Sat Essay

“Government must preserve national parks”, is an article by Todd Davidson, published in 2014 by the
Capitol Hill Publishing Corp. The purpose of this article is to interest the U.S government to fund over
400 national parks in United States. Through the use of various persuasive devices like ethos, pathos,
logos and rhetorical devices, Todd Davidson creates a strong persuasive argument to support his claim.

There is substantial evidence to suggest that the writer has used formal and diplomatic tone as the
primary target audience for this article are the U.S government officials. Moreover, the voice used by
the writer is compassionate for national park, an example, in 5th and 6th passage the writer
compassionately explains the numerous consequences of reducing funding to national parks. Similarly,
the lines ‘parks have fewer rangers to protect and maintain ………………. maintenance that is essential for
parks accessibility’ are used to reiterate the same. Furthermore, this creates a mood of shock for the
audience as they were previously unaware of the consequences of funds on national parks in U.S.

This brings us to a point, that the writer makes use of many persuasive devices to build a persistent
argument to support his claim to fund national parks. To start, there is constant use of pathos along with
rhetorical questions in the introductory paragraph “Who among us has stared into the deep blue Crater
lake ……………….. has been preserved for us and future generations?”. By asking rhetorical questions the
writer is appealing the importance of heritage and nation’s stories to the U.S government.

Furthermore, through the course of the article the writer uses logistics and statistics. Through numerous
statistics like ‘generating more than $30 billion and supporting a quarter million jobs’ the writer is
appealing from a quantitative aspect, as he states, that these parks are clearly a winning economics
scenario as they generate revenue, reduce unemployment ,and attract tourists.

Lastly, the writer uses ethos through former president of United States “Barack Obama” and his idea to
make the U.S the world’s top travel and tourist destination during the time of his president. This was
well employed by the writer as he makes it seems that he and the president have similar ideas of
providing and enhancing support towards national parks in U.S.

As, far as the structure of the article is concerned, we see even more that the entire article builds to be a
strong and persuasive argument. To start, the writer starts directly by introducing national parks to it’s
heritage value and nations stories: which are being preserved for future generations. Furthermore, the
writer emphasizes on its economic and quantitative value of generating revenue and increasing jobs.
After, all the benefits of national parks, the writer starts explaining the problem of sequester cuts and its
numerous effects on national parks. Lastly, through credibility from President Obama, the writer
enforces his argument by making the ideas of both him and the president similar in nature.

All in all, Todd Davidson uses structural conventions and numerous persuasive devices, which are
essential characteristics of a strong persuasive arguments. Furthermore, the argument is well
established and brought out by exceptional organization, and overall is effective in achieving its
purpose.