Rhetoric analysis of select paper - Essay Example

He may have read several articles on epigenetics but he still is not worthy to refute Darwin’s theory. The first two paragraphs in the article is an enthymeme because a part of the argument of the author is missing. He talks of a missing full-day discovered by scientists, which was proven by a chapter in the bible. He then concludes his paragraph by stating that Darwin was wrong in his “myth” of creation. In this syllogism, the major premise is missing making the argument incomplete. It just suddenly concludes that Darwin’s theory is a mistake.

Even in the title alone, Burkeman is successful at getting the attention of his readers. He uses kairos right at the start of the article. He takes advantage of the opportune time to capture his audience. What better time to catch the attention of the readers than at the beginning of the document. The title was skillfully worded to stimulate the readers’ views on Darwin’s theory and hopefully to keep them stirred up during the duration of the argument the author wishes to expound. The title is pathos-driven because it tells the readers that everything they know about evolution is all wrong.

This will evoke strong emotions on the readers who will be confused and probably ask themselves what then is the truth. The title alone will encourage people to read the article to find out why they are wrong and what then the right theory of evolution is. Burkeman also uses a play of words in his article, specifically when he used the words “nature” and “nurture”. He uses these words to further explain the concept of epigenetics. He uses these two words to describe about the effect of the environment, that is “nurture” and heredity, which is “nature”, on an individual’s descendants.

The author displayed logos in his article by citing several experiments conducted by various scientists who question Darwin’s theory of evolution. He cited experiments such as the Swedish chicken which is a breakthrough in the field of epigenetics. Another experiment which Burkeman cited which illustrated his use of logos in trying to convey the idea he wished to espouse was the Norrbotten study on life spans. The idea that the author is trying to send to his readers was presented through a review of some literatures which delved on the topic of evolution.

He gives his opinions on the book of David Shenk, “The Genius in All of Us”, the books of Dawkins, Dennett, Randy Thornhill and Craig Palmer’s “The Natural History of Rape”, Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini’s book, “What Darwin Got Wrong”, the work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the research of Carl Woese and Nigel Goldenfield. He cites these studies in trying to prove wrong Darwin’s theory. Burkeman seems to contradict himself on his idea about Darwin’s theory of evolution. While his title implies that Darwin is wrong in his conclusions, in the end, he states that Darwin’s findings were the “beginning of journey to understand the origins and development of life” (Burkeman , par 30).

Burkeman is quite illogical because he is contradicting himself. He refutes Darwin’s research largely in his article but in the end, he acknowledges Darwin’s work as being the stepping stone in further studies in evolution. In terms of style, Burkeman uses figurative language in his essay as exemplified in some statements such as, “I got up and refilled my cup”