Praise The Humble Dung Beetle By Sharon Begley

“Like the rest of us, scientists gravitate toward the huggable” (Begley 257) says Sharon Begley as she refers to animals in her article “Praise the Humble Dung Beetle”. Begley, an accomplished and award-winning science journalist, informs people of the threat on the plants and animals going extinct. In this article published in Newsweek, she persuades her audience that this is harming the environment and humankind and why this is so detrimental. In “Praise the Humble Dung Beetle,” Begley’s use of rhetorical appeals, her organization and syntax, as well as her tone, help inform her audience about the importance of insects in our ecosystem.

With her knowledge of journalism, Begley utilizes the resource she knows best, expert opinion. Begley,

“In Chesapeake Bay, each adult oyster once filtered 60 gallons of water a day...Before the population crashed in the 1990s, oyster filtered 19 trillion gallons - an entire day's worth - once a week. The survivors struggle to do that in a year” (Begley 257). By using such a solid piece of information and eye opening statistic, it proves her point to an even greater extent. “The spiral in mollusk shells…has inspired a rotor that draws up to 85 percent less energy than standard fans is finding its way into computers and air conditioners”(Begley 256). Again, she calls on facts and statistics in order to strengthen her writing to make it less refutable. This strengthens her ethos while supporting her point and main idea. In addition to using logos, Begley also strengthens her ethos.

Begley’s ethos comes from her expertise as an Award-Winning Journalist as well as her other credentials which lend themselves very well to building her ethos. Not only that, but Begley uses so many resources and expert opinions from other reliable and credible sources. The fact that she seamlessly accomplishes this numerous times in her writing contributes to her ethos as well. Another skill of a great writer is the organization of their thoughts and ideas which Begley skillfully accomplishes in the

In this style of writing it is beneficial for Begleys article because her goal is to inform her audience on a matter. By providing so much logos, this helps her accomplish her goal. Begley's passion and drive to create a piece of informative writing about a subject that impacts us shows that her tone is concerned. The concerned tone helps strengthen her ethos while making the reader more engaged with the writing coming from a neutral yet passionate author. Again, passionately, Begley also articulates a sense of urgency into her piece. She accomplishes this by saying “Biologists draw an analogy between ecosystems and airplanes. The latter can fly without some of its rivets, and the former can survive without some of their species. But in neither case can you tell how many, or which ones, are dispensable until the thing crashes” (Begley 257). This makes the reader want to act and makes the writing more convincing, showing that it is a pressing matter. The way Begley uses all of these tools helps her construct a compelling argument and well written, informal piece of