Rough Draft

Rebecca Moran

Professor Henderson

Academic Writing

2011 February 8

Rhetorical Analysis

            Jessica Perez is a young gifted writer who attends Cornel University and writes news articles for the Ithacan.  The Ithacan is a student-run newspaper of Ithaca College. The newspaper is produced weekly and is considered one of the premier newspapers in the country.  Jessica Perez wrote an article about the DREAM Act, which is an act that requires undocumented youths to uphold good moral character and either serve in the military or attend college in order to qualify for citizenship.  She provides her claim clearly and presents her reasons and evidence in a proper manor that is able to influence her target audience, which is the typical college student.  Through the creative use of pathos and ethos, which are rhetorical appeals of emotion and credibility, Perez is able to create an article that is informative, and provides strong arguments for the passage of the DREAM Act. 

            The text’s appeals to logos, or emotion, are the strongest and most persuasive in this article.  There is something captivating about Perez’s article in the way she is able to sway the reader’s opinion about the subject matter.  She succeeds in delving deep into the reader’s emotions, enabling the reader to sympathize for those that the act would affect if passed.  She writes about the thousands of undocumented college graduates who cannot legally work in their studied fields after graduation, but if the act was passed this would give the country more opportunities for greatness.  The audience for the article would most likely sympathize for the undocumented college graduates that the DREAM Act would affect.  They are well aware of how long and difficult the college years are.  They realize that it would be a shame to work so hard to graduate and not be able to put all your knowledge into practice to better the world.  Perez works most ardently to arouse the reader with powerful words about hope and a brighter future for America if the DREAM Act is passed.  She discusses the promise of hope for America if it would welcome and embrace this new generation of American leadership.  Her words of passion towards this subject matter evoke passion in the reader and succeed in her goal of gaining awareness and support for the passage of the act.

            The text itself makes strong appeals to the reader, but the contextual aspect of this article makes it even stronger.  It appeals to one of the most important aspects of an article, its ethos, which is its credibility.  The background of the author helps the reader trust that he or she is taking in credible information from a reliable source.  The fact that Perez is a student of government and psychology at Cornel University makes her claim about the DREAM Act even more reliable.  If the reader does not know that much about the subject matter, then the reader gets the sense that the author is more well-informed about it.  When most people hear the words, “Cornel University”, things such as smart, intelligent, well-learned individuals comes into their minds.  The context of the article gives it more authority and helps Perez support the claim that if the DREAM Act is passed then America will benefit from it in numerous ways.