Rhetorical Analysis Of Gordon Marino's 'Do What You Love'

Most people become discouraged when they find themselves following a path that is not what they have dreamed of. Gordon Marino, the author of A Life Beyond ‘Do What you Love’, a college professor at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, finds that many people follow a path that is not what they have dreamed of. Marino is a seasoned author and has his writing, A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love’, published in the New York Times Magazine. Marino uses rhetorical devices such as anecdotes, distinctio, hypophora and rhetorical questions to help his overall effectiveness. The most effective rhetorical device he uses are anecdotes. On the other hand, rhetorical questions are the least effective device.
The use of anecdotes are effective to the article because

Hypophora is used many times in A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love’. By using hypophora it is easy for Marino to make his audience find him credible. Marino asks questions and then precedingly answers them with facts and examples to back up the facts. For example, Marino used hypophora by saying, “But is ‘Do What You Love’ wisdom or malarkey? (Page 1, Para 3), by questioning, “...is it ethical…”(Page 2, Para 4), and also “Then is “do what you love”, or “do what you find most meaningful” the first and last commandment?” (Page 3, Para 3) It is useful for Marino to use hypophora in his article because it gives him a sense of credibility. Marino takes common phrases and sayings, and turns them in questions that he soon after answers. This questioning helps the audience to feel relatable to what Marino has to say. The way Marino used hypophora in his article allows the audience to be able to relate to what he has to say, and also keeps the article from straying to different

Fluently throughout A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love’, Marino uses rhetorical questions to grab hold of the audience's attention and focus their thoughts onto the topic. It is important that Marino uses these, because without the article would not be relatable and come across as boring. For example, Marino asks, “But is it ethical for the doctor to put away his stethoscope and lace up his skates?” (Page 2, Para 4) or “Was he just unenlightened and mistaken to put the well-being of others above his own personal interests?” (Page 2, Para 2) Rhetorical Questions make the audience ponder into their own decisions. By using rhetorical questions, Marino can use the audience's emotional appeal to the topic and use it as bait to make the audience agree with his point of view. Without Marino’s use of rhetorical questions, the article would become bland and the audience would lose the captivating essence the article leaves. Rhetorical devices are important in this article because if they were not their, many people would not find the article relatable, and most likely not continue the