In this passage by Royal Dixon, the author incorporated various
persuasive techniques to build an extremely well-crafted essay, which
encourages the readers’ respect toward the animals. By emphasizing the
common aspects of the animals and the human, the author attempted to convey
his points that animals deserves more respect. His logic and persuasiveness
was strengthened through rhetorical question, criticism of the limitation of
science, and emphasis on the interconnection between humans and animals.
The author is mindfully persuasive from the very beginning starting off
his essay by rhetorical questions. His intentional manipulation of structure of
placing the rhetorical questions directly after the commonly held concept of “we
cannot treat men
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He claims that the science is imperfect due to its
defect of leaving out feelings. The author first discusses the descriptions of
human in the scientific approach that humans are “merely a machine to be
explained in terms of neurons and nervous impulses, heredity and
environments and reactions to outside stimuli”. Consequently, however, he
incorporated rhetorical question, “who is there who does not believe that there
is more to man that that?”, provoking the empathy that humans are indeed
much more valuable beings that such simplistic explanation. He attempts use
this created empathy and apply this concept to the animals as well. This
encouraged the readers to approach this matter not with the heads, but with
hearts, changing the perception of animals not as a mere inferior creature, but
as a being of intellect and feelings as humans. Although the author revealed his
unsatisfaction toward mechanistic interpretation, he approaches his argument in
a scientific way to counter his audience, who may still disagree with him based
on the scientific fact of superiority in intelligent of humans over the animals.