Rhetorical Techniques Used In Freakonomics

Freakonomics was written to explain not only economics as the name suggests but also a slew of other topics and fields. Freakonomics discusses everything from the Ku Klux Klan to abortion, while managing to remain a single cohesive text. One thing that helps Freakonomics to remain a single piece of literature is the very distinct voice and writing style that Levitt and Dubner. The distinct writing style and voice also creates a tone that carries through the entire essay adding to the cohesion. Levitt and Dubner also make uses of several rhetorical techniques. The unique voice and writing style combined with the rhetorical techniques that are used makes it easy for one to make personal connections to Freakonomics. One of the most important

The chapter also discussed how real estate agents use their knowledge to get you to do thing that are not in your best interest as well as how people lie to appear more attractive on dating website. The main theme of the chapter was the power of information and how certain people use knowledge to their advantage. The second chapter we read “Where Have All the Criminals Gone?” (Levitt, and Dubner 73). The chapter starts by talking about how the ban on abortions in Romania led to the downfall of the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The chapter then transitions away from abortions in Romania to the drop in crime rates in American cities before explain how abortions effect the crime rate due to the fact that they limit the part of the population that has the greatest chance of becoming criminals. The tone of these chapters were serious and

It appeals to logic when it is explaining how certain factors led to a drop in the crime rates of American cities. It is appealing to logic because it lays out how things happen and then cause other things to happen. “The evidence linking increased punishment with lower crime rates is very strong. Harsh prison terms have been shown to act as both deterrent (for the would-be criminal on the street) and prophylactic (for the would-be criminal who is already locked up),” (Levitt, and Dubner 77). This is an appeal to logic because it uses logic to present the argument in a concise manner. Freakonomics uses an appeal to credibility when it cites its source. It uses sources such as the Tuskegee Institute and people that are considered experts in their fields. “If you both own a gun and have a swimming pool in the backyard, the swimming pool is about 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.” (Levitt, and Dubner 91) this is an appeal to emotion because it gets people to think about how things are not always as they seem by using the death of their