Model Transfer Essay on Textual Analysis

Question: Analyze the use of two rhetorical techniques (emotion,

logic, credibility) in Terry K.’s essay “I secretly lived in my office for
500 days.”
In Terry K.’s article “I secretly lived in my office….”, he tries to argue
that the culture of American living has changed drastically. Through
the use of emotion, and logic he illustrates that everyday spending
and decision making has become a major issue for modern, average
Americans. This essay will show, through the use of examples from
the text, how he seeks to argue this perspective.
In his article, Terry K. uses his personal experiences with his new
lifestyle to help prove that fear is a motivating factor as well as a
major influence. Often, he uses emotion to evoke an understanding of
his situation. The first paragraph of the article is a great example of
how he felt living in his office. “I was asleep when I heard the door
rattle against the frame. My eyes flashed open and I sprang upright in
my under-desk sleep space. Was it all over” (page)?
As you can see from this quote, the author lived in a state of
heightened fear due to the circumstances he chose to live in. The
purpose of his article is to illustrate that the minimalist lifestyle that is
becoming more and more common is drawn out of choice. The quote,
“was it all over?” says something very telling about his perspective.
The emotion being expressed comes from his decision to live in his
office. He states in the article that he did in fact have his own
apartment and a vehicle, but he was living beyond his means. The
reality is that Americans are often caught in debt or are behind on
bills due to overspending. The use of emotion is an important device
as it can be relatable to the reader, and Terry K. uses that relatability

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to help drive home his point. Another example of the use of emotion
can be seen further into the article where he says, “Then, disaster
struck. Company raises and bonuses were frozen. My ID was stolen. I
got a hefty hospital bill for a surgery earlier that year. With existing
student loans, a car payment and my rent set for its minimum
allowable annual increase under California law, I started to wonder:
what happened to my American Dream” (p.2)? This excerpt from the
article is another use of emotion as a rhetorical device to help argue
his point-of-view. Terry K. lists a series of very experienced common
expenses and a debt that most adult Americans have experienced or
are also dealing with. Because these things are so well known to most
people, he can get empathy from the reader, which helps him to make
a more convincing argument for his point-of-view. He is using the two
examples of emotion to get the reader on his side, and to show how
he is just another average American suffering to live his American
Dream.
This is an important part of his article which leads into the next device
he uses, logic. Much of the emotions evoked by Terry K. comes from
his appeal for empathy. The way in which he does so is by using his
personal experiences coupled with logic. He draws very direct
parallels from his lifestyle to what is going on in the economy, and
how Americans are changing. The most direct correlation he makes
comes from the later portion of the article. “Around that time, the
news was filled with stories about an influx of U. S. Congressmen
taking up residences in their D. C. offices. They were converting
perfectly livable, neglected space in their own white-collar Walden for
working man” (p. 2). He draws a direct connection to his lifestyle and
that of the power-holders in the country. His argument essentially
being, if it’s good enough for them, it is good enough for me. The logic
is reasonable enough to give him traction and appeal to the reader.

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Another strong use of logic he implements in his article can be found
when he is weighing the benefits of a minimalist lifestyle:
Indeed, what started as a temporary financial solution turned into a
lifestyle. I grew to prefer it. Impending debt morphed into growing
savings. Sleepwalking through two jobs to squeak by gave way to a
wealth of free time….my savings ballooned” (p.3).
The above quote shows that the minimalist lifestyle can, and for Terry
K., did have a number of upsides. He uses plain English to simply state
that what we sometimes value isn’t always a necessity. This is an
appeal to the logic of the reader. The author is displaying very positive
attributes in a directly logical manner to give his argument and
purpose more validity.
Throughout the article, “I secretly lived in my office…”, the author
Terry K. sets out to convince the reader that the American Dream has
changed. The once thought belief that bigger and more is better is a
dying idea.
As shown in this analysis, he uses logic and emotion to appeal to the
reader and to evoke some pull towards his perspective. Ultimately, he
is targeting the American middle-class and trying to convince them
that the American Dream they were once promised no longer exists. It
is by the use of these two devices (logic and emotion) that he does so.
[Luca Macri COM 101 NDK W 2019]