Rhetorical Analysis Of Young Blood, By Jess Zimmerman

“But a person who kills in order to steal her victims’ youth is, to some shameful corner of the brain, understandable – which is, in many ways, more terrifying still (Zimmerman 2014).” One woman, author Jess Zimmerman, wrote “Young Blood,” published in August 2014 in the Aeon Magazine, and she argues that ageing is a disease and youthism can be restored to the elderly by the use of youth blood. The author uses references to popular culture (such as research, myths, real-life stories), authoritarian figures well known to the intended audience, and pathos to persuade and connect with her audience.
In her article, Zimmerman first sets the stage by describing a specific scenario where a stem-researcher, Saul Villeda, discusses about how her mother

She points out facts about different methods of curing human imperfections, such as ageing, impotence and organ failures, and how the idea of ageing has evolved over the years: “old age was so rare in less-developed societies that people who achieved it were granted a certain amount of status and even a mystical cachet. Later, the elderly might have been mocked or isolated, but age was still not seen as an illness. It’s only in recent centuries, as old age has become more and more commonplace, that we have started to venerate youth; ageing is now associated not with fortunate longevity but with decrepitude and disease.” These facts introduce and support the idea that ageing is certainly a problem now compared to earlier in life and is in need of a cure. Zimmerman continues by presenting the effort of others, who are credited, who have put there life work into finding ways to better the effects of ageing, such as the San Quentin prison experiment involving the implanting of executed prisoners’ testis to promote “youth, health and vigour (Zimmerman 2014).” Such proof that cures are being invented appeals to logos and impresses the reader because most will not see ageing as a problem but a way of life that must happen

In the beginning, Zimmerman addresses a radio conversation among the two hosts that gets a little creepy and is meant to cause the readers to be disgusted, but yet promotes a sense of humor: during a discussion on Radiolab, Lynn Levy, a reporter, explained to the two hosts that the mice experiment conducted by Saul Villeda showed an improvement in the brains of the elderly. After the reporter’s explanation, the older host humorously told the younger host to come closer to him to illustrate his eagerness to suck his blood like a vampire, but the other host quickly told him to stay away with laughter (Zimmerman 2014). She also uses a personal example involving author Lida Katsimpardi’s effort to find a way to cure neurodegenerative diseases after the unfortunate passing of her grandmother to Alzheimer’s. Zimmerman uses the story of Katsimpardi’s grandmother as a promoter of sadness but also happiness because one bad thing led to an effort to change bad into good. Her goal to make the audience feel bad for those who are ageing is accomplished with the previously illustrated examples and helps to support the need for a cure for