Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Regina Nishiyama
English 1301
4 November 2021
classes between deaf and hearing children and the benefits to both communities of learning sign
language and being integrated. All the rhetorical choices in this article are made to get others to
agree with Daniels's claim, but each device is used with a slightly different purpose; even though
each device has a different purpose, the main goal is to get others to agree. Using mainly ethos
and pathos, Daniels is able to build credibility and build a connection with her audience to
support her claim on the benefits of integrating deaf children into hearing classes.
authority. The first instance of this is when Daniels introduces William Stokoe as "the pioneer
educator who authenticated American Sign Language." They build up his character to allow
readers to think he is a credible source. Then Daniels mentions Stokoe's theory that questions
whether math is easier to learn through a visual language rather than speech. Because they
introduce him as knowledgeable in the signing community, readers can trust him and Daniels
when they say that sign language was an effective tool in learning math for hearing children.
Adding a credible source to the article builds up the paper's ethos, allowing the audience to trust
it as a reliable study.
Another instance of ethos would be when they try to credit their results by including
other studies conducted in the U.S., which gained the same conclusion. Daniel's investigation
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concluded that integrating deaf students into a hearing class was beneficial for the hearing
children to learn new skills that would help them expand their knowledge on things they already
know. They also found that for the deaf community, being included helped them gain more
confidence. They were able to back this up by having studies that found similar results. For
example, they state that studies conducted by Hafer in 1986, Vernon, Coley, and Dubois in 1980
all found that sign language is used to help children learn to read; they continue to back this up
by saying that the "International Reading Association recognizes and recommends sign language
as a reading aid." Because they include credible studies and a well-known reliable organization,
readers are more inclined to trust the results of Daniel's study. These sources not only build
readers' trust, but they also back up her own research which makes her article stronger.
Ethos also occurs when introducing the project designer, Kathy Robinson. They try to
give her credit and say she has experience in the deaf community to justify why she is capable of
conducting this study. They introduce her as "the mother of two daughters who are deaf," which
ties her into the deaf community and allows readers to see that she has expertise in the area. If
the project designer were utterly ignorant of the deaf community, the audience would not take
them seriously. Still, because Robinson has personal experience and knowledge in this area, she
is qualified enough to conduct a study for the deaf community. Her qualification strengthens the
purpose of this article and connects it back into the deaf community through ethos.
Pathos is also used in this essay to allow readers to feel or relate to the deaf community.
For example, after including a stat that says, "90 percent of all Deaf children in the United
Kingdom are integrated into mainstream schools where they are expected to communicate in
English." Daniel proceeds to say how "the burden is placed solely on Deaf children, who cannot
use their own language and must instead learn to use English." Although the beginning part is
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considered logos because it is a fact, when combined with the second quote, it makes readers feel
bad for making the lives of people who are deaf more difficult by expecting them to learn
English rather than the hearing community learning sign language. After having read the
aforementioned, readers are more willing to consider Daniel's research, and it is almost as if the
They continue to try and appeal to emotion when they introduce an anecdote from the
teacher of the deaf. She recalls, "four (Deaf and hearing) children had been huddled together
around a table discussing what they liked about a comic book one of the children had been given
for Christmas. The BSL conversation was animated, and a Deaf child was able to explain that
she had also received the same comic book." By including this story, the study is given a
personal and affectionate touch. Daniels is able to radiate the sense of accomplishment the
teacher felt when the kids were able to communicate despite their differences successfully.
Instead of being a boring statistical research article, this paper is given a bit of life through this
One other pathos device is used when the article discusses an accomplishment of the
hearing teacher of the hearing children. They say that she started not knowing anything about the
deaf community or anything about sign language. Still, after integrating the classes, she
comments, "when the children come in (Deaf children) they wave to me and sign to me because
they know I can sign back." Daniels goes on to say how "this ability bolstered her confidence."
The aforementioned allows readers to feel the sense of accomplishment that the hearing teacher
gains and makes them believe that the study was successful. By allowing readers to feel the
feelings of those involved in the study, a more personal connection is made, allowing the results
Although Daniels does include many rhetorical devices that strengthen her article, one
thing that would have earned her a gold star would be charts and graphs. Daniels did not include
a single chart or graph, which makes it hard for readers to understand just how well this study
went because there is no tangible record or statistical data in one place. By adding graphs, it
would strengthen her claim by providing solid evidence. However, she does counter my
argument by stating that "although these behavioral attributes are essential to instruction, they
are difficult to measure." Though her counterargument is brief, the fact that she considered
outsiders' opinions and critiques add to her credibility as a writer and researcher. By
acknowledging how her study might fall short, she is able to build her character, which will
Overall, Daniels does an excellent job of getting her audience to trust her work by using
credible sources. She can show her connection to the deaf community, and she also evokes
emotions within readers to get them to connect with her article at a deeper level. Her appeal to
authority gains her article credibility, and her use of loaded emotional language gains the
audience's pity which guilts them into reading the article. Her use of anecdotes takes typical
superficial research and converts it into a personal and enjoyable read. Even though Daniel's
lacked the logos aspect of rhetoric, she was able to counter the argument, which also gained her
article credibility. In the end, Daniels was able to use ethos and pathos to support her claim on
deaf integration.
