AP Lang

Rhetorical Situation

Ethos, Pathos, Logos Analysis Template

Text/Piece Title: “My parents were deported”

Author: Diane Guerrero

Textual Evidence Explanation

Ethos “I don’t believe it reflects our The author challenges the audiences
values as a country to separate ethics about the laws and policies that
children and parents in this way. are in place, and why they don’t act on
it
Nor does it reflect our values to
hold people in detention without
access to good legal
representation or a fair shot in a
court of law”

Pathos “That meant my childhood was The author uses her sad memories and
haunted by the fear that they experiences to try to make people feel
would be deported … When my sad and motivated to change the way
things are done
brother was deported, his
daughter was just a toddler. She
still had her mother, but in a
single-parent household, she
faced a lot of challenges. My
niece made the wrong friends and
bad choices. Today, she is
serving time in jail, living the
reality that I act out on screen.”

Logos “Every day, children who are The argument is logical, stating that
U.S. citizens are separated from the problem affect everyone by having
their families as a result of kids transferred to foster care or
worse, in the justice system causing
immigration policies that need trouble.
fixing…I realize the issues are
complicated. But it’s not just in
the interest of immigrants to fix
the system: It’s in the interest of
all Americans. Children who
grow up separated from their
families often end up in foster
care, or worse, in the juvenile
justice system despite having
AP Lang
Rhetorical Situation

parents who love them and would

like to be able to care for them”