“A Petition to the President”
In July of 1945, Leo Szilard and his fifty-nine cosigners created a petition for the President of the United States to ask him to refrain from using atomic bombs to attack the Japanese people in the phase of war. Szilard uses this appeal to help describe his reasoning on why he believes atomic bombs will do more harm than good for not only Japan, but for the entire world. He thought that by using nuclear bombs, a new era of destruction would occur, making the current war inferior. In Szilard’s essay, “A Petition to the President,” pathos, logos, and a positive tone are used to help sway his reader’s, which supports his argument and helps it become successful because it persuades the audience to believe that the use of atomic bombs is not necessary during the war.
Szilard creates a successful argument by using logos to apply logical reasoning for why his argument is true. One of his logical explanations on why he feels the need to hold off on the use of atomic material is because he believes that this will do more harm for not only the Japanese people but for us as well. Szilard states, “Our use of atomic bombs in this war
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The tone helps hook the audience by making the reader feel emotions towards the Japanese. The use of emotions, feelings, and logic are what make the audience feel involved and considerate for Japan. The fact that Szilard had fifty-nine petitioners behind him also helps make this successful. By having cosigners who are knowledgeable with atomic power show the people that they are familiar about this topic and deserve to be heard. When it came to the success of the argument towards the President, it was an unsuccessful argument because the article was never submitted for him to read. It is unfortunate that this petition never reached the President of the United States because it had a very powerful and meaningful