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Marcos Benavides

Instructor McCann

English 1301.231

23 October 2023

Does Michael L. Alosco Et al. make a compelling argument?

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a brain disorder that leads to memory loss,

depression, anger issues, parkinsonism, and many more mental issues. CTE has recently been

discussed as new research connected to playing contact sports. Many people have taken this to

pull their children from playing contact sports. Some professionals argue, however, that this new

research does not effectively conclude that CTE is linked to playing in high-contact sports.

Throughout this controversy, other brave researchers still publish astonishing data in well-put

articles. Michael L. Alosco et al. use pathos, ethos, and logos in “Developing Methods to Detect

and Diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy During Life: Rationale, Design, and

Methodology for the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project” to effectively conclude that CTE is

linked with playing high-contact sports.

Firstly, Alosco et al. use pathos in their article to convey the importance of their research.

CTE can form at any age in a person's brain, so some teenagers who play contact sports like

football may get CTE at a young age. Alosco et al. are dedicated to preventing this by writing the

article and doing extensive research to help get the word out, as proven in this quote.

"Ultimately, it is anticipated that findings from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project and

associated ancillary studies will facilitate the ability to detect and diagnose CTE during life and

thereby accelerate research on risk factors, mechanisms, epidemiology, and, most importantly,

treatment and prevention of CTE" (16). This quotation explains why they made this study and
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how they believe it will affect CTE research. Their points for conducting the study sound very

genuine and show that Alosco et al. organized the study for a good cause. This emotional

delivery of their reasons shows they are passionate about their work. The passion resonates with

the reader as they understand Alosco et al.’s motives. The pathos also effectively engages the

reader more in Alosco et al.'s points and persuades them to start believing their facts. However,

emotion is not the only rhetorical strategy an author can use, as building character is also

essential to an article.

Secondly, the authors also use ethos to back up the credibility of their research. Although

any person playing a contact sport can develop CTE, it is best to research professional players to

get a better scope of the severity of the situation. Proper research should also ensure that no

outside factors affect the results of a study. Alosco et al. address those points in the research by

mentioning that "Stern et al. studied flortaucipir PET in 26 symptomatic former NFL players

(ages 40–69) and 31 same-age asymptomatic men without a history of traumatic brain injury

(TBI)" (4). Mentioning that the research is being done on former professional players and that

the patients do not have any other brain issues builds the credibility of the research being done.

This is an essential part of an article because building credibility makes the reader trust what is

being said more.

Moreover, the article further builds credibility by showing the reader that the

researchers are qualified to discuss the subject. On pages sixteen to seventeen of the

article is a section, inserted by Alosco et al., that mentions the project's key personnel and

the college or clinic they come from. The mention of the personnel's college or clinic is

vital to the essay because it confirms that the researchers are trained to discuss the

subject. Having the reader know that what they are reading comes from a certified
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researcher builds the article's reputation and helps convince readers of the main points. In

addition, Alosco et al. built the article's trustworthiness by showing that all study

participants signed consent forms provided by a review board. Having a review board is

integral to conducting a study because review boards decide whether an experiment is

ethical. On page eighteen, a section inserted by Alosco et al. shows the review boards that

have approved the investigation and signed off the participants. The section details which

review boards were involved in this experiment and explains what they did for the study.

Having review boards approve the ethics and participants of a study is one of the most

essential things a proper study needs. However, there is no point in building credibility if

an article does not have facts and statistics to support its argument.

Lastly, the authors use logos to deliver the data effectively. The authors use many ways of

clearly presenting data in this article. One of the ways the author conveys data is by using a table.

On page 13, a table listing all the different types of groups diagnosed with CTE was inserted by

Alosco et al. This table informs the reader of the age, status, and race of all the patients

diagnosed with CTE in a way that is easy to read and follow. The table provides the reader with

the data in a helpful way that the reader can understand. The reader uses this data to further

connect CTE with contact sports. Another way the authors use logos in this article is by

explaining the challenges and solutions to the research. Alosco et al. mention in the article,

A challenge of evaluating the long-term consequences of repetitive head impacts is that

the outcomes are chronic, but the exposures are a cute and, in this setting, remote. Each

impact is of short duration, can be ambiguous, and rarely quantified. Task-based exposure

assessment methods, such as job-exposure matrices, are often utilized to develop

retrospective exposure metrics for investigating exposure-disease relationships [151]. The

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same will be applied to retrospectively estimate repetitive head impact exposure in the

COL and PRO groups. (10)

In this quotation, using logos to explain the research challenges plays a significant role in the

effectiveness of the article. This is significant because readers will use this to see the solution to

the challenges. The answers will inform the readers of how the authors overcame the challenges

and what methods they used.

Furthermore, another evidence of logos in this essay is when the authors state the result

of a study. Alosco et al. state that

These studies have reported a constellation of progressively worsening and non-specific

cognitive impairments (particularly in executive functions and episodic memory), poor

regulation or control of emotions and/or behavior (including impulsivity, explosiveness,

rage, and/or emotional lability), and, in some instances, parkinsonism and motor neuron

disease. (3)

This part of the article briefly summarizes the information collected by the research. This

quotation is significant because using logos to sum up the research makes readers reflect on what

they have learned, further convincing them of the argument.

In conclusion, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy can affect the mental state of someone

drastically with horrible symptoms like anger issues, depression, and even memory loss. The

newly published research reveals critical details about the link between CTE and contact sports.

Authors like Alosco et al. use pathos, ethos, and logos to effectively communicate that playing

contact sports has a direct link to CTE. The power that rhetoric can have in persuading a reader is

outstanding. The correct balance of ethos, pathos, and logos can open the minds of any reader

and convince them of a topic.

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Works Cites

Alosco, Michael L., et al. “Developing Methods to Detect and Diagnose Chronic Traumatic

Encephalopathy during Life: Rationale, Design, and Methodology for the DIAGNOSE

CTE Research Project.” Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, vol. 13, no. 1, Aug. 2021, pp.

1–18. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-021-00872-x.