Recycling is a common topic discussed in the United States. Educating children of the importance of the environment and the value of recycling begins in the early years of elementary school. In the article “Recycling Can Reduce Pollution” Sam Martin argues that recycling can help to decrease waste and pollution by using the bandwagon fallacy, statistics, referring to authoritative figures, and presenting the opposing argument.
One of the rhetorical tools used by Martin is the strategy of the bandwagon appeal. This tactic makes it seem like everyone agrees with the author’s view, when in reality most of these assumptions are false. He writes, “By all accounts—public opinion polls and government studies included—people seem to want to recycle.” This statement makes the reader believe that everyone in the country has the same opinion as the author, including the government and the public. Martin uses this tactic in order to get the reader to begin to doubt their own opinions and feel alone in his or her principles. By using the noun “people”, Martin convinces the reader that if he or she is human, they should believe the same way. He used the bandwagon tactic to convince the reader to join his side of the argument.
Another tactic that Martin uses to persuade his audience is the reference to authority figures and their knowledge on the subject. He states, “Is recycling worth it? Dr. Alan Hershkowitz, director of the National Resources Defense Council, thinks it is.” Martin uses this strategy to back-up his own opinion with that of a well established figure in the recycling field. He also includes Dr. Hershowitz’s title and position, not just to give him proper credit, but to intimidate the reader into believing like he does. The institute has the word “national” in it; when most people hear this word they connect it with the government of our country. This connotation is not always correct, to assume the association to be a government agency may be false. The author of this article uotes established figures in order to convince his readers to recycle.
Issues paper thesis:
The destruction of tropical rainforests is causing animal species to become extinct and disrupting human civilizations.
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3 comments:
It is nice to have the outline for the thesis because it clearly sets up your paper. Nice analysis.
I like how you really picked apart the author’s passages. You offered great analysis and your thesis was very clear. Obviously, all of us have way more analysis to do on our own papers, but just keep doing what your doing. I thought it was great!
Way to analyze the authors paper. you really thought this out. keep doing that you'll get an A for sure
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