John Tringas

11/22/14
Day Book Entry
Chapter 4 exercise 4.1
Ravisankar begins his essay by using pathos to connect with the reader. He writes about
being a poor college student like the one reading his paper. Ravisankar also appeals to ethos
writing we identifying himself as a poor college student as well effectively leveling with the
reader. The problem he identifies is that there is a cruelty in this world known a sweatshop labor.
Ravisankar assumes his readers are poor college students who read their texts book. His purpose
in this essay is to expose this tragedy and explain a few ways not to promote it. In order to
accomplish this purpose, he appeals mainly to people who seek to purchase items at a low cost
without regard to how they are made mainly poor college students bargain hunting. He also
appeals to large universities that buy in bulk. In his essay, Ravisankar addresses the main
argument against his thesis, the idea that anti-sweatshop activists are harming the workers even
more by criticizing labor and human-rights conditions, and forcing companies to close their door
leaving the workers jobless. He refutes this argument by saying the companies are the ones who
make the decision to close their doors, change their location, finding the cheaper labor and
weaker labor restriction. Finally, he concludes by making the point that the companies are in a
race to the bottom by striving to find cheaper and cheaper labor and less restrictive working
conditions. Overall, the argument ravinsankar makes is effective, exposing the hidden secret
behind companies who thrive on greed. They participate in the decline of the human race trading
human life for material goods.