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Katherine Martinez

Jon Beadle

English 115

12-10-2021

The Essential Use of Rhetorical Strategies

Building emotions, credibility, and logical reasoning are critical factors when developing

a compelling and well-written essay. In essence, rhetorical strategies are essential in building a

good argument to convince your audience of your opinion or connect your ideas to your

audience. In the following two argumentive essays, “Curbing the Spread: How Lockdowns are

Helping” by Khushi Virval and “ Election Reform in the United States” by Andrew Armitage,

both authors implemented a variety of examples regarding rhetorical strategies, yet it becomes

evident how much stronger Armitage’s rhetorical strategies are in terms of credibility, emotion,

and logical reasoning. Through Armitage’s paper, we are able to witness his confident tone

portraying his prior knowledge, ability to identify with his audience, and mentioning reasoning

specific to his topic.

In “Election Reform in the United States,” Armitage firmly elucidates his claim referring

to the American Electoral College and its “dire need to reform” because it undermines the

popular vote, which disregards America’s idea of equality results in unheard voices. In an

attempt to connect with his audience, Armitage appeals to emotion when he conveys, "In short, it

causes unequal treatment in a country where everyone is presumed equal, so it goes against

American values and therefore should be done away with" (Armitage 20). Armitage strongly

builds an instant connection with his audience by mentioning America’s equal values. Many

people come to the United States to seek more opportunities and equality; Armitage reminds
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people that the Electoral College is undermining what they came in search for. His rhetorical

strategy allows his audience to feel like he understands them more meaningfully. To compare, in

the essay, “Curbing the Spread: How Lockdowns are Helping,” Virval passionately explains the

importance of Covid-19 restrictions. Nonetheless, they explain how lockdowns are more

effective when attempting to decrease Covid-19 case rates. Virval passionately speaks of his

personal experience when they expressed, "India implemented strict lockdown rules and focused

on supervision. My family back in India shared video clips showing the country’s strict

implementation of lockdown rules and the strict supervision by police officers on the streets.

After lifting off restrictions gradually, India experienced a steep rise in infections" (Virval 29).

The idea of pathos is to build an emotional connection with your audience, which can be done

differently. Virval creates an emotional tie with their audience by speaking of their own life

experience with Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns. Through pathos, Virval can gain their

audience’s trust as the audience feels they can relate to the author’s situation. Without this

emotional connection, it can cause the audience to believe that the argument is somewhat

meaningless. Although Virval builds an emotional connection with his audience, they mention

their family, which can come across as biased because his topic speaks of a country’s covid

implementations. On the other hand, Armitage builds an emotional connection with his audience

by connecting and identifying himself with them.

Adding on, Armitage continues to support his claim with logical reasoning when he

asserts, "This is discussed in an article published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, where

they describe how “[s]ince Trump was elected, media have been awash in reports of hate

incidents around the nation, including at schools. Some detractors have characterized the reports

as isolated, exaggerated, or even hoaxes” (Armitage 18). Armitage’s argument involves logical
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reasoning, which is critical when defending your position about politics and convincing your

audience of your standpoint. Throughout his essay, Armitage employs a lot of factual evidence,

which builds his credibility and helps persuade his audience of his argument regarding the

Electoral College’s need to adjust. Without factual evidence, Armitage’s essay would be a weak

argument. In like manner, Virval continues to support his argument with logical reasoning when

he adds, "Similarly, as stated in the same article by The Guardian, when Spain implemented

strict restrictions on the operations of bars and restaurants, there was a 6% decrease in

Coronavirus patients in Madrid. As a result, Madrid’s positive test rate declined from 20% to 8%

(Henley)" (Virval 29). Virval uses logos as a rhetorical strategy by using factual evidence to

support their claim about Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns. By using logical reasoning,

Virval is convincing his audience that Covid-19 lockdowns restrictions are necessary to decrease

case rates and help build his credibility. Logos is necessary when constructing an argument as it

strengthens and emphasizes your claim. Both authors provide excellent and effective logical

reasoning, from Virval mentioning percentage facts from Coronavirus cases to Armitage quoting

an article published by a law center. Still, Armitage’s rational evidence comes from a law center

that says specific events regarding a recent president relating to his topic of the Electoral college.

While Virval did provide proper and robust logical reasoning, his reasoning would be more

effective if they were to mention a specific place or event.

Moreover, Armitage further builds his credibility through valid evidence when he shares,

"There have been five instances in which a Presidential candidate won the election without the

popular vote.. the most memorable of the bunch was Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, which

was awarded even though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost three million people"

(Armitage 18). Credibility allows the author to come across as competent and prepared, which
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persuades their audience of their standpoint. Armitage proves his credibility through his entire

essay by mentioning factual evidence, understanding his text, and voicing his own opinion about

the evidence. Thus creating a stronger stand and deeming himself more trustworthy to get the

point of his argument across. Comparably, Virval displays their credibility by referring to

sustainable evidence when explaining, "...The Guardian states that Germany began a second

lockdown on November 2. After ten days, Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany’s disease control

agency, said that the curve of the infections was flattening and that he was “cautiously

optimistic” (Virval 28). Credibility is a critical factor to an argumentative essay because it allows

an author’s claim to be considered valid in the audience’s eyes. Virval does a good job

establishing his credibility by demonstrating logic and factual evidence to convince his audience

of his claim and position. Armitage and Virval both do a great job of providing their credibility.

Still, Virval seems to be simply restating his source. On the other hand, Armitage appears to

speak of previous knowledge and context, proving his argument stronger because his confident

tone reflects his prior knowledge.

Furthermore, both author’s provided a well-written argument; still, Armitage’s argument

implements more powerful and meaningful rhetorical strategies, analysis, and evidence. For

instance, Virval utilizes logical strategy very well, yet, Armitage was capable of creating a more

robust use of the rhetorical device to get his point across to his audience. Virval provided

sufficient evidence and rhetorical strategies but didn’t build a formal profile and a significant

connection to his audience. Not to disregard Virval’s argument nevertheless, Armitage’s

argument had a more meaningful impact.

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Works Cited

Filbeck, Melissa “Election Reform in the United States” WAVES, edited by Amber Norwood,

4th ed, Macmillan Learning 2021, pg 18-21

Virval, Khushi “Curbing the Spread: How Lockdowns Are Helping ” WAVES, edited by Amber

Norwood, 4th ed, Macmillan Learning 2021, pg 28-30