Ethos And Logos In The Rise Of The Working Poor

The authors Robert Reich, Naomi Klein, Richard Thaler, et al., all use rhetorical devices throughout their articles. Each article has their own way to show how Americans are affected by money. They want the people to reflect on how the American government spends their money and how that affects everyone, but especially the lower classes. If they have fallen prey to how much money companies spend to brand their products, or how they design their products. These authors use pathos, logos and ethos to help convey these messages. Pathos is to convey feelings, ethos is to establish credibility, and logos use logic and facts. However, one device works the best to convince the readers. Logos is the rhetorical device that provides a stronger reaction

This article shows how money is spent in the American government, and all the problems it causes for the lower class. He is able to convince people about his argument through logos. He presented lots of facts and numbers to show how hard it is to be in the lower class in America. In the article, it said, “26 percent of Americans were receiving any kind of jobless benefit” (754). People who don't have a job won't be able to have any help from assistance services most of the time. It's a lot harder to get assistance if someone doesn't have a job, even though they are the most in need of it. The use of logos here easily shows how the lower class is being let down by the American government. It's short and concise, but it shows the effect right away. Ethos or pathos won't be able to show the effect it has. Both are important to be able to write an article to convince someone to think the same as them, but it just doesn't work the same way. In the article, it stated, “Most workers earning the minimum wage are no longer teenagers seeking to earn additional spending money” (753). This use of pathos helps make the people realize what has occurred in the workplace. Does pathos invoke the same amount of reflection, or does it just make people feel an emotional connection? Pathos doesn't help back up what the author has to say in the end. Logos shows a stronger argument than the other two

Klein talks about how these companies brand their products to the point it's not actually about the product. It's about what status the brand gives to the person who's buying the product, and it has nothing to do with how good the product is. Klein could show how much these companies brand their products with numbers she has found. She uses logos to shock us with statistics, and make the reader think if they have fallen prey to the advertisement these companies are using. In her article it said, “In 1991 alone, Reebok upped its ad spending by 71.9 percent. While Nike pumped an extra 24.8 percent into its already soaring ad budget” (774). Logos clearly shows how much these companies put into brand these products. There is almost no room for the quality of the product in the budget because of all of the money going to how to brand the product. Logos can really make the reader see how they fall into the trap the companies have set. It really helps for great reflection, and to get the readers even more into the article. She uses other rhetorical strategies to strengthen the article. In the blurb before the article starts, the textbook states what they know about her. She can establish credibility through this. It said, “Klein opens historically, observing the mid-1980’s a corporate shift from producing products to producing brands” (find page number).