Starting in elementary school, teachers are constantly insisting that the scraps of paper from the class projects be placed in the recycling bins. Then in the school cafeteria, there are bins for plastic bottles and other bins to place aluminum cans. Why? Is recycling those little pieces of paper, your twisted plastic bottles, or your crushed coca-cola cans really going to do any good? According to Sam Martin by recycling these items, pollution can be reduced and other products produced. In his article “Recycling Can Reduce Pollution,” Sam Martin argues that the public should increase their recycling to decrease pollution by attacking the reader’s emotions and making the reader feel guilty.
In his article, Sam Martin tries to attack the emotional appeal of his readers. He states, “I would argue that the quality of life both now and for your children and grandchildren is enhanced by that rather modest and mundane action of separating out some portion of our waste and putting it out at the curb for recycling.” Martin uses this tactic because he wants his reader to recognize the impact of their decision, to recycle or not, will influence their posterity. Most people want their children and grandchildren to have great lives, and Martin know this to be true. Therefore, by appealing to his reader’s emotions he is trying to help people see the benefits of recycling.
Sam Martin also tries to make his audience feel guilty. He states, “In five hundred years from now, the foam coffee cup you used this morning will be sitting in a landfill.” Martin is trying to use guilt to stir his audience into action, and he does this by blaming the reader for the problem. When referring to the coffee cup that “you” used, he is inferring that the reader is the one responsible for the filling up of landfills. By using guilt, Martin is trying to make his audience take personal responsibility for themselves and the garbage that they are throwing away.
Issues Paper:
Recycling plastic bottles will reduce pollution in the atmosphere and help to clothe people in third world countries.
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2 comments:
Good paper. I liked your intro and how you had more analyzing than summarizing. If anything try to lengthen the analysis. Keep up the good work.
I thought you had a clever introduction. You took it from a personal point of view(talking about how in Elementary School...) I thought the second paragraph’s first sentence could have had a better transition, rather than just repeating the thesis. I liked how you worded it, that he’s trying to make his audience feel guilty (I chose the same article and said sort of the same things!) Good job overall!
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