Clarisa Molina

Instructors Name: Shuv Raj Rana Bhat

Engl 10803

23 February 2023

Claim/Argument

Grey’s Anatomy is a well known Netflix Series. In season 16 episode 8, “My Shot”, is

the episode where Meredith Grey, a general surgeon at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital faces the

medical board of directors to fight for her medical license, since her future as a doctor remains

uncertain. Dr. Grey practiced below the acceptable standards of medical practice in a manner that

exploited patients and insurance carriers in order to save a life. In this episode, Meredith Grey

argues that she should keep her medical license, because no one should question her license to

save a person's life since she is an outstanding and established surgeon.

Rhetorical Context: Writer's purpose and Audience

The goal of Dr. Grey and Ms. Nancy Klein, the lawyer who will be representing

Meredith, is to persuade the medical board panel that Meredith should be able to keep her

medical license. Their case is defended by stating that Meredith is an excellent doctor who is

passionate about everything she does, and without it she would lose her career and lose

something she truly loves. In this episode, the audience is the medical board panel, which is

made up of William Benson who is the judge assigned to the case, the commission panel which

is made up of all doctors including Panel Chair, Dr. Paul Castello. The secondary audience is

everyone present during the hearing, which includes witnesses, and people who support

Meredith. Some of the beliefs and values the panel should have to find this argument persuasive

is empathy, because the panel of doctors should put themselves in the shoes of Meredith Grey to
understand that the only reason she made the decision to falsify insurance is to save a life.

Although this was unethical in her position as a certified general surgeon, it was human nature to

save a life. This text suits the particular audience and purpose, because the only way to win the

case is to display Meredith as a qualified and ardent surgeon by questioning people who are close

family, friends, and supporters of Meredith.

Ethos

Meredith Grey establishes her credibility by bringing up the fact that she is a surgeon,

and a recipient of the Catherine Fox Award. This award is a famous medical award, to make

surgeons who are already at the top of the game achieve a higher level of recognition. During the

hearing, Dr. Miranda Bailey who is Chief of surgery at Grey-Sloan memorial hospital, is called

to the stand and is questioned by Ms. Nancy Klein. Meredith is also the daughter of legendary

Ellis Grey, who is a well known surgeon. Meredith is said to be the spitting image of her mother

in looks, drive, and determination. Dr. Bailey states that she has known Meredith for a long time

since she has been an intern at Grey-Sloan Hospital. Bailey agrees that when she became chief of

surgery she appointed Dr. Grey to become chief of general surgery, who is typically an extremely

skilled, organized, dedicated, organized, communicative person. There is no doubt that Meredith

Grey is an incredible general surgeon who is beyond capable of operating on people in need of

critical assistance.

Logos

Meredith Grey and her team develop logos by organizing her case in a specific way.There

is a specific order in which witnesses are being brought to the stand for questioning. It starts off

strong with Dr. Miranda Bailey who has known Meredith Grey a long time, and it ends strong

with Dr. Alex Karev who was an intern during the same time as Meredith, and are very close
friends. In the hearing there is an opposing side Ms.Ashley Cordova, who is representing the

Medical commission and who is reasoning to revoke Meredith's license. Ms. Cordova also has

the will to bring people to the stand for questioning, and make her case. Regardless of some of

the good points Ms.Cordova made, Meredith's team did such a great job in coming back by

questioning people who talked highly about her.

Pathos

Meredith Grey's team establishes pathos by appealing to the audience's emotions. Luis

Rivera is the father of Gabby Rivera. Gabby is the patient in which Meredith operated on by

falsifying the insurance to be able to do the surgery, since Meredith became aware of their

financial situation. She falsified the insurance by putting her daughter's name in the system and

having Gabby play as her daughter, “Ellis”. There is an appeal to the audience of empathy by

pointing out the circumstances that the father was facing, Mr. Rivera was terrified since his wife

was at a detention center at the border during this time before she got sent back to Honduras.

This is evoking information for the panel to feel condolences for Gabby who is now motherless..

Mr. Luis meaningfully states, “Dr.Grey caught it, because she saved us, the world needs more

people like her, more doctors like her '', this is a powerful statement, because it makes Meredith

Grey sound like a hero and a truly caring surgeon.

There are several doctors who are called to the stand to support Meredith by speaking

highly of her, and there is a climax when Dr. Karev is called to the stand. Panel Chair Dr. Paul

Castello asked him about Meredith's daughter which got Meredith irritated, because Dr. Castello

is the man who killed her husband. Out of frustration Dr. Grey gets up and names all of the

spouses of people who she has ever lost, and tells him not sit and judge her or ask questions

about her daughter because “ You are the one who killed her father, You don't remember me, but
I remember you, as the coward who stood over my dying husband, the love of her life”. Meredith

proceeds to say the reason her husband died was because Dr. Castello did not do burr holes after

failing to do a head CT. Burr holes is a medical procedure that first year interns do, and should

have been done on her husband without question. She is enraged and says, “ That one night

should have cost you your career, my medical license should not be in the hands of this man, he

is dangerous”. This moment was very impactful, because Meredith turned the tables on Dr.

Castello made the point that he is not in a position to judge her. He made a medical mistake that

cost her husband's life, in comparison to Meredith she used her insurance on Gabby to save her

life. This moment also demonstrates Meredith's tenderness, because she recalls all of the people

she has lost unlike Dr. Castello. After this moment there was a recess in the hearing.

After the break, the hearing was going to be rescheduled, but Dr. Alex Karev walks in

with a huge crowd of people who are all of Meredith's past patients who came to advocate for

her. All of these people share kind heartfelt words about Meredith as a doctor, and why she

should keep her license. The fact that people from all over who still remember their surgeon as

Dr.Grey and took their time to speak on her behalf is truly remarkable. Dr. Karev also brings in

written letters from doctors who are advocating for Meredith stating that “she is the light in a

broken system, and she will fix it whether you want it fixed or not. She is the sun and she is

unstoppable- Dr. Chirstina Yang”, is a powerful message, because the sun gives light and

illuminates everything in sight just like Meredith. Meredith is also fixing the system, because in

a way she is bringing to light the fact that underrepresented people and people of color need

more assistance in healthcare, because they are unable to afford it. All of the choice selections

and the analogies are very convincing and moving in a positive way, which making Meredith's

Grey claim appealing.

Overall Persuasiveness

This episode was very effective at making a strong argument. The episode begins off by

establishing ethos, and incorporating logos to form the argument in a logical manner. The feature

that contributes most to make this episode persuasive to the medical board is the appeal to

pathos. This argument would typically be received the same, because everyone is human and for

the most part everyone is influenced by emotionally touching events. As a result, Meredith was

granted the ability to keep her medical license, because there were so many people who came to

support her and ultimately overpowered the contradicting side, because all of the positive deeds

Meredith has done definitely overpower the forging insurance encounter. Overall, this episode is

structured in a specific manner that makes Meredith Grey's case persuasive and true.