What you’ll do: You will describe the purpose and rhetorical situation of two essays and, comparing their rhetorical strategies, say which essay more effectively persuades its audience and why. 

Which essays? As a class, we’ll evaluate and compare these four essays, and you will choose two of these essays to discuss: 

Tom Horton, "Let’s Shore up Efforts to Make a Chesapeake National Park" (PDF download , Online (Links to an external site.))
David M. Kennedy, "Our National Parks: Another Idea" (PDF download , Online (Links to an external site.))
Gil Lusk, "It's Time to Start Closing National Parks" (PDF download , Online (Links to an external site.))
David Treuer, "Return the National Parks to the Tribes, II: The Future of the Tribes and the Parks" (PDF download , Online (Links to an external site.))
Why you’ll learn from it: By writing this paper, you will

Evaluate rhetorical strategies, comparing the essays to show which is rhetorically stronger
Define & name examples of key rhetorical terms (audience, rhetorical situation, logos/pathos/ethos)
Support your points with evidence and details from the essays
Choose and follow a structure that makes your ideas clear and easy to follow
Use an introduction and a conclusion to frame your topic and show why it matters
Steps: We'll all work together on similar essays for this topic. This will help us talk about and agree on the essays' rhetorical effectiveness. Our progress on this assignment will follow the steps described below:

Identify the rhetorical situation of both essays. Persuasive essays are like puzzles, made up of a bunch of different pieces which contribute to the whole. Some of these pieces include the essay’s purpose, author, and audience.
Identify the rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, and ethos) of both texts, and connect the way these appeals are used with the intended audience.
Decide which essay is more effective in using its rhetorical appeals and in what way. Keep in mind that one essay may be stronger in some ways but weaker in other ways.
Plan and structure the paper. Once you know what points you want to make, you’ll choose a structure to guide your paper and quotations or details from the essays to support your point.

 

Rhetorical Strategies and Audient Persuasion in Essays

            Writers utilize rhetorical approaches and persuasion to draw the audience’s attention and influence their point of view. Different authors select various devices for specific reasons though they all typically influence readers impressively. Tom Horton and David Kennedy present very persuasive, informative, and impactful essays that magnify the reality of conservation efforts. Both works achieve the aspects of a good essay, including logical flow, organization, and delivering the main point. Moreover, the writers arouse interest in the topics by incorporating rhetorical devices to enhance persuasion. The tools persuade readers to examine the status quo and take necessary actions to protect nature. Thus, this paper seeks to outline how Horton and Kennedy use logos and repetition to examine the issues surrounding national parks in contemporary America. It also justifies why Kennedy's article is more persuasive due to the appropriate use of rhetorical appeals.

            Tom Horton writes the article from an environmentalist's perspective, showcasing understanding of Chesapeake national park. He understands the park’s history, its impacts on the community, and the immense political attention it has attracted. Therefore, the article incorporates relatively complex environmental vocabulary and jargon, thus targeting an educated audience with a stakeholder relationship with the park. Regardless, Horton’s article has a logical flow and a proper structure, introducing readers to Chesapeake’s rich history and persuading them to support the “national park” status.

            Horton uses logos to remind the audience and Chesapeake residents of their inherent right to access the park and enjoy its restoration. He quotes, “Public access is already a goal of the federal-state restoration. Nearly 200 new launch ramps, piers, and other entry points were added to the watershed in the last decade, bringing the total to more than 1,300.” The data reminds readers of the local, state, and federal governments' efforts to revive Chesapeake Park. Horton restates the park’s progress by telling the audience, “I think the time is right … the stars are aligning, to put the Chesapeake Bay on a par with other great landscapes." The writer uses the statements to trigger readers' cognitive function since Obama already identified the area as a "national treasure" in 2009. He wants people to take action and fulfill their commitment to the bay.

            Besides logos, Horton uses repetition to remind readers and residents of upholding their commitment to restoring the park. He uses the expression "it's time" to indicate the necessity of "walking the talk." Horton asserts, "I think the time is right … the stars are aligning, to put the Chesapeake Bay on a par with other great landscapes” to communicate the bay's significance relative to other parks like the Grand Canyon and the Everglades. The writer also repeats the phrase, "I think the time is right … the stars are aligning, to put the Chesapeake Bay on a par with other great landscapes,” to quote a statement from a member of the conservancy. Thus, Horton uses repetition effectively to persuade the audience on the value of the bay and the need for action.

