Rhetorical Analysis Of Southern Comfort By George Packer

Rhetorical Analysis on “Southern Discomfort” In “Southern Discomfort” George Packer initially constructs a foundation on which he can build his coming argument by mentioning a recent vote in Congress in which southern republicans dissented from the rest of the party by making up half of the “no” votes. Packer then goes on recall the history of the South, touch on some major political issues and controversies, and just generally establish himself as a credible and knowledgeable individual on the South. Throughout the article, Packer makes numerous implications that both the South as well as its culture is out-of-date; a sort of antiquated representation of America from 1970 to 2008, one filled with the cliché southerner who only loves country, guns, and football. Consequently Packer warns of recalcitrance that might arise

Cash in his 1941 study “The Mind of the South,” Parker exhibits how his argument is rational and logical while making any potential opposition seem unreasonable and ignorant. Additional instances pepper the article, constantly reminding the audience of the superior position Packer comes from. This, conjoint with sophisticated diction lends greatly to Packer’s claims and argument. Many people innately fear being on the wrong side of an argument, and propping oneself up by factual evidence is a good way to accumulate support on a topic. Though Packer comes off strong throughout the article through using logos there are some fallacies present. For instance he makes a number of sweeping generalizations, such as claiming that all the south is conservative, and getting more and more conservative. While it is true that conservatism is dominant within the south, growing urban populations and diversifying demographics are leading at least to a more socially liberal voter