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Work Cited
Daniels, Marilyn. “Sign Language Advantage.” Sign Language Studies, vol. 2, no. 1,
Regina Nishiyama
English 1301
15 November 2021
Reflection Essay
In essay one, I learned how to analyze one genre and one community and identify the
more profound meaning and purpose behind the two. In essay 3, this was useful because I needed
to determine who the article's audience was through the author's choice of rhetoric. During the
process of essay 1, we learned about rhetorical situations, which helped me understand how to
look for the rhetorical situation of the article I chose. I looked for the rhetor (i.e., Marilyn
Daniels), the audience (i.e., scholars looking to find information on the deaf community), the
constraints (i.e., lack of tangible evidence such as charts), and the exigence (i.e., achieving
integration worldwide) of her article and was able to apply it to my essay. In essay one, however,
we were asked to evaluate what the genre tells about the community, and in essay 3, I did not
need to look at the community in depth. I did not need to state why the community chose to use
this specific article or the significance of how they can use it.
In essay 2, we learned how to compare the same genre within different communities; this
came in handy when identifying how this one article can be applied to other communities. For
example, even though the intended audience was probably high-level scholars, the choice of
vocabulary and syntax could be understood by regular people, so they could read the article for
mere pleasure or look to enhance their knowledge. Another community that could benefit from
this article would be those who work within the deaf community; because their choice of
vocabulary is not that advanced, they would be able to understand the report and consider the
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information and apply it to their community. In essay 2, however, I had to use a lot of compare
and contrast, but in essay 3, that was not needed. I did not have to find any differences in past
In essay 3, I had to identify the use of rhetorical devices, which comes in handy in many
classes such as history, for example. Identifying the rhetorical devices Thomas Pain used in
Common Sense helps readers understand better why he was writing it and who he was trying to
write it for. It would also come in handy in a government class when looking at laws legislation
is trying to pass. If you can identify how they are promoting the law, are they trying to appeal to
voters' emotions or logic, you can better understand what kind of impact the law will have. For
example, if they are trying to pass free healthcare for the nation, they will probably appeal to
emotion by saying it will help humanity. However, if they are trying to pass a law about taxes,
they will appeal logically and say it will help citizens in the long run. Even though many portions
of this essay will apply to other classes, things such as ethos, logos, and pathos will not be
helpful in math or science. Because these classes are mainly on the side of the logo of rhetoric,
Analyzing this article helps me improve my writing in the future because I learned not to
look at the superficial part of the writing but analyze the different factors and how they help the
article as a whole. Being able to see how important your choice of rhetoric is in influencing
readers and proving your point helps me remember to choose my rhetorical devices wisely to
make a powerful essay. For example, if I were to write a paper with only pathos, readers would
not think I was credible and think I am just an emotional writer. If I integrated all three into my
essay, I would have a more powerful essay and gain more credibility as a writer.
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Although I did not receive much criticism during peer review, I did receive a lot of
positive feedback. I learned that I was able to identify the different rhetorical devices well and
interpret the importance of the usage. My peers told me that I was able to explain how the
rhetorical devices Daniels used impacted readers negatively or positively. The only criticism I
got was that I used my personal feelings a little too much. My peers reminded me that I should
not agree or disagree with the author. I concluded that my weakness is ignoring the article and
only looking at the rhetorical devices. Because it is fairly new to me, I found it difficult to ignore
Based on your comments on my last essay, I believe that you will wish I had found more
rhetorical devices. Most of your comments have been for me to explain just a little bit further or
include a little bit more information. In this essay, I only wrote about two rhetorical devices, so I
think you will comment that you wanted me to find more than two devices. The most
challenging part of this essay was to only look at the author's choices rather than look at the
entire article as a whole. As I mentioned below, it is fairly new to me, so it was hard to ignore the
essay's actual information and keep an unbiased opinion on the article. The easiest part of the
article was figuring out if the rhetorical devices Daniels used were impactful or not. After finding
the devices and identifying they're general-purpose, judging how well they were used was just
In the end, my identity as a writer has grown throughout all these essays, but because this
one was so different from the other two essays, I feel like I could grow a lot more. This essay
different ones throughout my writing. If I am more familiar with different writing attributes, I am