Royal Dixon argues that lack of feeling in science has made humans ignorant to the features that animals and humans share. His argument contains logic and connects to the reader's emotion to illustrate his ideas. In Dixon’s The Human Side of Animals he uses many persuasion techniques including rhetorical questions, imagery, and examples of various traits of animals.
Throughout the passages Dixon uses rhetorical questions to argue the reader’s logic. Questions such as, “Why should we fall into the colossal ignorance of conceit of cataloging every human-like action of animals under the word ‘instinct’?” or “Shall we deny [animals] of all intellect and feeling?” make the reader doubt and challenge their own ideas. It allows the reader to come
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It begins the passage with an idealistic scene and then upsets the reader with the idea that animals are simply food with the word “mutton.” It convinces the reader with an emotional scene to agree to Dixon’s standpoint. This contrast between heartwarming and cold also changes the perception of the scene.
The final method the author uses is examples to further prove his point. The entire last four passages are examples the author uses to argue the reader's ideas, “dogs give barks indicating surprise, pleasure and all other emotions. Cows will bellow for days when mourning their dead.” These are examples not only prove the author's points that animals and humans share similar experiences but it also mentions “superhuman animal” traits. Dixon uses these examples to appeal to the logic of audience and make them respect the unique traits of animals.
In “The human side of animals,” Royal Rixon persuades his audience that humans should treat animals with more respect using persuasive devices such as rhetorical questions, imagery, and examples. This resulted in most of the audience realizing that animals and humans have more in common than they originally