Rhetorical Analysis on Border Patrol States
After a bad experience with border patrol agents Leslie Silko, a Native American writer felt the need to fight back in the only way she knew possible, by writing “Border Patrol States.” She eloquently writes an article that is timeless and relatable even today about the unjustness people feel at the border checkpoints. Silko’s article is able to pull feeling from the audience through the use of multiple rhetorical devices. It’s clear while reading the article that Silko was raw with emotion while writing the piece, but the article falls short in the author's overuse of pathos and limited evidence to support her claim. Silko begins building her argument with anecdotal evidence and reputable sources, citing convincing facts, and successfully utilizes emotional appeals; however her attempts to appeal to readers’ emotions weaken her credibility and ultimately, her argument.
Throughout the essay Silko provides anecdotal evidence and facts to support her
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Silko says “No person, no citizen is free to travel without the scrutiny of the Border Patrol,” (4) as a way to connect with the reader emotionally to the idea of fear and anger towards the Border Patrol agents. Although the sentence itself is counter intuitive of her idea of Border Patrol only target specific groups of people. This sentence shows that all citizens are scrutinized by the Border Patrol, which is a good scare tactic but weakens her claims about the discrimination towards specific groups of people. I think this sentence itself is a great option if her paper was meant to only scare the audience, but her goal is to inform and persuade the audience of the Border Patrol agents unjust behavior but you can not convince people with only anecdotal