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Analysis Of Let's Talk About Dollars And Cents By Ben Stein

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In Ben Stein's letter to his son,"Birds and Bees? No, Let's Talk about Dollars and Cents" Stein attempts to persuade his posterity to work hard. At the time the letter was written, Stein's son was in the eleventh grade; therefore, on the brink of adulthood. With maturity rapidly approaching, life lessons are very important. There is a lot of practical knowledge that is not taught in school, so parents have to fill the gap of practical knowledge that students do not receive. In this letter, Ben Stein is ensuring his son's financial security, by persuading him to work hard. Stein uses personal anecdotes to achieve an ethical appeal; he uses a didactic story to achieve a logical appeal; and he uses a proverbial saying to achieve an emotional appeal. …show more content…

Stein realized that he needed to prove that it is necessary to work hard, because teens often times do not want to do anything but play video games. To establish his credibility, Stein uses a personal anecdote about how he, "worked like a maniac" and also that he "started reading about investing at the age of 12." At the time Stein wrote the letter, he probably did not have to work very hard because he has already earned enough to live off of. Stein is not forced to work everyday, which could be misleading to an eleventh grader who will soon be entering the college, and then the work force. Stein makes sure his son understands that he had to work very hard to get where he is at, and that he will have to do the

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