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Lily Lively

Mrs. Lewis

English 3, Period 7

12 Dec. 2022

Effective Rhetoric in Writing

Social Issues: How effective is an author’s use of rhetoric?

POINT 1: Rhetoric is used effectively in Earl Warren’s “Brown vs. the Board of Education”

Inequality in our country dates back very far. However, in the grand scheme of things we

only just recently pushed down most barriers between races. Segregation is no longer legal in

schools, thanks to the precedent set by a case about a small Black girls’ education being hindered

by segregation in schools. During the court case brown versus Board of Education, Earl Warren

utilizes pathos and diction when addressing U.S. citizens to stop segregation in schools.

Pathos and Diction in “Brown vs. Board”

Earl Warren uses strong words, the use of diction to reach his audience, and show them

how unfair it is for these children to be hindered by segregation in schools. He sets up this

feeling of injustice in the beginning of the article by using diction and words in a positive way

when he talks about education. He uses specific phrases about education for example; important,

foundation, and principal instrument. He then goes on to say, “to separate them from others of

similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority.”

(Warren) He uses these words very effectively, because it contradicts the more positive words at

the beginning of the article, by now using significantly more negative words in a negative
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context. Inferiority is usually associated with much more negative feelings, feelings of anger and

sadness because you are not able to reach what others can so effortlessly. It was an effective

way to tug at the readers, to expose the fact that it is indeed extremely unfair that white students

do all the same things yet black students don't get to go to the same school just because of the

color of their skin.

Not only does Warren use negative diction to create an emotional connection to his

audience, but he also goes on to use pathos to further the audience's feelings on the matter. In the

same sentence Warren encourages the feeling by remarking “As to their status in the community

that may affect their hearts and minds in a way that is unlikely to ever be undone.”(Warren)

Warren ties back into the fact that they are still children, with growing and developing minds. He

wants the audience to feel upset because the children could be affected for the rest of their lives,

and not do as well as they could because of their feeling of inferiority of their status in the

community. He wants the readers to feel upset and angry because black students don't have a fair

opportunity to education, and uses the state of their heart and mind to show that it will affect

them for the rest of their life.

Final Remarks for Point 1

Change is an awkward thing for humans to understand, and Warren knew that. He knew

that some people would be upset over e ruling. He wanted to show citizens that change, in this

context, is for the better. Earl Warren understood the need to appeal to his audience’s emotions

to effectively present that segregating education is unfair, and why it needs to be changed.

POINT 2: Rhetoric is used effectively in John Krakauer’s “Into the Wild”

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Christopher McCandless was a true transcendentalist. He believed that one needed to

really connect with the wild to understand the true meaning of life. He traveled across the United

States several times and ended up meeting and impacting many people's lives. One of his goals

was to try to convince every person he came across to live the same life as he did. In Krakauer’s

book, we see a letter written from Christopher McCandless to Ronald Franz, trying to convince

Franz to live the same lifestyle. Chris McCandless utilizes logos and an allusion when addressing

Ronald Franz to attempt to convince him to live in the transcendentalist lifestyle.

Logos and allusions in “Brown vs. Board”

Ronald Franz is a very no-nonsense guy. Straight to the point, and logical. Chris

McCandless appeals to this side of him, by using logos to approach the most reasonable thing to

do in Ronald’s mind. He tells Ron “You are going to live a long time, Ron, and it would be a

shame if you did not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely

new realm of experience.” (Krakauer 6) Chris shows Ron that there is a lot of time left in his life,

and that a little adventure wouldn't kill him. He wants Ron to experience new things, and by

saying that Ron has so much ahead of him, Chris shows Ron that he needs to do things for

himself to achieve that entirely new realm. Any person would want to better their lives, and

Chris is just showing Ron how he can improve his own.

Alongside the use of logos, Chris also uses an allusion to try to convince Ron to let loose,

and live this different lifestyle while experiencing new things. Chris was a huge fan of The

Beatles, and he references this by telling Ron “You must lose your inclination for monotonous

security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy.”

(Krakauer 6) “helter-skelter” is referring to a song in The Beatles White Album written by Paul

McCartney, in which the purpose was to create “a sound as loud and dirty as possible”. This
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connects with Chris's way of living in regard to not having a care in the world about what other

people think, not being afraid to get your hands dirty, living in the wild, and not conforming to

society, marching to the beat of your own drum instead. This effectively relates to the lifestyle

Chris wants others to live and is a wonderful way advocate for this lifestyle, in song form to

make it a little more lighthearted and pull the listener towards this idea even more. The allusion

also relates some to pathos, because of the sentimental value a song that someone likes has, and

how extremely intimate it is to share music that you like with someone else.

Final Remarks for Point 2 v

After receiving this letter Ronald Franz decided to adopt this lifestyle. He let go of his

uptight tendencies, and lived like Chris had recommended him to. Ronald was pulled in by Chris

McCandless’s letter so much that he dropped everything to live like that. Based on that alone,

Chris McCandless was more than effective at using logic and allusions to convert Ronald to his

lifestyle.
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Works Cited

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York, Anchor Books, 2015

Warren, Earl. “Brown v. Board of Education” Florida Study Sync English 3 Volume 2, Book Ed

Learning, LLC, 2021, pp. 287-288.