A Rhetorical Analysis of “The Right Stuff”
A closer look at this article brings out different informative ideas to the reader. In other words, the author tries to bring out very crucial points to elucidate his points. The paper herein focuses on making a rhetorical analysis on “the right stuff” by David Suzuki. The primary concern throughout the article is concerning different ideologies that people form regarding the kind of life existing after high school. Throughout the book, the author is very strategic in implementing different rhetoric devices and incorporating of ethos, logos, and pathos in elucidating his facts. His primary audience is teenagers and facilitators. The main idea he imposes is making an emotional appeal to incorporate sex education into the curriculum. He manages to make a detailed analysis of his way of thinking about the article in more promiscuous forms. Gradually, the reader is lured into his analogies in a sequential mode. Doing so makes it possible for Suzuki to enumerate the various success factors of ethos and logos.
At first, the author brings out a different analogy that utilizes a deep and well-structured ethos. It is attributed to the passion and choice of words in using pathos to increase the attention of the reader to the concept being discussed. Therefore, the article forms an augmentative construct through which an informative mechanism is used to make the ideas clear enough. Besides, the author radically confirms a strong basis for his ethos, though not fully supported by concurrent evidence. The central analogy that is premiered throughout the thesis is that high school education should begin with sex education. Considerably, the author is not well endowed in the concept of sex education; neither is he an expert in the same field. The right stuff evokes a lot of controversial ideas as the author does not seem to support his arguments to the end. Instead, he uses rhetorical elements to make the readers make their analysis of the article. Willingness to change is, therefore, an idea that is left for the reader to deduce. For instance, he does not make it elusive that the right stuff is being taught when educators need to start preparing the right thing.
More remarkably, the author uses different materials; she thinks the readers ought to know. He manages to do this even before introducing his thesis argument. The tactic of delaying his thesis raises a lot of attention and seemingly helps to put the reader at pace with the content being discussed at the moment. Besides, this is a disarming strategy specialized in bringing the readers to his line of thinking. Doing this gives the readers an idea that the author is credible in relaying his information, thus the ethos concept. Also, he utilizes this concept to alter the feelings of nostalgia in individuals. Either way, the author continues to build on the ideas to his analogy. Readers start to relate to the concept being described.
Throughout the article, the author strategically builds on different concepts on an anecdotal basis. On this ground, the author manages to expose the readers to what he does, and every experience he undergoes. The most intriguing part of this analogy is that all the biases, fears and apprehension is made possible through the introduction of the different scenarios in which he talks directly to the reader. Doing this makes the reader behave in the same way the author did. For instance, relating to the article, the readers are placed in a position where they fear what the author fears. It is because they now start to share the same line of thought. Through different advisory channels, readers get a closer understanding of how the teenage lineage will tear apart when specific prospects are deemed valid. According to the author, the anecdote is used to illustrate several dangers that are involved in mentioning toughness among students. The more reifying idea is that notions of racism start to erupt, because of the phenomenon mentioned above. Besides, the author’s way of using emotional appeal to the sense of toughness is aggregated to different audiences who are nor familiar with the thesis being discussed. While the above analogy may not be the author’s intention as he influenced the emotional appeal, the readers receive a different interpretation. Educational methods thereby incorporate different cultural spectrums through which students are imposed. Their reliance on emotions mainly influences different readers in making decisions. As such, the author majors in utilizing ethos and pathos over logos to gain an emotional appeal to the readers. And surprisingly, it works to a great length.
The storyline within the article focusses on the idea that any school audience is large enough to constitute different segments of culturally peculiar individuals. They are using amplification to stress the concept of cultural differences that should be incorporated into any curriculum. Bringing in a culturally remote environment encompasses a detailed racist ancestry. For instance, the author makes a rational greeting and referred to himself as a geneticist. He announces what he was about to talk about sex education brought a sparkle to the readers. At this exact point, the audience is emotionally endowed and are eager to understand the underlying construct through which the author intends to elucidate his thesis. Besides, the author utilizes antanagoge by balancing the different positive and negative sides of the argument. At the start of the article, the author prepares the readers by talking in detail about the positives of the thesis. He elucidates the importance of hormonal changes to the readers who are, at this point, intrigued by the analogy being described. The author relates high school educations and sexual competency of students during adolescence in a more reifying way. It becomes more convincing since his example is more personal that the reads can relate with.
Nevertheless, the author’s decision to incorporate ethos, pathos, and logos in enumerating his ideas is effective. It lies in the notion that teenagers gain attention when their emotional sense is triggered in any way. Irrespective of incorporating different specifics of rhetorical devices, the author fails to support his arguments with more profound evidence. As such, the flaw of oversimplification through a series of fallacious reasoning. In more detail, the author had no credible evidence that the teenagers needed sex education. After all, it may be possible that some of the students may be offended by his level of directness.
In conclusion, I believe the author is not successful in purveying his purpose. Besides, the subject of sex education might be convenient, but the author’s analogy does not present a more profound way of gaining higher effectiveness. Moreover, the author does not support evidence and based on logistics as well as the cause of his ineffectiveness. In other words, emotional appeal is not reason enough to warrant the incorporation of sex education in the curriculum. In relation, if he had utilized more logos than pathos and ethos, then effectiveness would be attained.