Richard 1

Janelle Richard
ENG 112-78
Instructor Connie Douglas
Daybook Entry #2
13 November 2014
Practical Argument: Exercise 4.1 Rhetorical Analysis
Ravisankar begins his essay by grabbing the readers attention with a statement that
relates himself to the reader, saying, Being the poor college students that we all are, many of
us undoubtedly place an emphasis on finding the lowest prices. The problem he identifies in his
rhetorical analysis is the high human cost it takes to achieve [these] lower and lower prices
these college students in discussion are seeking for, which in return leads to the unfortunate and
vast use of sweatshop labor. (para. 2) Ravisankar assumes his readers are college or college-aged
students who are concerned with saving money.
His purpose is to reveal the unnerving conditions of sweatshops and stress how repulsive
the conditions are in these establishments. Ravisankar also wants to inform his readers on the
action certain organizations are taking to address the total disregard for human well-being
through sweatshop oppression. (para. 9) In order to accomplish this purpose, he appeals mainly
to the emotions of the reader. He also appeals logically to the issues at hand involving sweatshop
labor. In his essay, Ravisankar addresses the main argument against his thesis, the idea that
claims made by those who oppose sweatshops actually have a negative impact on the plight of
the poor in the developing world. (para. 6) These free-market economic fundamentalists suggest

Richard 2
that those who criticize the labor and human-rights conditions have forced companies to leave
some locations, which results in the loss of jobs for workers. He refutes this argument by saying
that companies are the ones ultimately responsible for changing locations, not anti-sweatshop
protestors.
Finally, Ravisankar concludes by making the point that companies who push for lower
wages and input costs are partaking in a phenomenon that is described as the race to the
bottom. Basically, a continuous decline in wages and working conditions will be followed up by
a lower standard of living, which seems very counter-productive in the attempt to pull the
developing world out of poverty. Overall, the argument Ravisankar makes is effective, because
he appeals to the emotions of the reader while also presenting the facts and opinions to which he
feels strongly towards.