Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example

The essay or article of Craig Brown was not intended for the medical community because it did not spoke of any revolutionary research or life changing findings in the medical field but rather the dilemma that confronts the physician when they try to extend the life of a patience using the advances in medical technology. He introduced himself and what he does by using metaphors as he narrates the complexity of his job from being an obstetrician “where fresh-faced tulips are popping up at all hours” (which is not his specialty) to seeing patients of all ages until he touched on taking care for “threadworn elderly, those facing an eternal winter with no green in sight, is definitely the most difficult thing I do”.

He introduced himself as a medical doctor not by enumerating his credentials but rather by narrating in a literary manner the dilemmas he faced as a physician which gave face and feelings to the profession that the readers can easily relate and sympathize. In a way, the article was a human interest essay because it emphasized the humane aspect of taking care the elderly from the point of view of a doctor. Dr. Craig Brown’s human interest approach in the article made him more credible both as a doctor and a writer.

This is because he showed that he does not only knows his job very well but also knows the human aspect of it and the dilemmas that accompanies in treating patient who are already in their twilight years. His moral stature and credibility became more pronounced that served as an ethos of the article and elevated his stature as an authority who knows the subject as well as the human aspect of it. Thus, it impresses to the reader that he is not only a competent but compassionate as well which made the article close if not endearing to the readers.

During the duration of the article, one can readily observe that the essay is replete with heart wrenching scenario in elderly care that the reader can almost feel the burden of the doctor as he attends to the patient. This is the use of emotion in the article as rhetorical tool of pathos or emotional appeal. After establishing credibility and getting the interest of the reader in his creative and flowery introduction, the author begun narrating his case by capitalizing on the emotional aspect of his job in dealing with elderly who are in their twilight years as the pathos.

It is obviously noticeable that even if the author spoke of diseases and medical condition, he did not dwell deep on medical terms but instead used words that are common to the readers such as arthritis, diabetes to avoid distracting the readers with jargon and lose the emotional appeal of the article which explains why the approach was very powerful. The author did not argue by capitalizing on his credentials but persuaded the reader on his point of view by narrating the emotional dilemma that doctors’ feel when attending to these patients that sometimes, living in agony is worse than death itself.

Perhaps the doctor knows that he may be questioned as a practicing physician if he will argue his main point that prolonging life in pain worse than dying itself. As a physician, he is sworn to Hippocratic Oath or in Dr. Craig’s words, he is in a “do no harm business” and arguing that old people are better off to accept death as they come than suffer a long agonizing life may not