenish yellow, filled with herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers carried by the ‘return flows’ from irrigated cultural lands and with the polluted discharges of the maquiladoras (U.S. factories in Mexico)” (Midkiff 9).

This description highlights how rivers die because of human-made pollution. Also, in both rivers, high water demand exerts too much pressure on these rivers. Midkiff says that when Rio Grande flows to Albuquerque, it almost dries completely, after it passes to numerous communities that use its water. The dryness of some parts of these rivers and the polluted waters indicate that the water systems of these communities are in danger. Midkiff effectively explains that if these waters are in danger, the people’s survival is in danger too.

Midkiff uses comparing and contrasting approach of different uses and solutions to the water problems to emphasize that only the people can organize to save their water resources, and this process combines appeals to logic and emotions. For Rio Grande, Midkiff compares and contrasts the difference between what the river can offer and what people demand for it. He stresses that the Lower Rio Grande Valley is “a shadow of its former self” (11). The Sabal Palms Refuge is already affected by falling water levels (Midkiff 11).

The water levels are declining because of overappropriation and pollution, and by explaining how the river dries because of these factors appeals to logos. Aside from logos, Midkiff adds heart-wrenching images to tug people’s hearts. In the Sabal Palms Refuge, plants and animals are dying (Midkiff 11). The image of these living things