Rhetorical Analysis Persuasion is the result of the combination of components driving an audience to support a position. While some techniques are effective, they can be misused, misguided, and misunderstood, generating a lack of application to society. Following the foundations of persuasion, one must develop their own credibility, use logic, and emotions. In Kobutsu Malone’s article “Narcissism and Spiritual Materialism: The New Age Legacy”, there is a noticeable lack of the rhetorical strategies, ethos, pathos, and logos, belittling the persuasive effectiveness, as well as the poor utilization of kairos and style reducing the strength of his overall argument. Within the article Malone expresses his desire for the New Age to stop materializing …show more content…
Malone begins his article by setting the scene of a New Age shop, his disgust is immediately clear. He then describes the customers in the shop as “dissatisfied people desperately seeking some sort of answers” (Malone). Throughout the essay, Malone is aggressive and angry. While it comes off as disturbing and hurts him in the long run, perhaps he is attempting to express his passion. He wrote the article to express his belief that materialistic values are leaving people desperate and in their struggle, hurting other peoples’ culture. However a reasonable pursuit, his execution left his message void. Malone wrote the article as a person who is deeply involved in spiritualism from a non materialistic view. Having a spiritual background, he could have provided more information and a better solution to his argument. Malone attempts a persuasive style of writing but its effectiveness is questionable. He succeeds in creating an argument, but his call-to-action is ineffective. Considering the context, style, and other components, the target audience could not be properly persuaded. Kobutsu Malone’s “Narcissism and Spiritual Materialism: The New Age Legacy” does a dissatisfactory job of persuading its audience, New Age participants, due to his hypocritical ethos, aggressive pathos, and misguided logos. Malone’s main argument, materialistic values are vividly apparent in the New Age, failed to convince readers his opinion should be taken seriously. After a deep consideration of the article and every argument is has to offer, there is still no real solution to the materialistic affliction our society collectively