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1950's

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Submitted By fnunez929062
Words 615
Pages 3
Frankie Nunez
Professor Reeves
English 115
25 April 2015
A Rhetorical Analysis of What We Really Miss About The 1950s In Stephanie Coontz essay "What We Really Miss About the 1950's" she makes an interesting analysis of what we think we miss about past decades. In the essay Stephanie Coontz talks about the history and progress of family and discuses in depth the movement of the family from the 1920s to the 1970s. She begins her argument by stating some reasons why the, “nostalgia for the 1950s” exists. Coontz uses the logos appeal towards her audience with statistics, facts and numbers to explain why the 1950s was such a great decade. She uses great evidence to compare the 1950s to past declares to persuade you that the 1950s is what we really miss. Stephanie Coontz’s essay “What We Really Miss About the 1950s”, she uses the persuasive appeal logos throughout her essay. By using the logos appeal in Cootnz’s essay it strengthens the argument about the 1950’s. Coontz uses facts about how in the 1930s the stock market crashed and the great depression. She compares the 1930’s to the 1950’s by providing more data that murder rates were higher in 1933 than the 1950s. Coontz also explains by using statistics that ninety percent of all households in the United States were families, in comparison with the seventy one percent by the 1990’s. She continues to provide facts and data to show the audience that the 1950s was better than any other decade.
Stephanie Coontz talks about how in a poll done by the Knight-Ridder news agency in 1996, 38 percent of voters chose the 1950's as the best decade for children to grow up. The 1950's was an era of economic growth and prosperity families left and right were living the American Dream a house with a great front yard, family dinners, everything a family can dream of. While discussing the past decades Coontz brings to the table that the problems with trying to create such a lifestyle presents, by trying to achieve the society image and eventually they are trying to get over any family problems they have. They see it and want it to become a reality because it gives them comfort, but in the end setting a high standard can lead more to problems in society.
Throughout the essay Stephanie Coontz keeps the audience grounded with information about the role of women in the 1950s. During the 1940's these women had worked in factories and kept their families together while the men were off to war, but once their husbands came back everything changed. The men came home to women who had changed in their role and rather than accept that and try to build off of it they tried to as Coontz put it "reassert their domestic authority." It is sad that these strong and independent women who had held things together had been "Rosie the Riveter," were reduced to the role of housewife rather than the equal partners they should have been.
Stephanie Coontz does a great job throughout the essay to provide facts data and statistics to show the audience that the 1950’s was a decade that we all miss. Stephanie Coontz talks about the history and progress of family and discuses in depth the movement of the family from the 20s to the 70s. Coontz explains to the audience that compared to any other decade that the 1950s was the incline for economic growth. While discussing the past decades Coontz brings to the table that the problems with trying to create such a lifestyle presents, by trying to achieve the society image of the perfect decade.

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