            Unlike Horton's article, Kennedy targets a broader audience with a love for nature and attention to detail. The article addresses any American resident who is an active stakeholder in national parks or other areas under the "park" system. Kennedy begins with a brief history of Parks in the country, reminding the audience of the immense role played by George Catlin in 1832. He captures readers' attention through the informative narrative of Catlin's encounter with the bison hunters and his subsequent imagination of a "national park." Catlin’s insight is regarded as the first conceptualization of a “national park.” The introduction spearheads a logically flowing and properly organized article that informs the audience on the status quo of America’s parks.

            Kennedy uses logos to paint a picture of Catlin's imagination of the ideal park system, making his introduction more persuasive than Horton’s. “He envisioned a gigantic preserve sprawling athwart the continent, running from Mexico to Canada and stretching 100 miles eastward from the Rocky Mountain crest.” Kennedy then reminds the audience of the current reality: people only have "a much-diminished version of Catlin's original vision.” The writer uses the statements to restates the controversial concepts, conservation, enjoyment, and use, which have established an incompatible relationship between man and nature in national parks. Kennedy reminds readers to “de-exoticize” the definition of parks and direct the notion used on the “best places” to workplaces and residences.

            Moreover, Kennedy uses repetition to address the inconsistencies in the notion of “preservation” established on parks. He uses the phrase “best places” to indicate how Americans have historically dedicated efforts towards preserving parks while neglecting everything else. “Others have called the parks "America's best places." But if the parks are our "best" places, what about all those other places where we live and work and go about our daily rounds?" Kennedy's assertion reminds readers of the utter ignorance in treating humans and nature as opposites against the natural order. As he indicates, "we must "de-exoticize" our notion of what is a park, and direct toward the places where we live and labor the same values of respect and stewardship that we have historically reserved for our best places." The writer’s assertion reminds Americans to treat their homes, workplaces, and everything else as a typical national park to enhance the connection between man and nature rather than creating escape routes.     

            Finally, Kennedy uses pathos in exemplary in his final two paragraphs to examine the status quo and recommend the audience. Previous sections highlight the controversial nature of parks, where conservation, enjoyment, and uses are seemingly incompatible. The relationship has led to immense park management challenges like "the flooding of the Grand Canyon," which have made Catlin's legacy an impossibility. Nonetheless, Kennedy's last two paragraphs give hope to readers, stating that people can address the issues by changing their perception of parks. Americans must treat their homes and workplaces like parks to safeguard the world as a national park and enhance the relationship with nature. 

            Overall, the paper indicates that Horton and Kennedy employ rhetorical tools to persuade Americans to take action to grow the connection with nature. Both writers use logos, repetition, and pathos to influence the audience, though Kennedy uses the latter more profoundly. Despite creating a logically flowing and properly organized article, Horton's essay lacks a persuasive edge, arguably from the absence of pathos. In this regard, Kennedy’s paper targets a broader audience and showcases a profound use of the three rhetorical tools, which makes it stronger. Kennedy has a masterly of rhetorical devices, indicated by the use of pathos in the concluding paragraphs. He uses the section to convey the envisioned message and urge Americans to fulfill George Catlin's imagination of the ideal park system.

Reflection

            Overall, the essay preparation process was relatively smooth since I have gained immense rhetorical analysis proficiency from the class. My introduction is solid as it informs the audience on why writers use rhetoric devices, followed by a brief appraisal of Horton and Kennedy’s articles. It concludes with a strong thesis statement that describes the purpose and goals of the essay. Next, each body paragraph introduces readers to a new idea on how Horton and Kennedy use rhetorical appeals to persuade audiences and deliver the message. For instance, the first body paragraph indicates Horton's environmentalist jargon and vocabulary to target an educated audience. On the other hand, the second body paragraph narrates his use of logos to inform the audience on their rights to access parks.

                Preparing the body paragraphs was quite smooth, given the ease of identifying rhetoric devices in an essay. Besides, Horton's and Kennedy's articles are persuasive, meaning most of their ideas influence the reader. I used my masterly to identify the different pieces that created the two works. I appropriately use evidence from both papers and commentary to create seven strong body paragraphs that support the thesis. Finally, the conclusion is quite appealing as it restates and justifies the original thesis and compares both papers. It also includes additional insight to keep the readers thinking as they wind up.   

Rhetorical Strategies and Audient Persuasion in Essays

Thesis statement: Thus, this paper seeks to outline how Horton and Kennedy use logos and repetition to examine the issues surrounding national parks in contemporary America. It also justifies why Kennedy’s article is more persuasive due to the appropriate use of rhetorical appeals.

1. Introduction
2. Horton’s rhetorical devices

1. Logos
2. Repetition

3. Kennedy’s rhetorical devices

1. Logos
2. Repetition
3. Pathos

4. Conclusion