Rhetorical Article The Current Literacy Rate Isn't Any Better Than it Was 10 Years Ago - Essay Example

Rhetorical analysis of the article “The current literacy rate isn't any better than it was 10 years ago” The article entitled “The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed In 10 Years” was chosen as the subject of rhetorical analysis not only for the opinion given by the author in the article but also of its relevance and significance in discussing the literacy and academic state in the US which makes an ideal piece for a classroom discussion. It made a combined use of the rhetorical devices of pathos, ethos and logos to make the article engaging as well as persuasive to convince the reader to side with the argument of the author and to some extent, to also ring the alarm bell that something must already be done to improve the literacy rate in America. The article “The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed In 10 Years” opened on a lighter note by connecting it with a celebration that the reader is concerned about – that is the International Literacy Day! The author then cited mundane things on what should the reader do on that day which is really the province of the pathos of emotionally engaging the audience to continue the read on the article and thus it went “We recommend taking the opportunity to curl up with a warm cup of coffee, a comfy chair, and a favorite classic. Of course, this holiday is bittersweet”. Note that the word bittersweet is used to indicate the use of emotion in engaging the reader. After engaging the reader with the article by an effective use of the pathos, the author proceeded with the logos or the use of reason and facts in presenting her arguments. By this time, the reader is already engaged so the use of factual information such as numbers and data would not be much of a bore. So it stated the thesis of the case which “The current literacy rate isn't any better than it was 10 years ago”. The thesis was initially supported by a combination of pathos and logos by citing the benefits of literacy to the readers and to the society in generally. Common benefits of high literacy rate such as “Economic security, access to health care, and the ability to actively participate in civic life” were cited to be “all depend on an individual's ability to read” and therefore is a necessary skill and competence to be had to live a fuller life. Note here that an ethos is not used because this argument that is a common knowledge and not needing a credible source to convince the reader. After the article cited the benefits of literacy rate, the article then followed up with the arguments effective use of ethos to elevate the argument and make it more credible by citing a legitimate and credible organization such as the National Assessment of Adult Literacy citing figures that support the authors thesis that literacy rate in America is not any better than it was then years ago. This is already strategically necessary for the article to have substance because merely citing a common knowledge to support an argument is not convincing and makes the article trivial. Such, figures were used that came from National Assessment of Adult Literacy such as the “14 percent of adult Americans demonstrated a "below basic" literacy level in 2003, and 29 percent exhibited a "basic" reading level” becomes more credible when it such claim is made by an authoritative organization such as National Assessment of Adult Literacy. It is important to note here that the author’s further argument supported her thesis by the combined use of ethos and logos. This time, he used the negative consequence of her thesis of a low literacy rate and in a way sounded the alarm bell that something must be done already to address the issue. This may have been done to balance the argument of the article by first citing the positive aspect of the benefit of having a high literacy rate with the negative consequence of having a low literacy rate. So the figures and study from the Department of Justice was used by citing that the "The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure . . . 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate”. The author here press on the urgency of addressing illiteracy as this causes criminality among the youth at a staggering frequency of 85% of the time which statistically meant that it is almost certain that an illiterate juvenile is likely to commit crime. The argument is supported further by another factual figure coming from another study that “over 70 percent of inmates in America's prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level”. The use of this rhetorical device of combined logos and ethos is strategically placed near the end of the article to indicate as a mere support of the other arguments because the source is not that credible which is really just a website ”BeginToRead.com”. In sum, the article first caught the reader’s attention by using pathos or emotional appeal through the use of the celebration of Literacy Day and use of bittersweet. Then the article proceeded with the argument of the paper to persuade the readers of the author’s thesis that “The current literacy rate isn't any better than it was 10 years ago. This was achieved by the effective use of rhetorical devices. The rhetorical formula used in this article is the use of pathos first at the opening of the article to make the article interesting and engage the audience to read the article. After engaging the reader, the author then proceeded to logos and ethos. It is important to underscore that the two rhetorical devices of logos and ethos were used simultaneously to make the logos credible by the support of ethos which is the use of credibility as a rhetorical device. This made the article interesting as well as convincing where the seemingly inane and boring topic of literacy became an interesting piece to read. Work Cited Crum, Maddie. "The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed In 10 Years." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 24 Feb. 2015. . Read More